Being a landlord was supposed to build wealth, not run your weekends. If you are worn out from the late-night calls, the repairs that never end, and a tenant who pays late or not at all, you are not alone, and you are allowed to be done. A lot of Chicago landlords reach a point where the rental is costing more in stress and money than it returns. Selling the property for cash, with the tenants right where they are, is often the cleanest way out.
We are Sell Home Chicago, a local cash home buyer. We buy rental properties across Chicago and the nearby suburbs, pay cash, and buy them occupied and as-is. You pay no fees and no commissions, you do not have to evict anyone or empty the place first, and you hand off the management headache for good. This page explains how selling a tenant-occupied rental works and why a cash sale fits a tired landlord.
Done being a landlord? Send the address for a fair, no obligation cash offer.
Sell the property with the tenants in place
You do not have to remove your tenants to sell to us. We buy rentals occupied, so the lease, the tenants and whatever is going on with them come with the property. That matters, because clearing a unit out first can mean a long, expensive and stressful process, especially in Chicago. Most rentals here fall under the city’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, one of the more tenant-protective ordinances in the country, with strict rules on notices, deposits and fees, so ending a tenancy or moving a tenant out is slow and exacting. We take the property as it is, tenants and all.
Selling a tenant-occupied house the traditional way is hard for the opposite reason: most buyers want the place empty and show-ready, and a buyer using a mortgage needs to tour it and have it appraised, which tenants do not have to allow and often will not. We are the buyer, we pay cash, and we do not need the property staged, empty or on its best behavior.
Problem tenants and nonpaying renters
Some of the rentals we buy come with the hardest part of the business attached: a tenant who stopped paying, one who will not let anyone in, or one tangled up in a dispute you did not ask for. You do not have to resolve all of that before you sell. We buy the property with the situation in place and deal with it ourselves after closing. For a landlord who is tired of chasing rent and whose patience has run out, handing the whole thing off in one sale is a real relief.
The same goes for deferred maintenance. Years of a rental taking hard use, and hard Chicago winters, add up, and the repair list on a worn property can be long. We buy as-is, so you fix none of it. Our sell house as-is page covers condition, and our we buy houses page shows the full range of what we take, rentals included.
Hand off the tenants and the repairs. Ask for a free, no obligation cash offer.
A clean exit from the management headache
The real product here is not just a sale, it is being done. No more calls about the boiler, no more tracking down late rent, no more weekends lost to a property that stopped being worth the trouble. A cash sale draws a clean line under it. You get cash for the property, the management ends on the closing date, and the tenants, the repairs and the paperwork become ours.
Because we pay cash, there is no mortgage lender in the deal, so there is no appraisal, no lender-required repairs and no loan to fall through, and the sale can close in about one to two weeks or on a later date if you prefer. You pick the day you are finally out of the landlord business.
The process, step by step
- Tell us about the property. Send the address, the lease situation and anything going on with the tenants through the form or by phone. There is no cost and no obligation.
- Get a cash offer. We look at the property and recent nearby Chicago sales and give you a fair, no obligation figure, with an explanation of how we reached it.
- Pick a closing date. When you accept, we close at a local title company on a date that works, occupied and as-is, with any mortgage or liens paid off out of the sale.
- Walk away done. The tenants, the repairs and the management are ours from closing on.
If more than one thing is going on at once, our situations page covers the rest, and our how it works page walks through our side of the sale step by step.
Get a cash offer on a Chicago rental
Send the address and a few details about the tenants and we will get back to you with a fair, no obligation cash offer. There is no cost to find out.
You can be out of the landlord business sooner than you think, without an eviction or a cleanout first. A short, free conversation will tell you what the property is worth to us as-is and occupied. Call us or send the form to get started.
Call or send the form for a free, no obligation cash offer on your Chicago house.
Questions people ask
Can I sell with tenants still living there?
Yes. We buy rentals occupied, so you do not have to evict anyone or wait for a lease to end before you sell. The lease and the tenants come with the property, and we take over as the owner at closing. That is often the biggest relief for a landlord who is ready to be done, especially under Chicago’s tenant-protective ordinance.
My tenant is not paying rent. Will you still buy?
Yes. A nonpaying or difficult tenant does not stop the sale. We buy the property with the situation in place and handle it ourselves after closing, so you do not have to resolve a dispute or chase back rent before you can get out.
The rental needs a lot of repairs. Does that matter?
No. We buy as-is, including rentals with years of deferred maintenance and winter wear, so you fix nothing. The condition is priced into the offer rather than a reason to turn the property away, and the repair list becomes ours after closing.
Do I have to tell my tenants before I sell?
You handle your tenants however your lease and the Chicago ordinance require, and we are glad to work with you on timing so it goes smoothly. The tenants keep their lease rights, and we step in as the new owner at closing, so for them it is a change of landlord rather than a reason to move.
How fast can you close on a rental?
Often in about one to two weeks, because we pay cash and there is no loan to underwrite or appraisal to wait on. If you would rather close later, you pick the date. Either way, the management ends the day the sale closes.