How to Sell a Tenant-Occupied House in Florida

The lease goes with the house, not the seller

Here's the rule that makes everything else simple. In Florida, when you sell a property with an active lease, that lease transfers to the new owner. The buyer steps into your shoes as landlord and inherits the same rent, the same end date, and the same terms you agreed to. You don't have to break the lease. You don't have to evict. You don't have to wait for the tenant to leave before you sell.

That means a fixed-term lease keeps running after closing. If your tenant has eight months left, the new owner honors those eight months. If the tenant is month-to-month, the new owner can later end that arrangement with proper written notice under Florida law. Either way, the sale itself does not cancel the tenant's right to stay. Selling the building does not evict the people in it.

Sell as-is with the tenant in place

You don't need an empty, staged, repaired house to start with Cash Flow Deals. Tell us about your property's condition and the tenant's lease, and compare the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, with the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose.

With Fast Cash, you have no listing and no repairs to make. With Premium, we review the lease and the buyer's financing requirements to confirm whether the purchase can proceed with your tenant in place. Your home may be listed through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage, and a licensed agent handles scheduled showings coordinated with you and your tenant.

We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed, and those costs are settled from the sale proceeds out of our share. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. If the buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number.

Disclosures and the security deposit at closing

Two things have to be handled cleanly so the new owner can be a lawful landlord on day one. First, you disclose the tenancy. The buyer needs the written lease, the rent amount, the due date, the end date, and any side agreements in writing. Hidden terms cause disputes later, so put it all on paper before closing.

Second, the security deposit transfers to the buyer at closing, usually as a credit on the settlement statement, and the tenant must be notified of the new holder. Florida has specific rules on how deposits are held and how tenants get notified when the property or deposit holder changes. Get the exact requirements confirmed for your situation. Handled right, the tenant's deposit follows the property and the new owner takes over responsibility for it.

One title transfer, one closing line for CFD

Cash Flow Deals is not a middleman that buys your house and resells it. There is one sale and one title transfer, from you to the real bank-financed buyer, handled by Title Guaranty of South Florida. The title company runs the closing, confirms the deed, and makes sure the deposit and lease paperwork move to the new owner correctly.

CFD is free for sellers. CFD gets paid as a separate line on the closing statement, not out of your pocket and not baked into a lowball price. You see it spelled out at closing. For a tenant-occupied sale, that single clean transfer matters: the tenant keeps one landlord relationship that simply changes hands, instead of bouncing through a chain of investors.

What happens to your tenant after the sale

Your tenant's day-to-day does not have to change. With a fixed-term lease, the new owner honors it to the end, collecting the same rent on the same schedule. A good renter who pays on time is an asset to a bank-financed buyer, so there's real incentive to keep them.

If you want the tenant gone before or at closing, that's a separate conversation that has to follow Florida's notice rules for ending a tenancy. You can't use the sale itself to skip those steps. The cleaner path for most sellers is to let the lease ride and let the buyer decide later. Telling your tenant early, in writing, that the owner is changing but their lease is protected keeps the relationship calm and the sale on track. Call 786-891-9111 to talk through your specific lease before you list.

Florida F.S. § 83.57 notice requirements when ending a tenancy after the sale

If the new owner eventually wants to end a month-to-month tenancy, Florida Statute § 83.57 controls the notice requirements. For a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord must give at least 15 days written notice before the end of any monthly period. For a week-to-week tenancy, at least 7 days notice is required. The statute requires that notice be in writing and delivered in a manner authorized under F.S. § 83.56(4).

This matters for sellers because it means even a month-to-month tenant cannot be removed instantly after closing. The new owner must follow the same statutory notice period any Florida landlord would. A buyer who plans to keep the tenant has no hurdle. A buyer who plans to eventually end the tenancy knows the exact timeline Florida law sets, a predictable outcome next to the uncertainty an eviction process creates.

For sellers, the practical point is simple: the lease or tenancy type you have shapes what the buyer must do after closing. Communicating that clearly before going under contract keeps expectations on both sides realistic.

Florida F.S. § 83.57 notice requirements when ending a tenancy after the sale

If the new owner eventually wants to end a month-to-month tenancy, Florida Statute § 83.57 controls the notice requirements. For a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord must give at least 15 days written notice before the end of any monthly period. For a week-to-week tenancy, at least 7 days notice is required. The statute requires that notice be in writing and delivered in a manner authorized under F.S. § 83.56(4).

This matters for you because even a month-to-month tenant cannot be removed instantly after closing. The new owner must follow the same statutory notice period any Florida landlord would. A buyer who plans to keep the tenant has no hurdle. A buyer who plans to eventually end the tenancy knows the exact timeline Florida law sets, a predictable outcome next to the uncertainty an eviction process creates.

Your lease or tenancy type shapes what the buyer must do after closing. Sharing that information before going under contract keeps expectations on both sides realistic.

With Cash Flow Deals, you choose between the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. We review your tenancy details to establish which buyer can purchase with the tenant in place. On Premium, your home may be listed through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage, with a licensed agent and scheduled showings.

We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with costs settled from the sale proceeds out of our share. With Fast Cash, we buy as-is, with no repairs for you to make. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens.

Cash Flow Deals' Offer Process:

1. Call 786-891-9111 or submit your address to Cash Flow Deals, and tell us the lease type, rent amount, and whether the tenant is on a fixed-term or month-to-month agreement.

2. Cash Flow Deals reviews the lease and presents your Fast Cash Offer and Premium Cash Offer together, delivering a no-obligation offer within 24 hours. You choose the path that fits your needs and the tenancy.

3. Once you accept and both sides sign a written contract, Title Guaranty of South Florida handles closing while the tenant stays in place. With Premium, the buyer signs a new contract directly with you, their lender funds the purchase, and title transfers once, directly from you to that buyer. Cash Flow Deals is paid as a separate line item on the closing statement. If the buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number.