I’ve been asked this question a lot recently from clients who are uncertain whether they should put their house on the market, rent it out, or do both. It really depends on the individual’s situation. Now is not the best time to sell unless you really NEED to sell or really WANT to sell NOW. In many cases if you purchased your property in recent years chances are you aren’t going to make any profit off the sale, and it’s likely you won’t even break even and will probably be selling at a loss. For this reason many owners are choosing to rent out their properties instead of selling while they wait for the market to turn upward.

Some choose to rent out their property while listing it for sale so they can continue to receive rental income while trying to sell. This option has both pros and cons. Of course most sellers would be happy to have income from their property while it’s for sale rather than have it sit empty for possibly several months on the market. The negative to this would be that tenants might not keep the property up to top showing condition like an owner would do, so the property might not show as nice or clean as it would if it were vacant or owner occupied. Another negative is Hawaii landlord-tenant code states a tenant must be given 2 days minimum notice for any showings. They can always agree to allow you to show it sooner, but they must be given 2 days notice so you could potentially lose out on prospective buyers who want to see the property sooner than that.

If you have a long term rental currently tenant occupied and are considering listing the home for sale, I would suggest you set up a time to discuss your plans with your tenant either in person or by phone. You might consider offering your tenant a small reduction in rent in exchange for their kind cooperation in keeping the property in the best showing condition possible, and in recognition of the inconveniences the tenant will experience having to make the home available for showings. I’ve found that tenants really appreciate a landlord who is sympathetic to the hassles of living in a home that is for sale and offers to give them back something in return for their assistance and on-going cooperation, whether it be a reduction in the monthly rent, a gift card of some kind, or any other form of appreciation, it will go a long way and probably end up to be well worth the cost.