Want to sell property asap, but tenant is out of the country

[bdw]

If the tenant gives you permission to enter the property and take a few photo's, then call a locksmith to open the door. This is very simple, many people lose their keys or lock themselves out of their apartment every day and its not difficult for a locksmith to do this.

But anyway, if you already have photo's of the interior prior to the tenant moving in, they should be good enough. The photos just show overall layout/size, etc.

I'm more interested to know when does the tenancy agreement end? You are planning to sell it with a tenant, which is fine as long as is advertised as such and new owners must be made aware of and continue to honour existing agreement. Or you are planning to terminate the agreement early and pay some compensation to tenant?

[LifeInHK]

1. When is the end of the tenancy? If it is less than 6 months, then it would be better for you to wait.
2. Do NOT open the door of the flat on your own, even with whatsapp agreement !! That is dangerous, as it will open you up to lawsuits. You can only do so if and only if ... your tenancy has expired, and even then... there are a lot of things to consider with the lands tribunal
3. Check the stamp duty / tax that you have to pay when you sell property with tenant attached.
Going by memory, 3 years ago, when 2nd landlord sold the property to 3rd landlord, they had to pay extra stamp duty as they were unable to do the "vacant possession" of the property, i.e. hand over the property from seller to buyer in vacant / empty state.

Even if both parties agree, you (or your aunty as the owner) still has to be carefull on the tenancy agreement, especially if it was stamped. Given that an agent handled it and that agent insisted on the changing of locks and keys, then I would expect the agent to also stamp the tenancy agreement too. So.... if your "sale and purchase agreement" date is within the "tenancy agreement" date... you are going to raise flags at the taxation office.

[TheBrit]

Apartments are sold with tenants in situ all day every day in HK, it doesn't raise any red flags at all. It's also completely irrelevant if the lease is stamped or not as to whether a sale can proceed.

And if the tenant agrees and it's properly documented there are not risks to opening and showing the flat. It's absurd to say it will open you up to lawsuits (are you American?) if all parties consent and that consent is documented.

[timothwc]

My previous reply got deleted. Reason: "sounding like cool boy", whatever that means. I think because I was speculating the OP might be an agent. It's indeed odd that someone ist just "helping" an owner to sell their property. Other than family.

Still I'm feeling a bit used, like the other wonderful members of this forum helping with advise.

do you seriously think they’d let you browse geoexpat for free? The reason GE still exists is because we the brokers, selling everything from Rolexes to rolls Royce’s, want YOU to do the hard work of selling for us BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[DanielFRA]

do you seriously think they’d let you browse geoexpat for free? The reason GE still exists is because we the brokers, selling everything from Rolexes to rolls Royce’s, want YOU to do the hard work of selling for us BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Not sure what you mean. Haven't seen any ads or solicitation for Rolex or Rolls Royce here. Is this in this forum somewhere? Could you please point me into the right direction?

[walkup]

Do not involve the tenant at all. Sell with sitting tenant and no access for viewing. Once the property is sold, lawyer will notify the tenant of change of ownership.

[meinhkhk]

How to connect with the "professional property investors"?