Sale Conditional on Getting Rental Lease

[Valeria T.]

Hi BP community :

I am making an offer on a duplex in Palm Beach county that was recently rehabbed and turned into a duplex.  It was used for commercial purposes previously.  As such, this property has never been rented to tenants.  In speaking to a local RE manager, he strongly advised that if I were to buy such a property, is it imperative, given today's crisis coupled with the fact it has never been rented, that we include a condition that the sale is conditional based upon the ability to enter into a rental lease within 30 days, for at least one of the units.

The seller's agent (not surprisingly) asserts it will rent in a week.  I don't expect that, but I do like the idea of the conditional sale based upon the lease contract.   Under normal circumstances I don't think most sellers would agree to this, but given this property has been listed for over 150 days and price has been lowered many times, it seems more feasible.

Any thoughts on this approach?  Anyone experienced with this type of conditional offer?

Thank you.

[Brian Garrett]

I’d be leery of any commercial property that was recently turned into a duplex and has been on the market for 150 days in an extremely hot and competitive market particularly for multifamily. I know because I live here and am actively looking. Are you sure this a true legal duplex per the county records now? If so have you ran the comps to make sure you aren’t overpaying?