House Hack in Central Falls RI

[Sohaib Mannan]

Hi BP community,

My wife and I are moving to Rhode Island for fellowship and decided to start a bit earlier than planned on our REI journey and house hack. Plan to buy and hold long term once we move out. We are closing on our first property next week that will be a triplex in central falls. Excited and nervous at the same time haha but really looking forward to it! We are inheriting two tenants both section 8. Something I preferred for at least the first year because of the current moratorium. One is long term (7-8 years) nice lady I met her, the other is a newer tenant family since December and I don't know much about them so fingers crossed. I have already contacted local housing authority and have the leases switched over. Should I still get estoppel certificates if they are section 8? Also there were some minor repairs that seller agreed to, is it standard to do one last property walkthrough prior to closing?

Any other things I should do that you wish you did before your first closing? 

Thank you! 

[Anthony Thompson]

@Sohaib Mannan congratulations on your first purchase!

I think it’s always a good idea to get estoppel certificates when possible as it reduces the chance a tenant can claim they had an arrangement with the prior lender they expect you to honor. But you can use the friendlier RI Association of Realtors version of that, the Confirmation of Rental Terms document.

Keep in mind that if you didn't put it in the P&S, the seller may be under no obligation to actually provide them (ask your attorney to be sure).

Yes, a final walkthrough is definitely customary and recommended, however if the seller agreed to do repairs you should do a reinspection as soon as they’re complete to make sure they were done properly and to tire satisfaction - don’t wait until the final walkthrough on the day of closing to check that!

I believe that reinspection should be covered in the repair addendum you probably signed so I recommend you check that document as you may only have a limited time to reinspect after repairs are complete, otherwise it may be deemed that you accept the repairs. This is also something to ask your attorney about, though honestly your agent should be very familiar with this process as well.

I also recommend searching RI court connect under the owner’s name to see if they are in the process of trying to evict either tenant. If so, you may want to ask for that unit to be vacant by closing or if you don’t, you’ll at least know you’re in for a problem from day 1 rather than being surprised by it.

Again, depending on where you are in the purchase process you may no longer have the ability to request a unit as vacant, so if you find an eviction in progress you probably want to ask your agent or attorney about your options.