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Should I List My Real Estate Property With Tenants In It or Not?
If the time has come to sell your real estate property, there many factors to consider before listing. Of course, you’ll want to take a look at the current real estate market and weigh the costs and benefits of listing now versus later to get the best return on your investment. But if your property currently has tenants, the market may not be your most important consideration when deciding whether or not to list. With an occupied investment property, you’ll also want to factor in a few more things before listing.
#1 – Understanding Your Legal Obligations
First and foremost, it is important to understand your legal obligations as a landlord before deciding whether to list your property with tenants. Depending on where you are located, you may be required to give your tenants a certain amount of notice before selling the property. This is to give them time to find a new home to live in and to avoid disrupting their lives unnecessarily. It is important to consult with a real estate lawyer or your local housing authority to understand your legal obligations and to ensure that you are following the proper procedures.
#2 – Considering the Impact to Your Tenants
Another important factor to consider before listing your investment property is the impact it could have on your tenants. If your property is listed for sale, it is likely that there will be a lot of foot traffic as potential buyers come to view the property. This can be disruptive and stressful for your tenants, especially if they are not expecting it. It is important to communicate with your tenants and let them know what to expect during the sale process. If you’re not sure how to approach this conversation or what you should include, consider bringing your real estate professional to go over everything with them. That way, if they have any questions, you’ll have trusted, experienced answers on-hand!
#3 – Considering the Impact on Sale Price
When considering whether or not to list with tenants, it is also important to consider the potential impact it could have on the sale price of your property. If your property is occupied, it may be more difficult for potential buyers to visualize themselves living in the space. This can make it harder to sell the property, and it may potentially impact the sale price. If your property is vacant, potential buyers will be able to see the property in its entirety and may be more likely to make an offer. On the other hand, if you plan to market it as an investment property for sale, showing that it is currently occupied may interest buyers considering real estate investing. This is an important discussion to have both with your tenants and with your REALTOR® when discussing a marketing plan.
In conclusion, whether or not you should list your real estate property with tenants in it will depend on a variety of factors. It is important to consider your legal obligations, the potential impact on your tenants, and the potential impact on the sale price of your property. Ultimately, the decision will depend on your individual circumstances and should be made in consultation with a real estate lawyer or other professional.
3 Benefits to Investing in Multi-Family Real Estate
Whereas investing in the stock market can be quite unstable, as we saw earlier this year with the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate investing is often considered a much safer expenditure for added revenue potential. It allows the financier not only to have the potential of a more hands-on involvement with their investment, but it can also easily be managed at a distance via a property manager. You also aren’t limited to any one strategy as to how best to manage your investment property. Whether you are looking to build a large investment portfolio of multi-family properties for rent or simply invest in one or two profitable commercial opportunities, your choices are only limited by what’s available on the market today!
For those looking to build a steady, reliable source of income, multi-family properties tend to be the preferred avenue. While single-family homes only offer one or maybe two units for rent, multi-family properties or apartment buildings offer multiple income sources in one! Plus, they come with a few other distinct advantages you’ll want to consider, as well.
Multi-Family Properties Are Easier to Finance
At first glance, investing in multi-family real estate over a single family home will undoubtedly be more costly—homes typically costing hundreds of thousands of dollars less than apartment complexes. However, the reality is that when it comes to financing from the bank, a mortgage for a multi-family property may be far easier to get approved for.
The reasoning behind this is that if a single family home rental loses its tenant, the property is no longer generating any revenue whatsoever. On the other hand, with a multi-family property, if there are, say, 10 units and one of them becomes suddenly vacant, there are still 9 other units generating revenue in the interim. This more consistent and solid promise of income makes for a much safer investment, not just for you, but for the banks, as well, giving them more incentive to finance your purchase at a better interest rate.
It Will Be Less Time-Consuming to Build Your Portfolio
If you are hoping to build a real estate investment portfolio, it can take quite some time to build up a large number of units purchasing just one home at a time. By doing so, not only will you need to go through the home search and inspection process on each individual property, you will also need to get approved for a mortgage each and every time, too. When purchasing a multi-family property, however, you will only need to do each of those steps once, while acquiring several units as filler for your portfolio.
Property Management Will Be Easier to Justify
Not every real estate investor enjoys the day-to-day management of their properties. Instead, many elect to take a more passive revenue-generating approach and hire a property manager to take care of the more tedious tasks of being a landlord, such as rent collection, filling vacancies, evicting tenants, and general property maintenance. Hiring a property manager or management company costs money, though, and for those with only a couple of single-family homes, it can be hard to justify the added cost with the already slightly risky investment of a smaller portfolio.
Real estate investors with multi-family properties, however, will likely be generating more revenue on a consistent basis. This gives them more financial leeway to invest in property management services without significant detriment to their bottom line.
For those wanting to invest their money in a safer and more secure way than the stock market, real estate investing can be a fantastic opportunity to consider! And electing to build your portfolio with multi-family properties over single family homes can be a simpler, quicker, and more flexible way to do so!
Ready to build your real estate portfolio? Check out multi-family properties for sale in Saskatchewan today!
Property Investment 101: The Pros & Cons of Investing in Real Estate
For anyone who has played Monopoly, property investment can appear to be quite a compelling way to invest your money for a good, passive return of revenue. In theory, it essentially boils down to the same premise of the game, too—you buy properties, generate rent, buy more properties, and avoid overindulging and falling into bankruptcy. However, the reality of real estate investing isn’t quite as simple as that (especially considering the money you’d be investing is far more valuable than Monopoly money).
While the overall goal in both the game and real life is to put in your own money today to earn a return later on, there are some pros and cons to make note of before jumping in.
The Pros of Property Investment
Of course, the immediate draw to property investment can easily be understood when considering the benefits the opportunity offers.
Less Risk Than Investing in the Stock Market
When initially considering investing, the first thought for many is often the stock market. While shrouded in the element of mystery, it still seems to be talked about more frequently in our everyday lives. However, as we recently saw with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it can also be incredibly volatile, turning on its head seemingly overnight, with the potential to decimate investments in just minutes. It also has the potential to do the same in the inverse, though, with increases possible with the same quick turnaround; making room for the intrigue not dissimilar to gambling.
Property investment, on the other hand, offers a similar promise of an easy return on investment that is more stable. With the housing market staying steady over long periods of time, property investors don’t have to worry about the possibility of an overnight crash eliminating all their hard work. Instead, they can enjoy a consistent return that can be more easily managed in the off time.
Great Passive Cash Flow
The consistent cash flow that property investment offers is another incredible benefit, especially when paired with the added benefit of passivity. Those who invest in real estate can enjoy a monthly (or more or less frequent, depending on collection) return in the form of rent collection, with (hopefully) little work along the way.
Tax Deductions
By investing in real estate, another added benefit you can enjoy is deducting some of the expenses you incur in managing your portfolio on your taxes. These deductions can include mortgage interest, depreciation of property value, property taxes, and more! Just be sure to keep a clear record of your receipts along the way to discover even more possible deductions.
Long-Term Appreciation
Over time, most real estate will see a gradual appreciation of value, especially if you do any upgrading along the way to improve the property. This means that the longer you keep the property, the greater a return you could see when you decide it’s time to liquidate.
The Cons of Property Investment
While the pros of real estate investing can be quite compelling, it’s also important to weigh them against the cons first.
Slower Return of Investment
It is true that investing in real estate is not as risky as investing in the stock market, but that also means that it doesn’t have as aggressive of a growth potential. As quickly as stocks can decline, they can also increase in value just as abruptly. In the housing market, however, growths and, rarely, declines happen at a much slower rate.
Higher Initial Startup Cost
Where many stocks can be purchased at rates that can be affordable to almost anyone with some cash to spare, investing in real estate involves a much higher initial startup cost. From the down payment to the closing costs, as well as any renovations and maintenance that will need to be done, to even begin thinking about building your real estate portfolio, you will need to have quite a bit of cash to spare before you can expect to start accruing revenue.
Poor Liquidity of Assets
If cash is needed immediately, stocks can be liquidated quite quickly and easily. However, “cashing out” on your real estate investment is not quite as simple. To ever truly liquidate your real estate assets, you will need to sell your investment property, which, depending on the current real estate market conditions, could be a long and arduous process before you will see any cash flow.
Managing Tenancy
Many landlords will rave about their excellent tenants that always pay on time and very rarely complain, but as you’ll likely have heard from others, this isn’t always the case. Tenants, as well as the properties they live in, can often be in need of a lot of maintenance—from rent collection to dealing with property issues. If you have the time to spare, this can be done by yourself or you can hire a property management company to do the work for you. Keep in mind, though, the added cost that would incur.
After weighing the pros and cons, if investing in real estate still seems like the winning route for your journey to financial success, feel free to start your search with confidence. However, if you find yourself still questioning whether the positives outweigh the negatives, feel free to contact me today to discuss your options further!
