Sell a Duplex in Clearwater — Fast, As-Is, Cash

A sale does not end a lease. Tenants' leases continue with the new owner, security deposits transfer at closing with the notice Florida's landlord-tenant statute requires, and rent is prorated on the settlement statement. We schedule the visit with notice and the tenant's consent, as Florida's landlord-tenant statute requires for a showing, and we buy with month-to-month tenants, tenants behind on rent and units in eviction as they stand. If you live in one side and rent the other, your side transfers like any owner-occupied home, and we take over the tenant on the other side at closing.

If you live in one unit, Florida's homestead exemption and Save Our Homes cap apply to your portion of the property, generally prorated to the owner-occupied share, while the rented unit is assessed as non-homestead. On sale, portability of your Save Our Homes benefit to a new Florida homestead applies to the homestead portion. For federal taxes, the home-sale gain exclusion applies to the portion you lived in, while gain on the rental portion is taxable with depreciation recaptured, unless deferred through a 1031 exchange for that portion. These allocations are routine for a tax professional, and a written offer within 24 hours of the visit gives them a real number to work with.

A duplex roof covers two households, a single sewer lateral serves both, and the electrical service and plumbing are often original to a 1950s or 1960s build. When one fails, both units are affected and the repair is sized for two. We buy duplexes with roofs insurers no longer accept, cast iron drains, aging panels and meters, failed air conditioners and the interior wear that tenants leave. If the City of Clearwater's Code Compliance Division has an open case, for exterior conditions, minimum housing standards or an unpermitted conversion, it passes to us at closing with the written disclosure and five-day notice to the city that Florida requires, which we prepare, and any lien is settled on the settlement statement.

A share of Clearwater's duplexes started as single-family homes with a second kitchen added, sometimes decades ago and without permits, and some sit in zoning that treats the second unit as nonconforming. A financed buyer's appraiser and lender will flag it; a retail sale may require removing the second kitchen or legalizing the unit first. We buy converted duplexes as they are, price the permitting or zoning risk into the offer, and take responsibility for the property's status with the city after closing. Tell us what you know about the conversion; the information improves the price rather than lowering it.

A listing agent will usually advise vacating and renovating both units to reach the widest buyer pool, which means months of lost rent, a renovation budget, and then the two to three months a Clearwater property takes to go under contract plus a financed buyer's closing. We buy occupied and as-is, pay the customary closing costs, and charge no commission. The offer is below what a renovated, vacant duplex would list for; the comparison is against your net after vacancy, renovation, commission and months of carrying costs, which for a tired duplex is often a close call that the certainty of a cash closing decides.

Send the address, which units are occupied, current rents and lease terms, and whether you live in one side. We arrange a visit with notice to any tenant, deliver a written offer within 24 hours of the visit, and open title when you accept. The Pinellas County title company prorates rent, transfers deposits with notice to tenants, pays off any mortgage and closes in about a week once the search is clean, or on a later date you choose, with a short post-closing occupancy for your own side agreed in writing if you need it. If your duplex is updated and fully rented at market, holding or listing it may serve you better and we will say so.