Giving Notice To A Tenant Before Showing A Lease Property

A number of tenants, even after agreeing to the terms of the lease, can be difficult, on purpose, it seems. They figure if they restrict access, then the house won't sell, and they won't have to move. I HAVE seen listing agents give up, and cancel the listing, forcing the seller to wait until the lease expires.

Bob, our listing agreement requires Seller to "provide listing Broker with written permission from all adult occupants authorizing access by the MLS participants and potential buyers at reasonable times upon reasonable prior notice".  We ask that the permission include 'leave message and show'. This helps avoid an uncomfortable situation. 

If the tenants are not treated with respect do not expect an offer until they vacate. I was told of a tenant informing his landlord if given 24 hours notice the they would have the place spotless, if people showed up in less time what was found would keep everyone from considering an offer ~ ever.

everything in writing and signed

Sadly, whether the lease states conditions or not, the tenant is in control. So strike up  positive relationships as early as possible. Tenants consider a listing agent as the person who is going to throw them out on the street. I have had both very good experiences and virtually tenants from hell to deal with. Out of respect to a tenant I request a 24 hour showing notice, as they have lives as well and  schedules that may be in conflict with a short notice showing. 

A few years ago I had a rather surprising showing of a house rented to 3 coeds in a college town.  We made arrangements the previous day for the showing with the tenants.  On the day of the showing I announced our arrival in a rather loud voice and received no response.  The buyer and I went through the house and opened a 2nd floor bedroom door where the coed was quite happily involved with her boyfriend.  I quickly shut the door.  A few seconds later she appears at the door in her unclad state and apologized that her roommates did not tell her of the showing. No embarrassment on her part at all.  I made the sale, but it could have gone very poorly as well.

Tenants can be a handful if they want to be difficult no matter what is written on the lease, it just seems to be luck if they cooperate, at any time.

Great protocol. Love the way they do things in Texas. My daughter just moved to Austin.

We always give our tenants 24 hours notice for showings and they are always extremely accommodating.  Sometimes they want to be present for the showing, but we tell them it doesn't work like that and creates an awkward environment and makes appointments run into each other.  

Expecting a tenant to allow a showing w/less than 24 hour notice, under any circumstances, is really unfair. With that said, creating a good rapport with said tenant will  sometimes allow them to accomodate same day showings. It's very difficult to sell a leased property, which is why in So Cal a signed Offer to Purchase is in hand before interior inspections. (not as applicable to a SFR as it is to units.)

Interesting topic yet most tenants are reasonable and cooperative. I've only experienced two that were uncooperative to the bitter end that resulted in eviction. We ended up selling the property.

I used to manage over 100 rental units.  Practice the  3 C's.  Compassion and Communication lead to Cooperation which leads to new landlord in most cases.

Oh, the timing couldn't be more perfect on this one.  My property is rented and the lease expires at the end of October. Before putting the house on the market I gave the tenants an opportunity to purchase.  They wanted to purchase the house for half of the fair market value.  I, obviously declined and listed the house.  I have been giving them 24 hours notice of showings.  Today, I called early in the a.m. for a showing tomorrow in the early afternoon and I have yet to hear back from them.  My lease does allow me, after reasonable notice, to enter the property for a showing,  however "making waves" with the tenants may cause some unpleasant reprecussions down the road.  I have shown properties with disgruntled tenants and even owners for that matter and the situation is uncomfortable at best.  Thanks for the perfect timing of this fantastic post!

What a great topic. We have rent control in Oakland and Berkeley so not only do sellers have to worry about tenants rights when showing the property, many times they have to sell the property with the tenants in the lease and then have the new buyer's negotiate them out. A lot easier to do if the property will be owner occupied.

This is a well written post and brings up some interesting topics.  However; I disagree with adding an "exhibit a" unless you are using an attorney to draft this language and it does not contradict the lease agreement.  The TAR (Texas Association of Realtors) Residential lease addresses Access in Paragraph 14 B and Keybox authorization in paragraph 14 D 1 and 2 which outlines the tenant and landlord responsibilities.   "Before accessing the Property, Landlord or anyone authorized by Landlord will attempt to first contact Tenant, but may enter the Property at reasonable times without notice to make repairs or to show the Property to prospective tenants or buyers, inspectors, fire marshals, lenders, appraisers, or insurance agents."

Tenant may withdraw their authorization for lockbox at the end of lease by paying the amount in 14 D 2 and providing written notice of withdraw to landlord.

Best practice is to have good communication with tenant since they usually want to get as much of their deposit back as possible.

Not sure if there is any specific language in California leases.  Of course you can put something in.  If ambigous I think the courts would go with the tenant.  I do not think 24 hour notice is unreasonable for a tenant to want.

We typically always have a penalty fee if they do not cooperate. We do try to give 24 hours notice of showing, and that seems to be the right balance for success...

One of the hardest types of rental properties to do a showing for is a multi unit building with several tenants living there. I have arrived at showings before and knocked on one of the units in the building only to find the tenant didn't even know the building was for sale! I'm not talking about a huge 100 unit apartment building....this was just a small 4 unit building, so it's not as if the owner would have trouble notifying 4 tenants!

I work with the landlord and the tenants to create a showing schedule that works for everyone to get the property sold or leased.

It is a bit of a treat going back and reading some of Active Rains best archives  like this one. Should be shared again.

Bob - In Arizona, it's 48 hours prior notice, unless the tenant agrees otherwise. Both the landlord and tenant need to understand the rules.