For landlords who are done
Sell your rental property with the tenants in place
Get your cash offer
About two minutes. No obligation, no fee, and your details stay with us.
If the rental has turned into more work than it's worth, you can sell it with the tenants right where they are. Long lease, month to month, Section 8, or a tenant who quit paying: we buy it as it stands, and no one has to be evicted first.
A local team, no obligation, and a real answer either way.
You do not have to empty the building to sell it
Most landlords who reach this point are not looking for a pep talk about their portfolio. They are done. The furnace call at 2 a.m., the rent that stopped showing up in March, the duplex on the east side of Muskegon they have not seen the inside of in two years because the tenant will not schedule anything. At some point the building stops being an investment and starts being a job you cannot quit.
Here is the part most tired landlords do not know: you can quit. We buy the building as it sits: tenants, leases, arrears and all. The occupancy is priced into our offer, and nobody has to be evicted before closing. The tenants become our responsibility the day we close.
What happens to the lease when you sell a rental in Michigan?
In Michigan, a lease survives the sale. The buyer steps into the landlord's shoes for the remaining term. The tenant's rights and their ongoing rent obligation transfer to the new owner. That is exactly how we prefer it. If your tenant in Holland has eight months left on a lease, we buy the property with that lease and take over as landlord at closing.
Two housekeeping items travel with the sale. Security deposits have to be handled properly at transfer. Michigan's landlord-tenant law governs them, and we sort that out with the title company as part of the paperwork. If the unit is Section 8, the lease transfers along with the housing assistance contract, and we handle that as part of the sale. Month-to-month tenancies are simpler still: they end with notice equal to one rental period, typically 30 days. Since we buy occupied, though, we usually do not ask you to give it. One note: this is general information, not legal advice.
What if the tenant has stopped paying altogether?
We still buy. A non-paying tenant changes the number, not the answer. We look at what the unit should rent for and what it will take to resolve the occupancy through the proper channels after closing, and we make the offer accordingly. You sign, you get paid, and the collections problem stops being yours.
That matters most for owners who are not nearby. People who inherited a Muskegon rental, or kept the old house in Grand Rapids as an income property, often live far from it, and managing a non-paying tenant from three states away is misery. Selling occupied is the clean exit.
Should you get the tenants out before selling?
No, and please do not try. Some owners assume an empty unit sells better, so before calling anyone they start leaning on the tenant: hinting the locks might change, letting a repair slide, getting short on the phone. Michigan has no legal self-help eviction. No changing locks, no shutting off utilities, nothing that makes the unit unlivable. Eviction goes through district court, period, and a landlord who freelances it creates a legal problem for themselves, one that selling the property does not erase.
It is also pointless. We do not need the unit empty. Leave the tenant alone, keep things civil, and let us price the situation as it actually is.
How does selling an occupied rental to us work?
Call (616) 300-2586 or use the form on this page. Tell us what you have: the address, what the tenant pays, whether they are current, and how much of the lease is left. If we need to see the unit, it is a quick look when we can get access. If the tenant makes that difficult, we can usually work from what you know and a look at the exterior. You get a cash offer within 24 hours.
If the number works for you, we close in as little as 14 days at a local title company. Bring the lease, the deposit amount, and the rent ledger if you keep one. That is the whole homework assignment. We are based in Kent County and buy from Ludington down to Benton Harbor, so whether it is a single rental in Ottawa County or a tired fourplex in Kalamazoo, your property is inside our normal footprint.
When we're the wrong call
Some landlords don't need us at all. If the building is in decent shape, the rent comes in on time, and nothing is pushing you to sell this month, you're not a worn-out landlord. You're someone who owns a rental that works. An agent who sells to local investors can put that rent roll on the market and will usually get you more than we can pay, and if the lease is nearly up, waiting and selling it empty on the open market will likely do better still. Buying a solid building on the cheap from someone who had better choices isn't the kind of neighbor we want to be, and we'll tell you so on the first call, before there's a number on the table.
Everything on this page is general information about these situations in West Michigan, not legal advice. For your own case, a Michigan attorney (or, if you are facing foreclosure, a HUD-approved housing counselor) is the right person to confirm your options, and we'll never talk you out of calling one.
Straight answers
Tenant-occupied: questions sellers bring us
Can I sell my rental property in Michigan with tenants still living in it?
Yes. In Michigan a lease survives the sale, so the buyer steps into the landlord's shoes for the remaining term. Nothing about an occupied unit blocks a closing. We buy occupied rentals, take over the lease at closing, and deal with the tenants from that day forward. Unless your lease gives the tenant a purchase option or right of first refusal, you do not need the tenant's permission to sell, and you do not need the unit empty.
Do I have to evict a non-paying tenant before selling?
No. We buy properties with non-paying tenants in place, and the situation is priced into our offer. Eviction in Michigan goes through district court and takes time you may not want to spend, and changing locks or shutting off utilities is not legal at any point. Selling occupied lets you skip the whole process. After closing, resolving the occupancy is our job, handled through the proper channels.
What happens to the security deposit when I sell?
The deposit has to be handled properly at transfer. Michigan's landlord-tenant law governs security deposits, and they do not simply disappear when the property changes hands. In practice it is a line item at closing: you tell us what you hold, it is accounted for in the paperwork, the deposit transfers to us, and the tenant gets the written notice Michigan's deposit law requires. That is what closes out your responsibility for it. Bring the deposit amounts along with the lease and we will sort it with the title company.
Can I sell a Section 8 rental with the tenant in place?
Yes. A Section 8 lease transfers with the housing assistance contract: the housing authority processes the ownership change, the new owner takes over the contract, and the subsidy can continue without the tenant moving. We work through that with the housing authority as part of the sale, and a Section 8 tenant with a payment history is often the most straightforward occupancy there is. Mention it is a Section 8 unit when you call so we ask the right questions, and expect the rest of the sale to run like any other.
How fast can you close on an occupied rental?
We can make a cash offer within 24 hours and close in as little as 14 days. Occupied does not slow us down, because we are not waiting for the unit to be vacant, staged, or shown. What sets the pace is title work and paperwork: the lease, the deposit figures, the rent ledger if you keep one. If you need longer, we close on your schedule instead.
Whatever the situation, start with the house.
Start with a call or the short form, and you'll have a number within 24 hours and a date that works for you. If a different route would serve you better, that's what you'll hear from us first.