Buying a house hack but tenants are living there?

[Jake Czaja]

Hi everyone, I’ve been a podcast listener for years now and I’m finally in a position to buy my first property here in Buffalo, Ny. Most of the homes I have looked at have existing tenants. How can I buy a home and make sure I can live in one of the units?

[Dan Weber]

@Jake Czaja you have a couple of options. You could write your offer subject to one of the units being empty upon closing. This is obviously ideal for the buyer. However, some landlords don't want to be responsible for evicting tenants if someone is willing to purchase the property with tenants in place. If you are in a competitive bid situation, you could purchase the home with tenants in place and take the responsibility on yourself to evict the tenants. In a competitive situation this is usually the better option. With most of these loan types, you do not need to move in day of closing. With an FHA loan, you have until 60 days after closing to move in, leaving you plenty of time to evict the tenant (plenty of time in some states***). Good luck!