Even if your rental property is occupied by the ideal tenant, there may come a time when you want or need to sell your investment. So, how do you go about following the rules without infringing on your tenant’s rights or breaking the lease?

The answer to this can depend in large part on the type of lease you have with the tenant. For example, if they are renting on a month-to-month basis, you need to give them proper notice, which will typically entail either delivering or mailing this information at least 30 days before you would like them to move out.

If, however, you and the tenant have a yearly lease for the renting of the property, Florida landlords are required to provide notice not less than 60 days prior to the end of the annual period. You can find more detailed information on how and when to give tenants proper notice on the Florida Legislature’s website.

In many cases, the lease doesn’t necessarily have to end if the landlord / property owner sells the property. Rather, the new purchaser can assume the rights and responsibilities of the current lease, and also become the new landlord.

This, however, can differ if you, the seller, have plans to move into the property yourself. In this case, it may be necessary to evict the tenant(s) – even if they have done nothing wrong and their rent payments are current.

If you are doing away with the property simply because being a landlord is taking up too much of your time (as versus selling it to pursue other financial opportunities and need funds from the sale), it could make sense to keep the home and turn over the day-to-day maintenance and tenant management duties to a professional Florida property manager.

If you own rental property in Orlando and/or the Central Florida area, give us a call for more information on how you can still reap the benefits of owning investment property, but without having to do everything on your own.