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

Question

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. )

Justin Hammond · Answer

@Laura Cardenas just focus on getting in front of the owner. Nothing else matters until he/she tells you they are interested in selling.

Matthew Stanizzi · Answer

I would first gather info.

Talk to the next door tenants.  Inquire what they are paying in rent.

Talk with the owner.  You can ask the same and find out if he’s interested in selling.  You can also find out the terms of the lease.  If they’re month to month, lease end etc.  Unless you know some legal loophole, If you buy the property you buy the lease.  You can get rough numbers to see if he has equity or interest in selling.

Your best best in getting control over the tenants next door is getting control of the property.  Otherwise unless they’re doing something illegal you are probably stuck with them until they move.

If you buy you can ask to take it vacant.  If they are on month to month and inherit them they you can not renew the lease or put them on a new month to month lease of your own. Who knows maybe with a new and engaged landlord they might be better tenants the you think. Probably not but who knows.

In the meantime build some cash reserves to float a vacancy if you are able to buy and then have to pay for a turn over.

Greg Powers · Answer

I start by saying I’m not a lawyer...but...

In New Hampshire, if a tenant has a lease, it generally must be honored by a new owner, but there are two possible exceptions that I’m aware of.

The first would be if a lease includes a specific provision allowing a lease to be dissolved in the case of transfer of ownership.  Not being a lawyer, I wonder how such a provision would stand up against the statute in a legal battle.

The second is that a landlord can evict tenants due to economic necessity; and that necessity can be in the form of an offer to purchase subject to the tenants being gone prior to closing.  The landlord might have to prove that yours is the only offer they can accept, or that they have other circumstances forcing them to sell, but it is written into the NH RSAs.

If it were me, I’d engage the tenants in conversation and try to find out what they’re paying in rent, and see if there is a current mortgage on the property, then see if I could come up with a seller-financing offer that the owner the same or similar income with none of the headaches.  You might send a few complaints his way first, just as a reminder that he does indeed have headaches, even if he’s not paying much attention to them right now.

David Avetisyan · Answer

You’ll be hard pressed to get the property owner to sell unless you offer them a deal they can’t refuse — especially if they are not motivated.

If in fact you are able to agree on a price, I would be surprised the owner sells the property vacated. Some ordinances require a relocation fee; if this landlord doesn’t even bother with maintenance, what are the chances they’ll bother with evicting tenants.

But you will never know, until you try. Sometimes info on owners are available through online searches or making a trip to the city. Otherwise, get an escrow office to run title and they’ll get you full access to what you need.

To your success!

Theresa Harris · Answer

Talk to the owner and ask if they are interested in selling.  If you buy it, you can say you want it vacant on possession.

As for the branches from his tree hanging over into your yard, check what the rules are, you may be able to trim them.