Selling a Goshen Rental? Start With the City's Inspection File

Goshen Registers and Inspects Every Rental

Why landlords across Elkhart County decide to sell, and how leases transfer to a new owner, is on our Elkhart County rental page. What sets Goshen apart is its rental program.

Under the city's Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance (Ordinance 4860) and Ordinance 5001, adopted by the Goshen Common Council on July 2, 2019, all residential properties used for rent or lease must be registered and inspected by the Building Department. The program applies to all residential rental units, including hotels and rooming houses. Ordinance 5001 sets annual registration fees, inspection fees, reinspection fees and late fees. Rental occupancy licenses are handled through the city's online portal.

The program is not new. When WSBT reported on it in 2013, Goshen had been registering rentals for more than 25 years and was one of very few Indiana cities doing both registration and inspection, with every registered property inspected at least once every three years at that time. The Building Department's Property Management Inspector handles questions (574-537-3822).

For a landlord thinking about selling, the program is less a burden than a record. Every inspection result is a data point a buyer will ask about, and every fee is a cost you can stop paying the day the property changes hands. If you have been putting off a reinspection because the repair list is long, that is a pricing question rather than a reason to hold on.

What the Inspection History Means When You Sell

A buyer of a Goshen rental — whether an investor or us — takes over a property the city already knows about. That cuts both ways.

• A clean record helps. Recent passed inspections tell an investor the house meets the city's minimum standards and will not need immediate work to keep renting.
• Open items need disclosing. If a unit failed and is waiting on a reinspection, the buyer will price the repairs. It is better to know the list before you negotiate than to have it come up during due diligence.
• Ownership changes need handling. Ask the Building Department what the new owner must file, and have your registration details and inspection dates ready to hand over.
• Unregistered units are a problem. A converted attic or basement apartment that was never registered can bring late fees and an inspection the buyer did not plan for.

Older houses converted into several units, a familiar sight around Goshen College and downtown, simply give an inspector more to look at.

Tenant Utility Bills Can Become Your Lien

Goshen bills water and sewer as a city utility. When a tenant's account goes unpaid, the landlord can end up paying for it. Indiana's municipal sewage works law allows unpaid sewer fees to become a lien on the property, ahead of every lien except taxes. For a property occupied by someone other than the owner, the lien attaches only if the utility notifies the owner within twenty days after the fees become sixty days delinquent — so a notice about a tenant's bill is not junk mail.

Goshen's Board of Public Works has reported moving old final-account balances to collections, sewer liens and write-offs. Before selling, ask the billing office (574-533-9399) whether any balance or lien is attached to each address so it can be settled at closing.

The Paperwork a Goshen Rental Buyer Asks For

Assembling the file before you talk to any buyer speeds up the sale and avoids a lower offer later. For a Goshen rental, the useful set is:

• Registration details for each unit, and the date and result of the last city inspection.
• Any open reinspection items and what you have done about them.
• Current leases, including any month-to-month tenants, and the rent each unit pays.
• The security deposit ledger, showing what is held for each tenant.
• Utility arrangements — which units the tenant pays for directly and which are in your name — plus a recent city water and sewer statement for each address.
• Recent repair and permit history, especially for furnaces, water heaters, roofs and electrical work.

If a unit's tenant has fallen behind on a city utility account, include any notices you have received. A buyer will want to know whether a sewer lien could be filed against the property after closing.

With that file ready, a serious buyer can usually make a firm offer on the first visit. Without it, expect questions, delays and a price that assumes the worst about what is missing. It also helps if you decide to keep the property: the same file is exactly what you need for the next city inspection.

Selling With the Tenants in Place

You do not need to empty a Goshen rental to sell it to us. Leases and deposits transfer at closing and tenants keep living there. We buy single-family rentals, duplexes and small multifamily properties, including ones with failed inspections, below-market rents or tenants who are behind.

Our written offer comes within 24 hours, with no commission and no inspection contingency, and we close on a date that works around your leases. If your rentals are in good shape and fully registered, listing with an investor-focused agent may net you more, and our page on selling a house in Goshen explains when that route makes sense.

Goshen Landlord Resources