Mount Holly, NC · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 0 votes
So I'm ready to buy my first home!! I'm looking for this to be my first home and investment property. I'm looking for duplex/multi-family properties... BUT! So many of them... especially one I'm really interested in are marketed as being leased out/long-term tenants/cash-flowing properties. I get that that's a good thing... and I'm sure this question is a red flag "hello newbie" investor. What if I want to live in one of the units but they're all under lease... or even how do you evict someone because you want to live there... how would it effect an FHA loan if the units are all rented? I'm already on a big learning curve here. I'm not sure I want to take on having to figure out how to evict someone on my first property purchase.
If they have a legal lease in place you can't just evict them in many areas. You would have to wait until their lease is up unless you can convince them to leave early (usually by paying them some fixed amount).
Hi Amy - congratulations on your decision! If you have not doen so already - I would suggest that the first thing you do at this point is to get pre-qualified. In doing so , you will not only answer those questions , but you will know exactly what the lender is willing to loan, how much money you will need to come in with , ad how much your monthly payments will be. This is a HUGE help when you are trying to calculate the cash flow of a potential property. Also - for FHA - you will typically need to move into it within 60 day of purchasing it - so one of the units will need to be cleared out for you if you plan to live there. You can do this by requesting it as part of your offer - you make sure to add a clause that says it will be delivered with at lease one vacant unit. In the standard california contract it is as simple as checking off a box that says it will be delivered vacant 5 days prior to close of escrow - your state may have different verbage.
It will be up to the seller to give the notice and move them out. Now I am unfamiliar with the rental laws in your area - so I cannot say how much time they have to give them to evict them or if they even can ... ( rent control restrictions) - but that would be the starting place - get prequalified, and when you find one you like - be sure to ask for a vacant unit as part of the sale. If you plan of becoming a landlord - I would also suggest going to a book store and getting the most recent copy of Landlord and Tenants rights books so you at least have an idea of some of the things you can and cannot do as a landlord - you wouldn't want to get yourself in any trouble - or end up with a professional tenant that knows more about the law than you do .
Wow thank you so much for that information Jay! Yes I know I definitely need to read up on the landlord/tenant legalese in NC. I'm at the point of getting pre-qualified now... Ironically enough I'm from NC and will be living and investing there...But I'm in your neck of the woods at the moment for work in Fresno through the summer... My first CA experience out here. Thank you for your time in responding.
Well Amy, your'e very welcome..... and welcome to Fresno - why don't you join us at our weekly meet up group while you're here? We get together each week every other Thursday and every other Saturday to talk about whats going on in the real estate market , network with other investors, share resources and learn some stuff about real estate - If you're interested let me know and I will send you a link to our meetup page - even if you are only here for the summer , I think you could benefit by meeting/ talking to other investors - then go back to NC armed with all sorts of new found knowledge.