Picture this, the lease on your unit is almost coming to an end and your current tenant has chosen not to renew it for another term. Now it’s up to you to find a replacement tenant to fill the vacancy.
It’s in your best interest to ensure that the unit is rented quickly because vacancies still generate costs that you will have to pay for due to a lack of rental income. Therefore you want to start marketing your property quickly. Typically, prospective tenants will want to view your property before making their final decision.
This leaves you with two options when showing your unit. You can conduct showings while the current tenant is still there, or wait until they move out. Like anything else, this has its own fair share of pros and cons.
This article will cover the benefits and downsides to conducting property showings while a tenant is still occupying the unit.
Pros of Showing an Unoccupied Unit
This option isn’t as stressful as showing an occupied unit. You won’t need to coordinate schedules with the existing tenant or worry about whether you’ll find the unit clean.
Showing an unoccupied unit also means you have time to take care of repairs. Naturally, after a tenant moves out, you’ll need to make a few repairs to ensure that the unit rent-ready. Examples of such repairs include fixing loose door handles, cleaning dirty grout, and fixing a couple of scrapes or dings on a wood floor.
Another advantage is that you won’t have to notify your tenant before entering the unit to show it to prospects. In Kansas City, landlords are required to give their tenants a notice of at least 24 hours before entry.
Cons of Showing an Unoccupied Unit
Despite the advantages, showing an unoccupied unit also has its downsides.
To begin with, an unoccupied unit means a loss of income. You’ll still need to pay for utilities as having the water and electricity turned on during property showings is necessary. The longer the unit stays vacant, the longer you go without generating rental income, thus hurting your ROI.
Pros of Showing an Occupied Unit
Showing an occupied unit means there is no loss of income for you as the tenant that is occupying the unit is still paying rent every month.
There also won’t be any losses resulting from vacancy. This is because, once your current tenant has left, your new tenant will move in immediately. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about transferring utilities from your name to the new tenant. That’s because there isn’t a need for this without a vacancy.
Cons of Showing an Occupied Unit
There are some challenges associated with showing an occupied unit. For one, the unit may be messy. You won’t be able to predict whether the tenant has tidied it up or not. This is where having a good relationship with your tenant can come in handy as you can discuss the expected state of the unit before conducting any showings.
You also have to work around the current tenant’s schedule and ensure that you aren’t violating their right to privacy. What’s more, you must ensure to provide your tenant with the property notices prior to entering the unit.
Tips for a Successful Property Showing in an Occupied Unit
If you weigh your options and choose to show the unit while it’s occupied, then keep the following in mind to ensure the process goes smoothly:
Let Your Tenant Know About Your Plans
The goal here is to avoid surprising your tenant. Discuss your plans to show the property with them and let them know about any expectations you may have with regards to their behavior or the state of the unit.
Serve Your Tenant with Ample Notice
Coordinate a schedule that works best for your tenant. Besides the coordination, make sure to serve them a proper notice before the intended day of entry.
As already mentioned, in Kansas City you must provide your tenant a notice of at least 24 hours prior to the entry. This will ensure that your tenant has ample time to prepare for the showing. Timing should be reasonable, for example, do not request to do a showing too early in the morning or late in the evenings.
Ask Your Tenant to Clean the Unit
You can ask your tenant to tidy up the space before the showing. If they don’t have the time to do so, you can broach the topic of hiring a professional cleaning service. You can offer to cover the cost or offer other incentives.
Hiring a professional cleaning service will be a win-win for both parties. On your part, you’ll be able to make a good first impression on prospects. On your tenant’s part, they will probably appreciate the clean-up.
Reward a Tenants Compliance
Don’t forget to thank your tenant for their cooperation. Now the gift doesn’t have to be expensive. It can be as simple as a gift certificate to a local restaurant. However, if you’re planning on having plenty of showings, consider giving your tenant some rent abatement for the regular intrusion.
Avoid Hosting an Open House.
Open houses are bad for multiple reasons. To begin with, they can last a long time. On average, it can take one and a half hours. Contrastingly, an individual property showing will only take about 15 minutes.
Secondly, having several people in the unit is risky. You may not be able to watch them as easily, meaning that it may be possible for someone to steal something from the tenant’s unit.
What’s more, hosting an open house won’t help you pre-screen tenants as you won’t be able to know or meet each one individually.
Summary
Showing a unit isn’t without its challenges, but so long as there is open communication and mutual respect, you’ll have a successful showing even when the unit is occupied.
Alternatively, engage the services of a professional property management company to help. Young Management has the in skills and experience to market and manage your rentals, so let us help you!