The tenant is the part stopping everyone else from buying
A lease attaches to the property, not to the landlord. When ownership changes the tenancy continues under the same terms. That means any buyer of an occupied rental is buying the income and the responsibility along with the building. Retail buyers who want to live there or need a mortgage for a primary residence cannot take on a tenant, so they do not bid. The buyer pool shrinks to investors who are comfortable with the lease. That is why occupied rentals sit on the market for months. The problem is not the condition of the rental or the rent the tenant is paying. It is that the buyer pool became too small to be competitive.
The lease is why you cannot sell it the normal way
A lease attaches to the property, not to you. When ownership changes the tenancy carries straight on, which means anybody who wants to live there, or who needs a mortgage on it as a home, is shut out until the tenancy ends. That is why occupied rentals sit unsold. It is the tenant, not the kitchen.
So the ordinary advice, get vacant possession and then list, is really advice to spend several months and a lot of money before you can start. We buy it with the lease in place instead, and the tenancy becomes ours at closing.
Every month you carry it costs more than you think
Non-paying tenants are common. Tenants with lease time remaining are common. Deferred maintenance is common. You are covering a mortgage on a property earning nothing, which would be temporary except it is not. Months stretch into years while you chase rent that will not materialize, coordinate repairs remotely or through a management company that takes a percentage of what money does come in, and watch the building quietly deteriorate. Property tax and insurance do not pause. The mortgage does not pause. Each month that passes is a month of carrying cost with no tenant exit date on the calendar. Eviction is slow, expensive and requires the tenant to cooperate. Even cash-for-keys, a negotiated sum for the tenant to leave, requires a tenant with skin in the game, which a non-paying tenant does not have.
What stops being yours at closing
We buy occupied rentals as-is for cash. Tenants in place, months of arrears outstanding, deferred maintenance, leases mid-term. You do not end the tenancy, do not chase unpaid rent, do not fix anything before closing. The mortgage, the repairs, the tenant management, the unpaid rent and the entire responsibility transfer to us at closing. You get one figure and a date you choose.
The tenancy transfers with the property. Most purchases close in two to four weeks, which is far faster than waiting out a lease or fighting an eviction. No commission on the sale. No management company taking a percentage forever. No repair list to fund. One number, decided once.
