If you are thinking of selling your investment property, a good way to go might be to find an interested, qualified tenant to sign a lease option purchase.
Of course finding the right tenant for such an agreement is the hard part. Tenant buyers are people who consider buying a home with a lease option as the best bet for them to own real estate.
There are many reasons tenants rent property instead of buy, but one of the biggest is the inability to obtain financing for a mortgage. Finding them isn’t as hard as it might seem, you just have to make your intentions known.
First, take a closer look at the current tenants. Are they financially secure? Do they have stable employment, pay rent on time, and take care of the property? If so, it might be a good idea to present a lease option purchase to them. They may not know that you would like to sell the house, and giving them first crack at it could be the perfect solution for both of you. (You’ll want to go ahead and run a current credit check on them if they are interested.)
Another way to go is to list your property as a rent-to-own or lease purchase option on websites and in a classified ad. Potential tenant buyers will come out of the woodwork, particularly if the property is in great shape and ready for new tenants who dream of one day owning their own home.
Credit reports can tell a lot about a potential tenant, but they do not show whether someone has a previous eviction notice. Fill in the blanks on a prospective tenant’s background by using a tenant screening service to see important details about their rental history.
