Are you ready to sell your Tampa rental property?
Whatever your reasons, when it’s time to execute your exit strategy, you want to make sure you’re selling for top dollar.
If you’re selling to another investor, having a tenant in place will not be a big deal. In fact, it might help you sell for more since they’re acquiring the property with income already at their fingertips.
But, a lot of the buyers in the Tampa real estate market right now are likely to be owner-occupants. And that’s good news because while investors will be looking for wholesale pricing, those owner-occupants will pay top dollar.
It’s just a matter of getting your tenants out of the property.
Marketing a Home to Owner-Occupants for Top Dollar
When it’s time to sell, earning as much as possible will come down to providing an exceptional home that’s well-staged and marketed aggressively. You cannot accomplish that with tenants still living there, cooking their breakfasts and doing their laundry and living their lives.
You want to market a Tampa home that looks like a model home. This is how to create an emotional connection with buyers. To earn top dollar, it’s important to trigger the emotions that will help those buyers imagine living in the home. Moving right in, even.
With a tenant in place, the home cannot possibly look its best. Your job, as the seller, is to make that property look like a show home. It’s the only way to earn top dollar.
Plan Everything: Especially the Lease Ending
As you decide on your exit strategy as an investor, put a timeline in place so that you know when your lease will be ending. This will give you the time and the flexibility to:
- Communicate with your existing tenant. You’ll want to give them plenty of time to find a new place to live when the lease is over. Let them know that a renewal won’t be possible because you are selling the home. We recommend providing at least 90 days of notice; 60 at the very minimum.
- Plan for any repairs and upgrades that are necessary. Because you’re going to focus on the marketing of your property, you’ll want to make any repairs immediately after your tenant moves out. You’ll also want to make renovations and updates that will make the home competitive on the market. This might mean updated flooring, new paint, high-quality lighting, and energy-efficient appliances. You don’t want it to look like a rental home; you’re marketing to qualified buyers for top dollar.
- Look for inspection vulnerabilities. Marketing is all about aesthetics, but you also have to make sure your property is functioning the way it should. Buyers are going to want an inspection before the close, so make sure the A/C is working, the water heater is in good shape, and the roof can withstand tropical storm winds and rain.
When you map out an exit strategy over the course of several months, you can approach the sale of your property with a plan for profit. You’ll also minimize vacancy time and save some money.
Pricing a Tampa Home for Top Dollar
Pricing the property right is essential, and the right pricing strategy will determine how much money you earn or lose. Price too high, and the property could sit on the market for months. Price too low, and you might leave money on the table. Striking the perfect balance requires a deep understanding of the market. Don’t speculate. Don’t price arbitrarily based on what you want to earn. Vacancy equals loss.
Buyers today are more informed than ever. They browse comparable listings in Tampa, analyze market trends, and scrutinize every detail, particularly the price. A well-calculated pricing strategy positions your home favorably in the market, generating interest and competitive bids, which ultimately translates to a higher selling price.
Here’s how the right pricing strategy can work to your advantage:
- Attracts more buyers. A competitively priced home appeals to a wider audience.
- Creates a sense of urgency. The right price can encourage multiple offers and bidding wars.
- Faster sales. Overpricing often delays the sale process, as buyers and agents shy away even if they like the home, looking for more competitive homes instead.
Exit Strategies for Tampa Investors
We work with a lot of owners who might be renting out one or two homes, but they don’t want to be landlords, so they’re quick to sell. Remember that you don’t have to be a landlord in order to be an investor; you can partner with a Tampa property management expert to take care of the leasing, management, and maintenance. Work different options into your exit strategy so you don’t sell too soon.
Another option, for example, is the 1031 exchange. If you’re ready to let go of a particular investment property but you’re not interested in exiting the Tampa rental market altogether, you can sell the property you currently own and use the proceeds to buy something else. You still have to wait for the tenant to be out, and you still have to take all the steps you can to sell for top dollar, but you can continue earning rental income on an appreciating asset. You’ll also defer any capital gains taxes on the sale.
Exit strategies are all about good planning. Make decisions about what you’ll do with a property as the lease renewal period approaches. You don’t have to keep the property, but you don’t have to sell it, either. Work through your plan and the impact it will have on your finances and your entire investment portfolio.
As we talk about planning, we also want to remind investors that if you minimize costs now, you’ll sell more profitably later. That means keeping up with preventative maintenance. Making sure the curb appeal and landscaping are in good shape, and keeping up with small updates and improvements so that you’re not facing thousands of dollars in renovations just to prepare to sell the property.
Let’s talk about your exit strategy and how we can help you sell your Tampa property for top dollar. Contact us at Hoffman Realty.