Sell with tenant or without?

[wally]

Now that interest rates have stopped rising i am thinking of selling an IP unit (loan has been paid off). I am going to use the proceeds to put towards a new PPOR purchase.

I can either sell with the current tenant (lease period has expired), as is or give them notice and spend some money to freshen the place up before selling. (Dulwich hill, Sydney)

The unit is in good condition, but a new owner occupier would probably put in new carpet, and fresh paint. Bathroom is original, kitchen was renovated/tiled a couple of years ago.
I was thinking, i could take some time off work (couple of weeks), repaint and put in some floating floors, new light fixtures, and blinds, then sell.
Do you think its worth my time do this or sell as is??

If it takes three months to sell, that would be three months without rent, plus money spent on fixing up the place.
Do you think the better selling price would more than make up for the cost?

Also how hard is it to sell a place with a tenant?

 

[marg4000]

It all depends on the tenant.

We have sold two IPs that were tenanted, both close to the ends of the leases. We figured that if an investor bought then there was a tenant from day 1, but if an owner occupier bought then a slightly longer settlement would give vacant possession.

One tenant was marvellous, kept the IP immaculate and we sold for top dollar.

The other time the tenants said they were fine with the sale (and had always kept the IP reasonably neat and tidy), but subsequent inspections showed the IP in its worst possible light with mess everywhere. We did not receive the price we had hoped for, and the tenants gave minimal notice once the contract was signed. We were advised we could not pursue them for rent until the lease ended as we had "to make every effort to secure a new tenant to minimise the vacant period", clearly impossible when settlement was 3-4 weeks away.

I really don't know what I will do next time....
Marg