General Duplex Questions

[Jon B.]

Hi all,

I've just recently begun my journey to find my first rental property, and am considering newer (10 yrs old or less), mostly-rent-ready duplexes in good neighborhoods.  I have a couple of general newbie questions I was hoping someone could help with:

• When viewing duplex listings on sites like Zillow, some of the listings are obviously tenantless, as the pictures show bare rooms with no furniture, but some listings show fully-furnished rooms. Short of contacting the selling agent or owner, can it be generally assumed that a duplex listed on the MLS is tenantless unless otherwise specified?
• As someone with no experience, it seems odd to me that most duplexes I've seen in my area are listed as just one side of the duplex.  I guess I had always just assumed that a complete duplex (both sides, the entire structure) is owned by a single owner.  This seems like it could be a potential cause of conflict: if I own one side of a duplex, what if a shared part of the structure (the roof, for example) needs to be replaced, and the owner of the other side doesn't agree?  Is this a concern in reality?  Is it generally the case that a different owner owns each side of a duplex?

Thanks in advance for furthering my education.  :-)

[Michael Henry]

@Jon B. welcome to the BP.  

When looking at a duplex on MLS many times it will state the amount and what kind of lease terms the tenant is under. The real concern is that it states that it is rented out but it is not.

Secondly, you could be looking at a duplex (side-by-side) condo. I would stay away from those unless you buy both units.