How do I get my absentee owner neighbor to step up?

[Laura Cardenas]

Hey fellow BP members!

I have lived in my home (I own half of a duplex, technically a "condex") for a little over a year now and I've been adding value little by little since we moved in. The backyard was transformed from a dirt lot to an oasis last summer and its such a beautiful spot to hang out when it's warm.

The neighbor that I share a fence with is a 3 plex unit with and absentee owner. The tenants there are low quality, always swearing and fighting, always leaving trash outside which ends up blowing into my yard, and many other less than ideal qualities. There are trees on his property that haven't been trimmed in decades and are spilling onto my property.

It's clear the owner doesn't spend time or money at this property. I initially was trying to figure out how to get ahold of him so I could ask him to spend some time/money getting the trees trimmed and the trash picked up.

The more I think about it though, the more I realize I'd love to buy his property and put some love back into it.

I would want to buy it only if the tenants were gone, is this "a thing" when asking someone to sell you their house to also ask they get rid of existing tenants ?

Any advice for this newbie from New Hampshire?

(I should tell you all, it is one of my current goals to find and purchase a 3 or 4plex in my town.. so this would really hit that mark. )