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The current housing market is driving many would-be first-time home buyers into renting homes. Their buying power isn’t strong enough to compete with many existing home buyers who can use their home’s equity to put a solid down payment on a home. Even those who provide substantial down payments are running into stiff competition from other home buyers competing with them for the low inventory currently available. So, they, too, are facing the dilemma of staying with family or friends. Alternatively, they rent a home until the market’s conditions are favorable for them to buy and move into a home of their own. This crisis is happening nationwide but is prominent in Phoenix, where rapid growth in the area has created a housing crisis. If you are renting a home in Phoenix, you may dread the possibility of being removed from your rental property because a homeowner wants to sell. However, as a tenant, you have rights. Here is a glimpse into tenants’ rights when a landlord sells the property.
What Happens When a Seller Wants to Sell Their Home
While you wait out the market conditions renting a home in Phoenix, you may have received notification from the homeowner that they want to sell their home. The property management team that manages the property may inform you. Or you may encounter Phoenix realtors who keep visiting the property, showing it to potential buyers, and advising homeowners about home improvement ideas that add value and sell the home.
You don’t have to panic. As long as you are in a lease agreement, you have some protections against the homeowner uprooting you from your home. One important thing to remember is that you have the right to try to purchase the house before anyone. This is referred to as the right of first refusal to buy. If you only want to rent the home and don’t want to buy it, the seller will either have to sell the house to a new buyer, and the new buyer becomes your landlord, or wait until your lease ends.
You’re Not Obligated To Participate in Helping the Seller Sell
Although you have protection from being removed from your home, you will have to compromise with the homeowner on the property to a certain degree. To sell, the homeowner still needs to show the property. So, you will have to cooperate with the homeowner when they need to show the home to potential buyers. The homeowner should give you reasonable notice before showing a property, usually between 24 and 48 hours.
Unfortunately, no clear stipulations exist in Arizona regarding a landlord’s access to rental property. So, the tenant must determine if this allotted time is sufficient for showings. Even though you must cooperate with showings, you are not obligated to ensure the property is tidy for the showings. If a homeowner wants a cleaning service to clean up the home before the showing, it is their obligation, not yours. But as a tenant, you are still obligated to maintain the rental unit. You just don’t have to do so specifically for the homeowner’s showing. Nor are you under any obligation to leave the premises during the showing.
Finding a home is challenging whether you’re in a seller’s or buyer’s market. As a home renter, you don’t have to live in fear that your rental property will be taken away from you. You have rights as long as you lease a rental property, and you even have an opportunity to call your rental property home before anyone else purchases it.