To Keep Or Not to Keep Tenant

[Latimer Luis]

Hi BP community - I’m closing on my first multi-family at the end of the month. Its my third investment in the last year and I’m hooked in REI thanks to all of your success stories. Anyway, Its an Alabama duplex and only one side is rented at the moment with the other just having been renovated. However, I was given fair warning on Tuesday that the existing tenant is living pretty “rough”. The inspection isnt until next week and thats when Ill find out how bad it really is. I wanted to get it into escrow since it was a decent deal. The tenant does want to stay, however, and claims they will fix the unit up. I do want immediate cash flow though so I might consider letting them stay, depending on how bad the damages are. Ill post photos if I get them. The tenant is on a fixed income from my understanding and is on month-to-month contract. Would you all keep the tenant and create a new lease knowing they live pretty rough? Is there Anything I can do while Im in escrow to ensure the issues are addressed before closing? Note that I will have a property manager. My immediate thoughts are to push up rent slightly higher after they fix the unit, and use the extra monthly to gret a cleaning service to come in quarterly. This will also allow me to possibly charge more for the other side of ther duplex as well. Thoughts or recommendations?

[Denise Evans]

Why would a "rough tenant" suddenly straighten up and do the things they are supposed to do? People live the way they are comfortable living. Get rid of them, do a complete reno, and get some good tenants in there.  It will be cheaper in the long run, especially if you are managing from California.