How long can I stay in the house after the sale?

Answer 1

Ownership and possession of a property do not necessarily change at the same time. You could rent (or lease) the house from the new owners, if they choose not to occupy the house after they purchase it.

In many cases, however, it may be advisable to make "vacant of all tenants and their belongings" a condition of the purchase, if the new owner wants the prior owners (and their guests) to leave immediately.

There are situations in which it may also be acceptable to charge short-term "rent", say, $2,000 per week, for the first week and $10,000 for each week after that, or some other strong incentive for the previous owner to vacate as soon as possible.

One potential problem is that such "rent" may be taxable (e.g., in NH at 8%), and the buyer would have to file official papers as a tax-collecting landlord.

Answer 2

You can sell as soon as you take title: immediately.

You can actually sell it before you take title. It's called simultaneous closing. At title signing, the property would be signed over to your buyer instead of you. This may not work if you have purchased the house with a standard loan. There are usually prepayment penalties on such loans. Of course, if you're doing this kind of flip, you probably haven't approached a common lender.

The title would be signed and the monies dispersed to the proper parties during closing. You never even have to take possession of the property. (Check your state laws for any restrictions)