Forever Tenants and House Hacking

[Stephanie Cederdahl]

Hi All! 

I'm currently searching for my first duplex/house hackable property. I plan to move into one unit, renovate, then move into the next unit and renovate over time. The problem I have run into is that one property has a tenant that has occupied the unit for over 20 years. This is a very desirable part of town and the tenant pays well below current value for the space. Our realtor said this tenant wants to be in the unit forever... which leads me to my question.. what would you do?

I would feel horrible kicking someone out of their forever home and I don't think the tenant would go without a fight.. 

Is this a fight worth fighting? 

[Max T.]

(A big) part of the reason they want to stay forever is because they have below-market rent. Raise the rent up to what you could get from a new tenant and they may change their mind about staying forever.