You do not need to evict anyone before selling. I buy occupied property in Memphis regularly, including houses where the tenant is behind or where the relationship has broken down entirely. Getting the place empty first is the expensive, slow way to do this and it is not required.
Selling With Someone Still Living In It
An occupied rental is difficult to list conventionally. Showings need tenant cooperation, which you may not have, and a retail buyer wanting to move in needs the house empty by closing, which puts the eviction on your side of the table.
Selling direct removes both problems. There are no showings, and whether the tenant stays or goes becomes a question I handle after closing rather than a condition you have to satisfy before it.
What I Will Ask You About The Lease
Whether there is a written lease and when it ends. What the rent is and when it was last actually paid. Whether there is a security deposit and where it is being held. Whether anything has been filed in court already.
None of these answers are disqualifying, including the awkward ones. A tenant who has not paid in eight months is a situation I have dealt with before and it does not change my interest in the house.
Tennessee has specific rules about security deposits and about how a lease survives a sale. That is worth a conversation with an attorney, and it is a normal part of closing rather than an obstacle.
If the rent stopped some time ago and the mortgage did not, that is a second problem stacked on the first, and it is dealt with under a Memphis house heading toward foreclosure.
If The House Is Somewhere Else
Wherever it is in the metro, the process is identical, and houses across the whole of Shelby County is set out in full on the county page.
What Listing Actually Nets You
Listing usually produces a higher gross price than a direct sale. Whether it produces a higher number in your account is a different question, and it is the one worth answering before you decide anything. Put your own figures in.
Commission is figured at 6 percent and seller closing costs at 2 percent, which are common but not universal. Carrying cost means taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep. This is an illustration using your numbers, not an offer or an appraisal, and it deliberately assumes the listing sells at the price you entered.
The Numbers Behind That
| Line | Typical |
|---|---|
| Filing and court costs | Per eviction action |
| Attorney fees | If you use one, and most do |
| Lost rent during the process | Weeks to months |
| Turn and repair after they leave | Frequently significant |
| Your time and attention | The part nobody prices |
| Agent commission at 6% | If you list it after all that |
This is the sequence people assume they have to complete before selling. They do not. Every line above is a cost you can decline by selling occupied instead.
Who you are dealing with
Hi, I am Torian. I buy residential property with my own capital in Memphis and across Shelby County, through TOPSICO LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company.
I am not an agent and not a broker. Nothing here is a listing and I am not representing you in a sale. If you want your house exposed to the open market, an agent will usually get you a higher price, and I will tell you that rather than talk you out of it.