Selling a House With Tenants in Florida: A Landlord’s Guide

Yes, you can sell a rental house in Florida with a tenant still living in it. The lease doesn’t end because the property changes hands, and you don’t have to wait for it to run out. What you do need is a plan for the tenant, the lease, the deposit and the showings, because each one affects who will buy the house and what they’ll pay.

This guide covers your options as a Florida landlord, what Florida’s landlord-tenant law says about selling, the situations that make a sale harder, and what to expect if you sell to a cash buyer with the tenant in place. Since 2023, more than 200 of the homes we’ve bought had tenants living in them, so these are questions we deal with every week.

Your four options

1. Sell to an investor with the tenant in place

An investor buys the house as a rental, takes over the lease, and the tenant keeps living there. There’s no move-out to arrange, no vacancy to carry and no repairs to make. The trade-off is price: an investor values the house as an income property, as-is, and won’t pay what a family buyer might for a renovated, empty home. This is usually the fastest and least stressful route, and it’s the one that works when the house needs work or the tenant is behind on rent.

2. Wait for the lease to end, then sell it empty

If the lease ends soon, or the tenant is month-to-month, you can let the tenancy end and list the house vacant. An empty house is easier to show, clean and repair, and it appeals to owner-occupant buyers who typically pay the most. The cost is time: the months of waiting, plus the mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities while it sits empty and on the market.

3. List it with the tenant living there

You can list a tenant-occupied house with an agent, but showings depend on the tenant’s cooperation. A tidy, cooperative tenant can actually help a sale. A tenant who isn’t happy about it can make showings difficult, and a buyer who wants to move in has to wait for the lease to end. Lenders also treat owner-occupant and investor loans differently, which narrows the pool of buyers.

4. Pay the tenant to leave early

Sometimes called cash for keys: you offer the tenant money, often help with moving costs or a few weeks of rent, to move out before the lease ends. It’s voluntary, it should be in writing, and it only works if the tenant agrees. It can be cheaper and faster than an eviction when there’s a problem tenant.

What Florida law says about selling a rented house

Florida’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes) sets the rules. The ones that matter most when you sell:

• The lease stays in force. A sale doesn’t cancel a lease. The buyer takes over as landlord on the same terms, for the rest of the term.
• The deposit goes with the house. Under section 83.49, when ownership transfers, security deposits and advance rent go to the new owner, along with a record of each tenant’s account. Once that’s done and receipted, the seller no longer holds them, and the new owner becomes responsible.
• Entry needs 24 hours’ notice. Section 83.53 lets a landlord enter to show the house to buyers or make repairs with at least 24 hours’ notice, between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (It was 12 hours until a 2022 change, and many older articles still say 12.)
• Month-to-month needs 30 days. Since 2023, section 83.57 requires at least 30 days’ written notice before the end of a monthly period to end a month-to-month tenancy (it used to be 15).
• A fixed-term lease can’t simply be ended early. Unless the lease has an early-termination clause, or the tenant agrees, the tenant can stay until it expires.
• Nonpayment starts with a 3-day notice. Under section 83.56(3), a tenant behind on rent gets a written 3-day notice to pay or leave, not counting weekends and court holidays. If they don’t, the next step is an eviction case in county court.

This is general information, not legal advice. Leases and situations differ, so talk to a Florida-licensed real estate attorney before you send a notice or sign anything; if you need a referral, ask us.

Situations that make a sale harder

The tenant is behind on rent

Back rent doesn’t stop a sale, but it changes who will buy. Most family buyers and many agents will want the problem solved first. An investor can buy with the arrears and the tenant in place and deal with it after closing, so you aren’t stuck running an eviction just to sell.

The tenant won’t cooperate with showings

You’re allowed access with proper notice, but forcing showings with an unhappy tenant rarely goes well, and photos of a messy occupied house don’t sell it. Selling to a buyer who needs one walk-through, or none, avoids the problem.

The house needs repairs

Repairs are hard to do around a tenant, and many rentals have deferred maintenance after years of turnover. If a roof, AC or plumbing needs work, an as-is sale lets the buyer take that on.

Someone is living there without a lease

A former tenant who stayed past the lease, a relative who never paid, or a squatter all complicate a sale. These cases call for an attorney’s advice. We buy houses with occupants like these in place.

Selling to a cash buyer with tenants in place

Here’s what a tenant-occupied sale to Golex Properties looks like:

• Tell us about the property and the tenancy: the rent, the lease end date, the deposit, and anything that’s behind or broken. Copies of the lease help, but missing paperwork isn’t a deal-breaker.
• Get a written cash offer in as little as 10 minutes, for the house as it is. You pay no commission and no fees, and we pay the closing costs.
• The tenant stays. We assume the lease at closing. The title company transfers the deposit and prorates the month’s rent, and we let the tenant know who the new landlord is.
• You pick the closing date. A typical sale takes about a month, or as little as 7 days once the title is clear.

Golex Properties is led by a licensed Florida real estate broker, BBB accredited with an A rating, rated 5.0 from 202 Google reviews. See how we buy houses with tenants, or if you own several rentals, read what a portfolio sale is. We also buy duplexes and small multifamily properties.

Tenant-occupied sales come up in every market we work in. A few examples: townhouses with tenants in North Lauderdale, student rentals in Gainesville, and rentals in Fort Pierce.

Common questions