STOP accepting bad inherited tenants!

[Anthony Wick]

There has been a lot of "what do I do with this terrible inherited tenant" posts lately. No, I don't believe all inherited tenants are bad. I've had some incredible tenants that were inherited. 

But, I'm talking about the posts wherein the person says they knowingly inherited these tenants after the seller told them they were behind on rent, they saw the place was in terrible shape from the tenant, or they knew there was no security deposit. 

People need to get used to writing up a Purchase Agreement that states the seller will give pro-rated rents and security deposits (if there are no security deposits, then you better negotiate some) at close, and no new leases are to be agreed upon after PA is signed. And, most important of all, that a unit will be delivered empty and broom clean at close (if the current tenant is knowingly a bad tenant). New owners should not go from a closing to the court house to file for eviction. The seller should have taken care of that already. 

My last two duplexes I've purchased were delivered empty, for various reasons. I made the seller get rid of a bad tenant (written in PA!). A tenant knew the rents would be going up, so they exercised their option to leave at the end of the lease (right before close). A unit was being updated with new paint and carpet at turnover (so my PA stated seller was not to place their own tenant). It's a great opportunity to upgrade a unit and get those rents up to market value! My last duplex went from $1,100 rents from the last owner to $1,450 and $1,500 (pet) when I filled the vacancies. And only about $5k to spruce up the duplex before filling it. 

If your reserves are so low that you feel you cannot buy a property with an empty unit, then you either better make sure the inherited tenant is gold, or you simply should not purchase that property. Note: it doesn't mean don't purchase, it means just not that property. 

Repeat after me........It's ok to walk away from a "deal", if it isn't really a good deal.