Under Contact for my First House Hack

[Adam Pervez]

Hi all,

I am currently under contract for my first househack which is a Duplex in Phillipsburg, NJ. I am very excited! I wanted to get some input and make sure I am doing my due diligence. I initially submitted my first offer without seeing the property (usually I wouldn't do this but the numbers were pretty good when I analyzed it) since one of the units was occupied and the listing agent did not have the keys for it. I called the listing agent and left messages to provide pictures of the inside of the unit that at least was vacant and was not shown on the listing which I found on Zillow. 

When I saw the property, the tenants left all of their belongings in both units. To make things more interesting, the tenant that lived in the unit was admitted to a mental facility and declared that he did not want any of his belongings back. He left his SS card and Driver's license. 

The property is not in the worst condition but needs some rehabbing done, (painting, floors, cleaning, new water heater, landscaping). I have already notified my lender and will be contacting my home inspector this week to discuss times to inspect the property. I am also in contact with my attorney who I just had my realtor send over the contract.

Here are my questions:

Since I was not able to see what was inside, would this be a perfect opportunity to negotiate the seller being responsible for junk removal?
Should the seller be responsible for returning the SS card and drives license or handing it to the police?

Am I missing something crucial in this due diligence period?

If I missed some info, let me know I can provide it.

Thank you in advance!

-Adam

[John Warren]

@Adam Pervez sounds like you have an interesting opportunity on your hand. The short answer is, you need to lean on your attorney locally to understand the law. You also want to start networking asap with local investors so you can get all the local market knowledge you can. I work in Chicago, which is similarly tenant friendly to NJ, and I have had all kinds of stuff abandoned in apartments. One single mom I inherited left literally everything in her apartment knowing that she could get more free stuff at a later date. 

I would negotiate to have the junk removed for sure, but if you stay in the game this will happen again. Junk outs are part of the business.