A couple of days ago, I showed a home for sale along the Los Gatos border with Cambrian Park (area of San Jose) to a buyer couple.  It’s tenant occupied, was pretty much a mess  (and on top of being in disarray was dark – curains drawn, no lights on etc.) and the person who lived there walked us through the property, telling us things about the owners and the situation that really didn’t make my buyers want to purchase the home at all.  Between the condition of the property and the info-packed narrative, my clients could not wait to leave.   No sale!

If you own income property (or rental property) in Silicon Valley and want to sell it, you may be aware that a 1031 tax deferred exchange is something to consider.  What you may not remember to do is to strategize about what to do with your tenants.  How do you get them to be cooperative, responsive to showing requests and neat? And preferably, to be absent or at least quiet and out of the way when the home is shown?

When residential real estate is for sale, the occupants’ lives are turned upside down.  It’s no small amount of inconvenience and risk to them with the traffic in and out, the calls at all hours, the loss of privacy and on top of everything else, the risk of personal propertybeing stolen.  If you are a homeowner, you are motivated because you will get cash out of the deal at close of escrow.  If you are a renter and the home you’re renting or leasing suddenly goes on the market, there’s not really a “silver lining” built into the scenario most of the time.  That can set the stage for trouble and even financial loss.
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