Want to sell investment property in 2025? Try this new sales strategy!

If you want to sell a rental property, estate agents will usually give you the outdated advice to offer it with vacant possession. The logic is that this makes the property more attractive to a wider pool of buyers – not just investors but also potential owner-occupiers – and therefore you will stand a better chance of getting the highest price.

But it’s not necessarily the best approach.

1. You lose income. Long delays are common when selling – if you get stuck with a vacant property that doesn’t sell, you could face a significant loss of income. Keep tenants in place and you get income until you seal the deal.
2. It takes way longer. You’ll need to give your tenants at least two months’ notice to leave the property. If you market to other landlords with tenants in place, you can start right now.
3. It’s more hassle. Telling your tenants they need to leave is not a pleasant job, for them or for you. Plus you’ll likely need to spend time and money on post-tenancy cleaning and decorating.
4. Added risk. Vacant homes are at greater risk of being damaged, whether through vandalism, squatting or burglary, leaks going unnoticed, or lack of heating causing damp problems.
5. We need more rented homes. There’s a real shortage of private rented property in the UK: in fact there are 15 people looking for every home that’s available, according to the NRLA.

This is why sellers are using a new trick to avoid all these pitfalls: selling their properties off-market with the same tenants.

Instead of listing the property publicly with an estate agent, it can be marketed directly to other landlords.

And it makes perfect sense for buyers, too. They know what income they will be getting, and they can see evidence of the tenants’ reliability. That means lower risk, and more reliable returns.