<p>sistersunnie, what did they find during the inspection??</p>
<p>Wood rot, termites, and all such goodies. Have had all the insulation pulled out, retrenched, new sump pump and pit, new vapor barrier, new floor joists, etc. Had to have regraded and obviously treated. Tree in front yard downed. </p>
<p>My own darn fault, had my hands full the last ten years and hadnt kept up on all the maintanence. From now on I will (or will have someone) crawl around under the house.</p>
<p>^Great ideas here. (Staging and so forth.)</p>
<p>The worst nasty surprise we got when selling a house was when termites decided to swarm just hours before a realtor was due to show it. We cancelled the showing & called the exterminator. It was horrifying to see those insects coming out of a window frame–it was spring and that’s when they swarm!</p>
<p>Paused all sale activity while repairs to wood elements of basement were made…</p>
<p>About upgrades: Experts say don’t make them thinking you’ll get your money back. If you want to enjoy a new kitchen or bath, do it, but you won’t necessarily get back the investment. And some upgrades you have to do just to keep your house in line with others in the area, as your carpet ages, decorating styles change, etc.</p>
<p>Well, here’s a strange one to me:</p>
<p>While our house is on the market, we are starting to look at things we might want to move to. (Dangerous, I know, but some things are unique and should not be ignored.) </p>
<p>We want to see a particular house. Our realtor says that the listing realtor says that the current tenant won’t let anyone in. Current tenant is due to leave by 5/31, so we’ll see it next week, I guess. But how can a tenant highjack a house like that???</p>
<p>Because tenants have rights…</p>
<p>A long time ago…</p>
<p>I had a 1 year lease on a place…</p>
<p>And a month into the lease…the landlord came to the front door and asked, “Would it be ok to show the house to a prospective buyer?” </p>
<p>And I said, “Yes…in eleven months”.</p>
<p>In most places, owners have only limited rights to enter a rented house or apartment. These are usually: in the event of an emergency, to make repairs, or to show the place to prospective buyers or tenants. You cannot just enter the place whenever you feel like.*</p>
<p>Even if you have the right to enter to show the place, the tenant usually must be provided with reasonable notice, typically 24 hours. You can’t call 10 minutes before and expect to be able to go in. If the tenant is being a jerk about it there isn’t much you can do without taking them to housing court.</p>
<p>With only one week before the tenant is gone, most likely they will just let the tenant be a jerk.</p>
<p>*This is governed by the rental agreement and the laws in your state. For example, in my state, I’m not even allowed to have a key to the apartment unless the rental agreement says I can.</p>
<p>I don’t think the tenant is being a jerk…</p>
<p>The tenant paid for the place…</p>
<p>Every lease I’ve ever seen gives the right to enter to show the place to prospective owners and tenants. If such a clause is in the tenant’s lease, and they are being given reasonable notice, then, sorry, but IMO the tenant is being a jerk. They are not fulfilling the terms of the lease.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter that they are paying rent, what matters is what the lease says.</p>
<p>Well…my lease didn’t.</p>
<p>Maybe things have changed since then.</p>
<p>Well… if your lease didn’t give the owner the right to enter under certain conditions, or state law doesn’t give the owner the right, then you were within your rights to not let the owner in to show the place to a potential buyer.</p>
<p>I will point out that being within your rights and being a jerk are not mutually exclusive. ;)</p>
<p>:)…</p>
<p>I think in Calif…the landlord does have the right to show the property to prospective buyers under certain circumstances…</p>
<p>I guess the landlord blew it in my case… </p>
<p>It was 30 years ago…</p>
<p>I probably was a jerk… ;).</p>
<p>We tried to view a house last weekend and didn’t know there was a tenant. There was the standard lockbox with code on the door, but we thought we might have seen a small light on so we rang the bell. No answer, and the realtor said the agent had told her to leave the laundry room light on when we left, so we thought that must be all it was and went in. Ended up getting screamed at by a very angry tenant, and the property was in shambles anyway-- he ended up leaving, presumably so we could view the house, but we left too. I don’t think they’ll be getting that house to sell while he’s there… I hope they know he’s being aggressive.</p>
<p>^^ema, someone like that is probably giving the owners a terrible time too. I’ll bet they can’t wait to sell it and get rid of him, he’s probably scaring everybody else off too. If you can look through the tenant, and the mess, I wonder if you might be able to find a great deal for a low price in that one. As long as it’s just surface mess, not a major fixer.</p>
<p>^ Was the tenant notified that there was going to be a showing? Or did you surprise him by unlocking the door and walking in?</p>
<p>I’m honestly not sure, he was incoherent. That occurred to me and I felt bad about the possibility, but we did have a scheduled showing and rang the bell twice and knocked… not sure what else we could have done, after no answer we were sure nobody was home. Everybody involved had an unpleasant afternoon, I am sure.</p>
<p>We have most definitely not tried to see this rented house with only 10 minutes’ notice! In fact, we’ve been trying to schedule it all week. It’s kinda weird – my agent and I were going to go at 10:30 AM yesterday; then my agent said the tenant said No, but 3:30 PM yesterday would be OK. I couldn’t do it then. So agent and I agreed to 11:00-ish today. Got a call from agent around 9:00-ish that the tenant says no.</p>
<p>Well, if we can’t see it, I assume no one else can see it either. I’m going to research some zoning laws on that property while we wait.</p>
<p>^^^Y’all are making me very happy I didn’t rent out my mom’s house. And you’re also convincing me that we shouldn’t rent out FIL’s house, either.</p>
<p>Wow Ema, that’s unpleasant! I’ve been a renter in the past and the lease always provided a reasonable right of access for the last month before vacating so the LL could either rent or sell. The lease really should provide a procedure and timeline for access.</p>
<p>Not saying anyone here’s agent is like this, but there are a lot of bad/sloppy agents out there who don’t read the showing instructions or just outright ignore them.</p>
<p>If the instructions say “call the tenant, 24 hours notice needed” and you just show up and knock on the door, or worse, walk in, or the listing agent never bothered to actually tell the tenant about the showing, you can’t blame the tenant for being p*ssed off. And if it happens multiple times, I might yell at the agent too.</p>
<p>The tenant may have issues of his own, he is having to move, perhaps involuntarily. So he might be angry to start with, and not very cooperative.</p>
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<p>Here is the current law(as I know it) about property showing with a tenant in the property:</p>
<p>Landlord has the right to show the property, he can issue a 24 hour notice for entry and give it to the tenant. The tenant has the right to reschedule, but if the tenant refuses, the landlord can issue a three day notice to “fix” or vacate notice. After 3 days, the landlord can file an complaint in court to evict the tenant.</p>