Surprises after closing

[Chris Holden]

After a year of obsessively learning as much as I could about Real Estate investing, I finally closed my first deal this past Tuesday! I picked up a 4-family home with 3 of the units occupied.  It currently has a lower class of tenants (one being Section 8), but cash flow is amazing once the 4th unit is rented.  In addition, the house is surrounded by new development in an upstate New York that is receiving a ton of attention in the way of revitalization.  The house needs quite a bit of work, but has the ability for some fairly easy forced appreciation earned through some consistent sweat equity!

Now the fun starts... Being a landlord.  I went to meet the tenants today.  Only 1 of the 3 were home (unfortunately I wasn't provided any contact information for the tenants so I wasn't able to schedule).  The one that was home has been in the apartment since May of 2017, and when the discussion of rent came up I asked how he preferred to pay his $600 a month rent.  His answer, "Actually, since I've moved in I've only been paying $500 since the electric doesnt work in the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom".  I proceeded to look and noticed a tangled web of extension cords.  He said the discount was a deal that him and the former property manager had worked out, and that the former property manager had promised to fix it, but in the meantime to just pay $500.

Since this is obviously not the tenants fault, I made probably my first mistake and acknowledging he could pay $500 until it was fixed (which I am making a priority as I fear the extension cords are fire hazard).  So now with my first ever maintenance cost on the horizon 4 days into home ownership/landlording, I have 2 newbie question about this:

1.  I paid for an inspection where I would have expected this issue to come up.  Do I have any rights to challenge the inspection (this is New York State, I'm assuming no but figure I'd ask).

2. The rent rolls provided at closing from the sellers attorney clearly state the rent collected each month have been $600.  Assuming (I know, I hate that word) the tenant is telling me the truth, is there anyway that I can have the seller (post closing) held liable for not being truthful on a signed  rent roll?

Both answers for lawyers most likely, but figured I'd see what BP had to say.

[Steve Vaughan]

If an older place, the bathroom and bedroom are likely on the same circuit.  A loose connection at the receptacle won't let the circuit complete.  Same with the kitchen.  The entire kitchen or just half?

That and/or circuit breaker swapping.  See what brand the panel is and buy some breakers to have for the electrician. Spend your time correcting the problem vs chasing down a deadbeat seller and talking to lawyers.  A competent electrician could probably resolve this for a couple hundred bucks, especially if you have the correct brand of breakers.

And ALWAYS attend the inspection.  Can't believe how many people 'couldn't get off work' to go to the local inspection. Get there.