◦ Landlords · Selling a rental · Spokane

Selling a rental with tenants in it? You have three options, and the law shapes all three.

A tenant-occupied home is not sold the way an empty one is. The lease follows the property, the notice rules are strict, and the buyer pool changes depending on whether the tenant stays. Here is how each path works in Spokane, from an agent who has closed 19 rental transactions in Spokane and the Valley.

Option one: sell with the tenant in place

The buyer is an investor, the rent keeps coming during the sale, and the lease simply transfers. The new owner becomes the landlord on the same terms, and the tenant's security deposit transfers to them, with the new owner required to tell the tenant where it is now held. What the buyer will want: a copy of the lease, a rent roll, the payment history, and the deposit accounting. What you give up: owner-occupant buyers, who usually pay more for a single-family home than investors do.

Option two: sell it vacant

This opens the sale to the largest pool of buyers and usually the highest price for a house, but it means ending the tenancy first. Washington requires a reason to end most tenancies. An owner who decides to sell a single-family home must give the tenant at least 90 days' written notice, and then make a real effort to sell, including listing it, within 30 days of the tenant leaving. A fixed-term lease generally runs to its end date unless the tenant agrees otherwise. Build the 90 days into your timeline before you pick a listing date.

Option three: negotiate a move-out

Sometimes the fastest path is a conversation. A tenant who is offered help with moving costs and a flexible date, in exchange for leaving on an agreed schedule, often says yes. Put the agreement in writing, be fair, and treat it as the business arrangement it is. It can turn a four-month process into a six-week one.

Showing a home that someone lives in

• Notice. Washington requires at least two days' written notice before a landlord enters, stating the date and time or window, and at least one day's notice when the purpose is showing the home to prospective buyers. The tenant may not unreasonably refuse a properly noticed showing.
• Respect wins. A tenant who feels informed keeps the place presentable and lets showings happen. A tenant who feels ambushed does the opposite, and buyers notice. Grouping showings into a few announced windows works better than one at a time.
• Photos. Ask before photographing a tenant's belongings, and shoot when the home is at its best.

If the property is inside Spokane city limits

The City of Spokane requires rental owners to hold a city business license and to be on the city's long-term rental registry. Since late 2024 a landlord who is not licensed and registered is limited in the ability to raise rent or end a tenancy. If you have been renting informally, get registered before you plan a vacant sale, because the notice you serve may not hold otherwise.

The numbers a landlord should run first

• Vacant price versus occupied price. Todd will give you both so the decision is a real comparison, not a guess.
• Carrying cost of the 90 days. Mortgage, taxes, and insurance with no rent coming in, against the higher sale price of an empty home.
• Taxes. Depreciation recapture and capital gains on a rental are real. A 1031 exchange may fit if you plan to buy another investment property. This is a conversation for your CPA before you list, not after you close.

This page describes Washington and Spokane rules as of the date it was written. Statutes and ordinances change, and your lease may add terms of its own. Confirm your specific situation with a landlord-tenant attorney before serving notice.

How Todd sells rentals

Nineteen of Todd's 273 closed transactions have been rental properties in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Medical Lake, and Airway Heights. Each one started with the same three questions: what the home brings occupied, what it brings vacant, and what the tenant needs to make the sale go smoothly. Get those answered and the rest is a normal listing.