We are planning to sell a condo we own in Seattle and use the funds for a 1031 exchange.
The city of Seattle has a requirement that you must provide 90 days' notice of when they need to be out; they can leave earlier by their own doing, but 90 days would be the maximum limit.
The real estate market starts picking up here in very early spring - like late February. By the time June comes around, things are normally slowing down. My goal would be to get the place up for sale no later than tax day (4/15).
After the current tenants vacate, I anticipate 1-2 weeks for repairs and renovations that I will self-perform. Side note: my wife is due for kid #2 on Jan 18.
So, my question is: when do you see the best time to provide notice-to-vacate (NTV)?
Scenario 1: NTV 11/30 --- empty by 3/1: Pros, probably aligns best with my intended list date and then I can stop thinking about this transaction sooner. Cons, baby is 6 weeks old, low on sleep, possibility tenants could move out pre-holidays, meaning it would be vacant for the winter and we lose 2 months of rent.
Scenario 2: NTV 12/15 --- empty by 3/16: Pros, late in the month, there is little chance they would move out pre-Christmas, so I would pin them there. Schedule still generally okay. Cons, really shitty thing to do 10 days before what should be a fun time of year.
Scenario 3: NTV 1/1 --- empty by 4/1: Pros, zero chance of holiday vacancy and likely earliest vacancy would be 2/1, which would be nice for my timing (minus new baby). Cons, schedule starts to get compressed if they extend out all the way to 4/1, but baby is older, so maybe that's better.
The RE market is changing quickly in Seattle (going down, fast). Normally there is a spring bump, but with rising rates, Amazon HQ2, and craziness in politics, H1Bs, immigration, SALT deduction, etc, I'm seeing an unsettled market that I would rather be faster to get out of than slower. I sold another property last spring at the absolute peak, so got lucky there. This one will not be as fortunate.
Question 2: I'm going to float the idea to the current tenants to see if they want to purchase directly. If they don't, I anticipate listing for $320k after about $4-5k of upgrades (plus sweat equity - I'd say I'm adding $20k of value). If I offer it to them directly, what would be the number to offer it at? $300k? $295k? $285k? Realtor fees would be $20k if I do a traditional listing --- might be able to negotiate seller fees down. I doubt they're interested in purchasing since they signed a 3 year lease 6 months ago, so they feel more like perma-renters than interested in buying.