Keep tenant for now or give the boot?

[John Sanderson]

A little background on the property:

We purchased this 5 unit building in September and inherited 5 tenants. As part of the deal, the previous owner collected rents for September and we began collection starting in October. 4 of the tenants pay on time or close to it(I'm working on training them to pay on time), but one tenant took until October 18th to finally pay all of his rent.

The unit he is in currently rents for the largest amount out of them all, so getting his rent really helps keep cash flow rolling. The unit needs a lot of cosmetic work, so I'm not too worried about him doing much damage if I keep him in place. I also need to mention that his lease was up in July and he's currently month to month with 60 day notice for non-renewal.

My question is, would you keep him in place until Spring when it will be much easier to rent the place out, and maintain at least a slight possibility of getting his rent, or just give him a 60 day notice that we're not renewing his lease and run the risk of having the unit vacant all winter?

I tried to be as thorough as possible, but if any more information is needed, please let me know and I'll get it to you.