Have you decided to sell your multifamily apartment building in St. Petersburg or Clearwater Florida? Here is a guide on navigating the whole process and how best to go about these steps.
Reasons Why You Would Need to Sell Your Multifamily Apartment Building in St. Petersburg or Clearwater Florida
If you own a multifamily unit apartment building in St. Petersburg or Clearwater Florida, there are some reasons why you might decide to give it up for sale. Below are some of the more common reasons we see as local real estate investors.
● Tired of Being a Landlord
Owning an multifamily unit apartment building and renting to tenants might seem appealing as it is a source of passive income. However, this is not always the case. Even when you have good tenants as a landlord, you must invest in repairs and maintenance regularly.
It can be worse, when you have bad tenants living in your property, your stress levels can go through the roof! It could be frustrating to watch your property fall to pieces in the hands of tenants that don’t take pride in where they live. This can make you fed up as a landlord. Especially when you have to immediately address all the damages, repairs and stresses than come with having tenants in your apartment.
● Can’t Keep Up With Maintenance
Constant maintenance is a factor that might trouble you if you are a landlord with multiple units rented. With every tenant leaving, there is always a need to make repairs or purchase new appliances. These repairs take away from your profits and could leave you earning less than you expected.
● High Vacancies
High vacancies mean the area/region is not appealing to renters. Everywhere in the world has this, even Florida. However, low vacancies mean that the apartments are very desirable and sort after. Hence, high vacancies are not beneficial to landlords.
In the case of high vacancies. Selling the apartment would be a more profitable option if it is a problem you are unable to fix with marketing, using a realtor, or any other means to attract tenants. If you go to long with high vacancies. You could likely come out of pocket on your costs and cause some financial strain.
● Bad Neighbors
Though you might excel in finding the right tenants, the neighbors of your tenants might be a little out of control. Loud music, up all night with loud conversing or just a lot of late night movement that disrupts the quietness on a residential floor.
Your tenant’s neighbor can be a nuisance and a disturbance to your other tenants. This can lead to some tenants not renewing or wanting to break their lease early for better location and quieter living situation.
If your means to reach out to those troublesome tenants verbally is not successful. Then giving warnings or noise citations from local authorities may help keep them in control.
● Fire Damage
In the advent of a fire outbreak in your multifamily apartment building in St. Petersburg or Clearwater Florida, both the tenant and landlord are held responsible. This occurrence is also one of the inconveniences that landlords have to undergo.
Hopefully there is a requirement for tenants to obtain personal property insurance to cover items damaged and the landlord has insurance coverage that covers damages in the unit.
In any event, these occurrences can be stressful and too much to handle for a landlord not ready to cope with the process of restoring the building back to livable and rentable conditions.
● Facing Financial Hardship
Landlords are responsible for the apartments they rent out in their apartment building. Being responsible comes with its fair share of cost. When you can’t pay the costs to run an apartment building. Then maybe it’s time to sell and move on.
There are many hardships that come with owning a multifamily apartment building in St. Petersburg and Clearwater Florida. If you find these costs spiraling out of control. Then the time to sell is now before you incur more losses and find yourself in a financial hole that will be difficult to dig out of.
● Facing Foreclosure
Foreclosure is when the landlord or homeowner is behind on their mortgage payments and is at the risk of losing the property. The bank or lien holder takes possession of the property then sells it to balance up the debts the owner owes.
Although the property might go for a lower price. You could walk away with it not affecting your credit score significantly and you will be able to settle your debts with the mortgage company.
● Absentee Owner
An absentee owner is a homeowner that doesn’t stay on the premises of their unit or sometimes they don’t live in the same state.
Being an absentee owner has some drawbacks. The apartment becomes difficult to self-manage, and you are wholly dependent on the property manager if you are quite a distance away from the property. If you are no longer comfortable with the conditions and the requirements needed to be an absentee owner. Then selling the apartment building is the next best thing you can do.
Why You Should Sell Your Multifamily Apartment Building In St. Petersburg or Clearwater to a Local Real Estate Investor?
Selling off-market is simply not listing your property on the multiple listing services. Not being on the multiple listing services means the sale of your apartment is exclusive and not public for everyone to see.
Also, selling off market in Pinellas county comes with several benefits. It is a cheaper option. If you have financial issues and you desperately want to sell your house, you can do it off market. You don’t have to worry about money for advertising or fees that need to be paid to a Realtor. The exclusivity and word of mouth, if used well, can drive the price up for your apartment building in St. Petersburg or Clearwater Florida.
Should You Tell Your Tenants You Are Selling the Property?
Yes! Apart from the fact that it is simply good manners, it makes the sale process way smoother. More so, do it before you put your apartment on the market. Also, you should probably write a letter and ensure it is received in case of future confrontation.
How to Get Offers That Are Close to Your Terms
Since you have decided to sell your house, you are probably looking for a way to get the best cash deal, quick close, and a short due diligence period. Succinctly, there are a few ways to do this. Apart from the fact that the property is being sold off-market, you also need to:
● Reject low ball offers—Don’t jump on the first offer you see. Negotiate for the best terms.
● Try using an expiration date – This creates a sense of urgency to prospective buyers
● Start a bidding war – If you are in a desirable neighborhood. Start the price low and give a best and final date to submit all bids.
● Volunteer to pay the closing costs – This gives incentive for buyers to agree to your terms.
Conclusion To Selling Your Multi-Family Apartment Building in St. Petersburg Or Clearwater Florida
If you have a multi-family apartment building and you are considering to sell it due to the reasons we highlighted above. You can contact us for a no-commit and free consultation at 813-666-5765
We would love to go over your options for either keeping or selling your multifamily apartment building in St. Petersburg or Clearwater Florida.