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Seller rent back after close of escrow: what do you need to know?

by | Aug 17, 2023 | Buying Tips, Contracts & Forms, Most Popular Articles, Selling Tips

Graphic image with house in the background and words in front: Seller rent back after close of escrow - what do you need to know If you are buying or selling a home in Silicon Valley today, you may be considering including the option to have a seller rent back after closing. What does this mean?

What is a rent back?

A rent back refers to the seller staying in possession of the home after it’s been sold to the new owner. Sometimes it is free, other times there is a cost. Normally, a security deposit is paid and held in escrow or by the new owner. (These are sometimes called rentbacks or rent-back agreements.)

Most of the time, it’s for 60 days or less, because longer than that and the buyer’s lender will consider the property as “non owner occupied” and the interest rate will be higher.

Upon close of escrow, the buyers get a gets a set of keys, but can only enter the property for certain reasons.

Brief video on  rent back highlights

 

Rent back agreements

If you are going to do a rent back in Santa Clara County, you may run into one of three forms that sets this agreement in writing. These can impact each party’s rights and responsibilities.

CAR Forms

With the California Association of Realtor forms (CAR forms), there are two distinct addenda depending on the length of stay for the rent-back after closing.
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What happens during a seller rent back?

by | Jul 3, 2016 | Buying Tips, Selling Tips, Working in real estate

When a home seller remains in the home after the close of escrow, it’s as a tenant or renter – even for a brief period of a few days.  With the shifting role from home owner to new renter, the rules of engagement may not be clear, and expectations may not line up with the addendum for the rent back.   So let’s do a set of what happens during the tenancy period after the sale is done.

Seller rent back True or False questions – which of these statements is true or false for the period when the seller is a tenant?

  1. When escrow closes, the buyers get keys to the home
  2. The seller must be undisturbed by the buyer until moving out
  3. The buyer can do repairs, including fumigation, during the rent back
  4. Prospective tenants may view the property during the rent back
  5. Contractors may enter the property during the rent back
  6. The new owners must give 72 hours notice before entry
  7. To enter the home, new owners must use an official CAR or PRDS “Notice of Entry” form
  8. The new owners may only enter the property if their Realtor is present or if the listing agent is present
  9. If the seller overstays the agreed upon rent back time, there’s a penalty fee that will be charged
  10. If there’s a rent back, buyers may do a walk through both before close of escrow and also at the end of the rent back period.

 

What does the paperwork saySome of these are challenging not just for buyers and sellers, but for real estate agents too. The reason for the confusion has to do with the number of forms involved.  There are 3 different rent back addenda which may be employed in Silicon Valley: 2 options from the California Association of Realtors (CAR) and 1 from the Peninsula Regional Data Service (PRDS).

  • PRDS form RSOAS – Seller Occupancy After Sale Addendum (1 page form)
  • CAR form SIP – Seller in Possession Addendum (1 page form, intended for less than 30 days)
  • CAR form RLAS – Residential Lease After Sale (5 page form, for more than 30 days rental to seller)

Some Realtors only use either CAR or PRDS forms, but I have found that depending on whom you represent, it may be worthwhile to tell the client about the differences between them as they are not exactly the same for all of these questions.

Now let’s go back to our questions and see what the contract & addenda have to say about each one. (more…)