Looking for Advice on an Off-Market Deal

[Rob Jones]

Hey! I'm looking for different perspectives on a situation we have going right now. I'm a relatively new investor. We own one single-family rental, are under contract right now for another, and are currently considering an off-market triplex. 

Here are the details: the triplex is in a fairly decent part of the city. The price the seller is asking is pretty reasonable. The place has a fairly new metal roof, along with some other recent upgrades to the property. Under normal circumstances it would be a really good deal, I think.

The problem is, there's a tenant they're currently trying to evict. They've tried all sorts of things to get the tenant out, including offering cash, but the tenant won't budge. The court date for the eviction isn't until March. So our options are: 1) Buy the place now, deal with the problem tenant, know we're losing at least 3-4 months of rent, and risk the unit being trashed by the time we can get into it, 2) Have the contract run until after the court date, let the current owner deal with the eviction, assess the condition of the unit and adjust price accordingly, and risk interest rates being higher when we finally lock in our mortgage rate, or 3) Walk away.

I've already budgeted in some money for the lost rent and for renovating the unit after the tenant is out, but it still seems like an awful lot to deal with and a lot of uncertainties. Also, due to the price and the money I want to set aside for renovations, we likely won't do any other deals for a while if we do this one.

I'd love to hear from anyone with any advice to give. Thanks!