Selling occupied property - kitchen sink cabinet destroyed.

[Drew MacDermott]

My business partner and I have decided to sell our SFH investment property and have notified the tenant. They have begun to search for other apartments. After going through the pre-sale inspection with a realtor last weekend, I found that once the kitchen sink cabinet was opened, the entire cabinet has water damage and is destroyed. The back is bulging toward the center of cabinet and the base has collapsed to the floor. Replacing just the base seems to be impossible at this point due to the damage. You can also see superficial corrosion of supply line connections.

Being that we are both long distance, I have had my dad (local to the property) help with occasionally coordinating with maintenance requests.  In this case, it appears I was unaware of a leak that was briefly mentioned in an email he sent to me for a previous sink backup.  During the previous backup, he noticed one of the PVC joints leaked when using the garbage disposal.  As I said, it was a brief mention and I missed it. We will be taking the financial responsibility for repairs.  I now have the tenant keeping towels in every possible location and a fan to reduce moisture.

The next step is when to repair the cabinet. Since we are selling, the timing isn't perfect but wanted to hear your thoughts.  I'm also worried what I'll find behind the counter and on the wall.  I could:

1) Repair it now with tenant still occupying, but this is a very small house (1.5 story bungalow, 800 SF) and I feel like the time to have a contractor come in would displace the tenant temporarily.

2) Give tenant 60-day notice and repair before selling (that is probably the realistic time frame they would move out anyway.  State law is 30-day minimum.)

3) Keep area dry and wait until they move or house is under contract

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!