Sell Your Rental Property in Michigan

The tenant stopped paying in February, the last turnover cost you two months of rent and a new furnace, and you have been managing this place from three hours away. Carson Properties buys Michigan rental properties with tenants in place, with a vacancy, or with a mess left behind. No agent, no repairs, and no requirement to get anybody out first. Call (517) 481-4777 for an offer within 24 hours.

How Selling a Michigan Rental Property Works

We can usually make an offer from photos, the rent roll, and a single walkthrough, which keeps tenant disruption to one visit rather than twelve showings.

Contact us

Fill out our short form or call us directly. We ask a few basic questions about your Michigan property and your timeline.

Get your cash offer

We evaluate your home based on current market conditions and deliver a fair, no-obligation offer within 24 hours. No inspections, no appraisals.

Choose your closing date

Pick the date that works for you. We can close in as little as 5 days, or give you more time if you need it.

We Buy Rentals Across Michigan

Single-family rentals, duplexes and four-plexes, student rentals near campus, and small multi-unit buildings. Occupied, vacant, or somewhere in between.

What Michigan Landlords Need to Know Before Selling

Selling a tenant-occupied property in Michigan is different from selling a house you live in, and the differences are mostly statutory.

Leases, security deposits, and eviction timelines each affect what you are able to deliver at closing. Here is what applies.

The lease survives the sale

This is the rule most Michigan landlords get wrong, and it is worth stating plainly. Selling the property does not terminate a valid lease. A tenant with a fixed-term lease has the right to stay through the end of that term at the agreed rent, and the buyer steps into your shoes as landlord.

For a month-to-month tenancy or a tenancy at will, MCL 554.134 generally requires 30 days written notice to terminate. The sale itself is not that notice.

Practically, this leaves you two paths. Either you spend months and money clearing the property before you list it, or you sell to a buyer who wants the tenancy. We are the second one. A paying tenant is an asset to us rather than an obstacle, and you avoid the vacancy loss entirely.

Security deposits have to be handled correctly at closing

The Michigan Landlord and Tenant Relationships Act is specific here, and the penalties are real.

Under MCL 554.614, when your interest in the rental ends by sale, you remain liable for the security deposit until one of two things happens. Either you transfer the deposit to the buyer and notify the tenant in writing by ordinary mail of the transfer and the new owner name and address, or the buyer complies with the deposit requirements themselves. Do not skip that written notice.

• Deposits are capped at one and a half months rent under MCL 554.602.
• Deposits must be held in a regulated financial institution or backed by a bond under MCL 554.604.
• Move-in and move-out inventory checklists are required under MCL 554.608.
• When a tenancy ends, you have 30 days to return the deposit or mail an itemized list of damages under MCL 554.609. Miss it and you generally forfeit the right to keep any of it.

Landlords who have been informal about deposit handling for years sometimes find this is the messiest part of a rental closing. We deal with it constantly and will tell you what the title company is going to need.

Eviction takes longer than most landlords plan for

If your reason for selling is a non-paying or destructive tenant, the Michigan timeline deserves a reality check.

Nonpayment generally starts with a seven-day demand for possession. Most other lease violations require a 30-day notice. After the notice period you file summary proceedings in district court, wait for a hearing date, and if you win, a judgment typically comes with a stay before a writ of eviction issues. Then you coordinate with a court officer.

Two to four months is common when the tenant contests, and longer in busy district courts. Add the unpaid rent and the damage that usually comes with a contested eviction, and the cost of getting the property empty before selling routinely exceeds the difference between an occupied sale and a vacant one. You do not have to finish the eviction. Sell the property and hand us the situation.

The tax math that pushes Michigan landlords to sell

Three numbers matter here, and the first one is a cost you pay every year whether the unit is rented or not.

Non-homestead millage. A rental property does not qualify for the Michigan Principal Residence Exemption, so it pays up to 18 additional mills of local school operating tax that the owner-occupied house next door does not. On a rental with $70,000 of taxable value, that is roughly $1,260 a year of extra tax baked into your operating costs before anything breaks.

Depreciation recapture. Every year you owned the rental you took depreciation, and the IRS takes it back when you sell, taxed at up to 25 percent on the recaptured portion, separate from capital gains on the appreciation. This is the number that surprises long-term Michigan landlords. It also does not disappear if you hold, so waiting rarely solves it.

1031 exchange. If you are rolling into another investment property rather than cashing out, a 1031 exchange defers the gain. The timelines are strict, generally 45 days to identify a replacement and 180 days to close, and a qualified intermediary has to be in place before your sale closes. Tell us up front and we will schedule closing around your identification window rather than blowing it up.

One more item: many Michigan cities require rental registration and a certificate of compliance, with periodic inspections. Lansing, East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids all run some version of this. Open violations or a lapsed registration do not stop a sale to us. Tell us what is outstanding so the title company is not surprised.

Why Michigan Landlords Sell to Carson Properties

We buy rentals as rentals. Tenants in place are fine, deferred maintenance is fine, and a property that has not been inspected in six years is fine.

Local to Michigan

We know Lansing and East Lansing student rentals, Flint and Saginaw single-family portfolios, and what each of those markets rents for.

Real Cash Offer

Backed by our own funds. No lender, which matters because investment property financing is where most rental deals die.

No Fees or Commissions

No agent commission, no closing costs, no repair credits. On a $180,000 rental that difference alone is often five figures.

Deposits Handled Correctly

Security deposits get transferred or returned per MCL 554.614 with the written notice the statute requires, so your liability ends at closing.

Any Condition, Any Tenant

Trashed units, hoarder situations, a unit that has not turned over since 2011, open code violations, or an unfinished eviction. None of it disqualifies the property.

Your Closing Date

Seven days or six months. If you are running a 1031 exchange, we close inside your identification and exchange windows.

One Walkthrough

We look once. No lockbox, no weekend showings, and no reason for your tenant to become a problem during the sale.

We Buy Across Michigan

From Lansing and the mid-Michigan townships out to Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson, and up north. If your town is not listed, call anyway.

Ready to Stop Being a Landlord?

Nobody set out to spend their weekends chasing rent and replacing water heaters. If the property stopped being worth the hassle, there is an exit that does not require an eviction, a turnover, or a listing.

Michigan homeowners also come to us when they are selling a house as-is, facing foreclosure, handling an inherited property, going through a divorce, or dealing with a vacant house.

Send us the address and the rent roll and we will give you a number. Call Carson Properties at (517) 481-4777, fill out the form, or reach us here for a no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions About Selling a Rental Property in Michigan

Can I sell my Michigan rental with tenants still living there?

Yes, and usually you should. Selling does not terminate a valid lease, and a buyer like us takes the property with the tenancy in place. You avoid a vacancy period, an eviction, and a turnover.

Do I have to give my tenant notice that I am selling?

Selling itself does not require a termination notice, and a fixed-term lease continues through its term regardless of the sale. What Michigan law does require is written notice to the tenant about the security deposit transfer under MCL 554.614. If the tenancy is month-to-month and the new owner wants possession, that generally takes 30 days written notice under MCL 554.134.

What happens to the security deposit when I sell?

It either transfers to the buyer with written notice to the tenant of the transfer and the new owner name and address, or it is returned to the tenant. Either way, do it in writing. You remain liable until one of those two things happens.

Will you buy if my tenant is not paying or I am mid-eviction?

Yes. Non-paying tenants and unfinished evictions are among the most common reasons Michigan landlords call us. You do not need to resolve it before selling.

Do you buy multi-family and small apartment buildings?

Yes. Single-family rentals, duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes, and small multi-unit buildings, including mixed-use.

What about depreciation recapture and a 1031 exchange?

Recapture applies whenever you sell and is worth having a CPA calculate in advance. If you are doing a 1031 exchange, tell us early. We will work with your qualified intermediary and schedule closing inside your identification and exchange windows.

What if the unit is empty and has been for a while?

That works too, and it comes with its own set of problems worth knowing about. See our page on selling a vacant Michigan house for what an empty property costs you in insurance and taxes.