How to Sell a House With Tenants

Tenants are a definite wild card when it comes to selling a home. On the one hand, there are plenty of horror stories about angry or disgruntled tenants making it impossible to sell a home. On the other hand, a tenant can be a valuable ally in the sales process if he or she is cooperative and motivated to help you sell. In the end it is up to you to gauge your landlord/tenant relationship and to decide how to best sell your home – while the tenant is residing there, or after he or she is gone.

Keep in mind that what a tenant tells you they will agree to do while you are trying to sell your home and what they actually do could be too vastly different things. Most real estate agents will tell you that having an uncooperative tenant will make selling your home next to impossible. Knowing how to sell a house with a tenant is a critical aspect of getting top dollar for your home!

Before hiring a real estate agent to sell your home it goes without saying that you should ask the tenant first if they have any interest in purchasing it. You are going to need your tenants utmost cooperation in this situation so you best respect them by explaining completely the situation you are in and why you want to sell. Giving them first dibs shows you have some compassion for their housing needs as well.

Options for Selling with a Tenant

Wait for the lease to expire

Tenants can wreak havoc on a sale. Some tenants can become angry when they discover that you are selling the home they live in. Other tenants are just not nice people to begin with. Still others are just dirty and will not keep the home in a good state for showings. If you know you have a slob living in your place you can count on this not changing when the for sale sign goes up. Once a slob always a slob. If your long term plan is to sell your home it makes sense to be extra careful when initially choosing a tenant. Let the renters know up front that your long term plan is to sell your home and get the tenants reaction. If you don’t get positive vibes you may be better off waiting for a tenant who 

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How To: Choose a New Roof for Your House - Bob Vila

Whether you are building from scratch or choosing a new roof for your existing home, a wide range of materials are readily available and worthy of consideration. These include asphalt, wood, and composite shingles, as well as slate, concrete, and clay tiles. Style is an important factor, but it’s not the only one. Product cost, material weight, and installation requirements should also influence your selection. Here’s what you need to know:

The Square
Before we talk materials, let’s talk terminology. Roofers don’t usually use the measure “square feet.” Instead, they talk in squares. A square is their basic unit of measurement—one square is 100 square feet in area, the equivalent of a 10-foot by 10-foot square. The roof of a typical two-story, 2,000-square-foot house with a gable roof will consist of less than 1,500 square feet of roofing area, or about fifteen squares.

Cost 
A number of considerations will affect the cost of a new roof. The price of the material is the starting point, but other factors also must be considered. One is the condition of the existing roof if you are remodeling a house—if old materials must be stripped off, and if the supporting structure needs repair, that will all cost money. The shape of the roof is another contributing factor. A gable roof with few or no breaks in its planes (like chimneys, vent pipes, or dormers) makes for a simple roofing job. A house with multiple chimneys, intersecting rooflines (the points of intersection are called valleys), turrets, skylights, or other elements will cost significantly more to roof.

Materials 
Not every roofing material can be used on every roof. A flat roof or one with a low slope may demand a surface different from one with a steeper pitch. Materials like slate and tile are very heavy, so the structure of many homes is inadequate to carry the load. Consider the following options, then talk with your designer and get estimates for the job.

Asphalt Shingle. This is the most commonly used of all roof materials, probably because it’s the least expensive and requires a minimum of skill to install. It’s made of a fiberglass medium that’s been impregnated with asphalt and then given a surface of sand-like granules. Two basic configurations are sold: the standard single-thickness variety and thicker, laminated products. The standard type costs roughly half as much, but laminated shingles have an appealing textured appearance and last roughly half as long (typically 25 years or more, versus 15 years plus). Prices begin at about $50 a square, but depending upon the type of shingle chosen and the installation, can cost many times that.

Photo: stonecreekinsurance.com

Wood.  Wood was the main choice for centuries, and it’s still a good option, though in some areas fire codes forbid its use. Usually made of cedar, redwood, or southern pine, shingles are sawn or split. They have a life expectancy in the 25-year range (like asphalt shingles) but cost an average of twice as much.

Metal.  Aluminum, steel, copper, copper-and-asphalt, and lead are all durable—and expensive—roofing surfaces. Lead and the copper/asphalt varieties are typically installed as shingles, but others are manufactured for seamed roofs consisting of vertical lengths of metal that are joined with solder. These roofs start at about $250 per square but often cost two or three times that.

Tile and Cement.  The half cylinders of tile roofing are common on Spanish Colonial and Mission styles; cement and some metal roofs imitate tile’s wavy effect. All 

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Neal Paskvan is a full time Realtor specializing in Downers grove, Darien,Woodridge, Westmont and Du page county Real Estate