It’s clear that selling a tenant occupied home can be challenging:

• The are notice requirements (that can be negotiated)
• The tenant may be non-cooperative (they may be great)
• The may refuse to leave for showings (and talk negatively about the landlord and property)
• The property may not be in “showroom condition” for showings
• Showing may be hard to set up
• Agents may choose not show at all because of notice requirements

That said, you could have great tenants and there is nothing that guarantees a vacant or owner occupied property isn’t going to have some, if not all, of the issues above.  Additionally, a buyer with owner-occupied financing may be required to move into the home within 30-60 days.  If the tenant’s occupancy is for longer than that, the buyer pool may shrink.

These are all hypothetical issues.  What’s the math?  I took 500 recently sold tenant occupied properties, 500 vacant properties and 500 sold properties in Portland from RMLS and discovered the following:

Average Days on Market:

• Tenant occupied: 49 days
• Vacant: 38 days
• Owner occupied: 19 days

Average Selling Price per Square Foot:

• Tenant occupied: $166
• Vacant: $173
• Owner occupied: $195

We clearly see that tenant occupied properties spend more time on the market and sell for less than their vacant and owner occupied counterparts.