More Control – When the tenants are still living in the property you have no control over how the property looks when the prospects arrive for an in-person review. If the property is not tidy or unclean when they come for review, it is very unlikely that they feel excited enough to talk to their broker about placing an offer. There have been cases where we had tenants who were cooperative enough to oblige the Seller clients to keep the property in a presentable state. However, in the majority cases, since it does not impact them directly, this might not be the case.

  

Effective Showings - It is always advisable to give the prospects autonomy to review the property without the presence of folks inside the house. With just the broker and themselves in the property, they feel comfortable reviewing and tend to stay longer which has a direct bearing on how well they like the property. If the tenants are living in the property, it’s a botheration for them to ensure they leave the property whenever showings are coming your way. Also, I think it’s a bit unreasonable for you as a landlord to expect that. If the property is vacant when it is made live on MLS it gives you an opportunity to entertain all showing requests which come your way. This will help in increasing our ability for a smooth and fast sale.
 

Property Smells Fresh - When tenants are living in the home they are likely to prepare meals and food and go with their business as usual and which they have every right to as they are paying you rent, if one of their preparations has a strong odor that is enough for the prospect to make the viewing in a hurry, and we lose out on the prospect. Like how property should look good, it should on the same token smell absolutely fresh to leave an impact on the buyer prospect.
 

No Missed Opportunities – When the listing of your property is made live on MLS and it looks sharp and the property is priced right, you are bound to get some showing requests. These requests for viewing by buyer prospects and their broker should be entertained and honoured as much as possible. The reason is that we as a

Seller do not know whether the 1st prospect or 10th prospect or 25th prospect who visits the property finds it suitable and matching for their needs. We should make an effort to accommodate all showing requests to not miss the opportunity to show our property to people interested in the listing. If the tenants are still living in the property we would need to work with tenants schedule and keep their comfort in mind as well in the opening of timings to accept the appointment requests and provide enough notice to them for viewings. With this restriction in entertaining viewing requests, we might miss the chance to show our property to all interested buyers.
 

Opportunity to fix/renovate – When the property is vacated by the tenant before you list, its gives an opportunity where you can do the basic steps to make the property market-ready and ensure to perform any outstanding maintenance. A crisp-looking property with no deficiencies will give the prospect the confidence to bring you an offer. The majority of the buyers don’t want to buy a property that needs maintenance, they want something which is ready to move in and further their buying aspirations right of the bat.
 

 
In a nutshell, when as a Seller you decide to forgo that additional month's rent and see to it that you list in the market only when it is vacated, it will go a long way in making sure your receive the best price market can bear along with the smooth selling experience.  Property should be in the best of state for increasing the probability that buyer prospects will like and feel excited about the property and by bringing the vacated property on market we help the cause. The gain in the selling price and the smoothness of the whole process would be worth the months of rent you will lose.
 

Wish you all the very best! Reach out to our dedicated team at Elixir for any queries you have in Real Estate and we will do our best to help.


Mudit Mehta
Broker of Record
ELIXIR REAL ESTATE INC.
Off: 416-816-6001 | [email protected]