Paul S. Henderson, Realtor, Tacoma Washington selling a home with tenants living in it is always a challenge.

It's a great idea to give them some incentives and build relationship with them to cooperate for showings.

Give them "skin" in the game and the problem goes away

It is and always was a problem.

I have then let the owner know ASAP.  An Attorney was contacted and after 30 more days they moved. 

Yes, and in those cases, I leave it up to the seller to rectify the situation. If the seller does not, I cancel the listing.

Yep, it happens all the time! We pay them if it sells while they are there and they allow showings. Well, not we-the owner pays incentives.

Yes........dealing with tenants can be a headache. The problem is....here in CA, LL is not as protected as a tenant...

Of course

Oh yes and have had them tell me I am mean and should consider that they will be out in a few weeks and not bother them while they are still paying rent.

in my opinion... i try to not have tenants and try to sell. they dont mix well. get them out and then sell. or if your flipping a rented property with an existing lease, sell to an investor

My company manages over 80 properties. Some of them are listed for sale. Yes we have had tenants that will make it as difficult as possible to show the house. 

Here in DC, the landlord tenant rules are heavily tilted in the tenant"s favor.  I always suck up to the tenant, because they have the ability to make it impossible to get a listing sold.

Yes renters are a pain in the cooperation department.

If the tenant would love to buy the home, but can't qualify, especially.

the path of least resistance is to give them notice and get them out before selling.... every tenant is afraid of being given notice to leave....

Yes, many tenants don't really cooperate with showings.

Yes indeed! And that's why I recommend to my sellers not to list until the tenant has moved out. I don't need to "test." Every time a tenant says no to a showing I'm automatically notified by showing time.

Unfortunately yes.  We once sold a short sale sight unseen as the tenants would not allow anyone to enter.  That was an interesting, down to the wire, hail mary - but we got it done!  Not recommended!

 Good Sunday morning Paul. I have done several investment inspections here lately. Many of the properties are in poor repair and the folks live in squalor.

Paul, as someone who has been exclusively investment homes for quyite a while the big problem is when the investor wants to sell when a renter doesn't want to leave. Normally we offer a rent reduction to get same day showing.

Sometimes I do find renters that are maybe a little hostile.  Unfortunatly its their home for now and I have to work around them. Just recently I listed a home with a hostile renter who absolutely refused to let anyone into his home. The home expired and we will relist the home after the renters lease has expired and hes gone. Other than refusing to let his  part of the home be shown he was a good tenant. 

When listing a home with tenants, before we even start showing i like to meet the tenants with the landlords introduction. I find most problems lay with those homes where the tenant will have to move when it sells

If they don't want to risk having a problem getting their security deposit back, and they want to use the owner as a positive reference for their next rental, they will usually cooperate. But there are always some that will be a pain no matter what. The owner should be first to contact them about cooperating with showings if terms in lease allow showings. Agents can do some things to help like offer to help find them a new rental (unless owner says they are always a pain to deal with). And showing agents need to be sure thay are following show instructions.

I use a carrot and stick approach, bribe them with a bonus if it sells, and it they do not cooperate they get an eviction warning and notice.

As far as fairness of those laws, I have not heard of a state that subscribes to that philosophy yet.

No. Most of the tenants will cooperate if there is a clearly written lease and resposive management.

Unfortunately in our market, for Realtors we don't do a lot of rentals, so I can't share any thoughts. 

Not my listings. Often the offer is made w/o viewing.... Investors have good idea how much it is going to cost to renovate inside. Owner who want to occupy hesitate because they do not understand what they are getting into.

I work with my sellers to establish clear rules and expectations that they communicate to their tenants. We usually include some incentive for keeping the property in good showing condition and being flexible about schedules. Never "tested" any tenants but we are present for most showings and have told the owner when a tenant is hurting the sale process. One went through with an eviction but most get the message and comply.

Paul S. Henderson, Realtor, Tacoma Washington Some tenants do forget what they signed up to in their lease when it comes time for the owner to sell.

Paul - It ads a whole other dimension when the home being sold has tenants. Never an easy road.

When possible, it's best to have a tenant vacate the property before it is available to be shown whether it's for sale or for rent --- tenant occupied homes(and I know there are exceptions) have issues whether it be availability or appearance.

This is the very reason I want nothing to do with rentals!