REO Occupied Duplex Help

[William Henze]

This property would be a total shot in the dark but has huge potential to be a great flip and also a decent cash flow property. Current asking price is $27K, however I'm sure that I could get it for less. I estimate the ARV to be in the $80K-$90K range. No pictures of the inside are available and no walkthroughs or inspections are permitted as it is occupied and being sold "as is". With no way to estimate the rehab costs, that's what makes this a shot in the dark, but I think I could be "all in" for around 60k IF there is no structural issues. Does anyone have experience in PA getting an occupant out? How expensive is that process and how long would it take? Thank you in advance for your opinions and advice!

[Phillip Denny]

@William Henze I'm curious to hear other responses from more experienced folks, but I did something similar and bought a duplex in Tennessee from a bank that was occupied.  I think Tennessee is comparatively landlord friendly though.  I did extremely conservative estimates as if I would have to replace all plumbing, HVAC, electrical, etc.   This may not be an option for you, but I got contact information for one occupant (who gave me the other contact info) and I reached out to the people prior to purchase during my inspection period to feel them out.  Also, I've bought 2 different properties "As Is" where I still did my inspection and went back to the seller with concessions that I got.  Basically I tried to get a little creative on the due diligence, because the bank wasn't too much help.  In this case, I was able to piece together enough to get comfortable with the risk.  It would concern me if they can't or won't given you any kind of information at all, but perhaps that's normal.

My takeaway though is that people are much more unpredictable than repairs.  I didn't think it would be difficult to get everyone out, but there were 4 people living on one side all of whom I had to get out separately.  It took me about 7 months to get everyone out.  Much of that was just me being too flexible, but if I were doing it again, I would probably offer more cash for keys from day 1.  Its so hard to feel like you're paying people for being crappy tenants, but it would have been worth it in the long run just for my own sanity.

Good luck on the endeavor!