Purchasing a Duplex in Vermont with tenants that need to go

[Terri O'Brien]

I am getting ready to put in an offer on my second rental property in Vermont.  The duplex has great tenants in the upper unit, but the tenants in the bottom unit are 3 months behind on the rent, and I have been told that the current owner is in the process of evicting them, but with COVID, they don't know how long the process will take.

My question is -  how should I phrase my offer?  Should it be contingent upon the removal of the current tenants?  I don't want to inherit this problem.  Thank you!

[John West]

@Terri O'Brien I don’t normally mind inheriting bad tenants. Sometimes it gets you a good deal up front (the whole “cat pee smells like money” thing). Putting the offer contingent on that might be a nearly impossible contingency to execute right now.

If it’s a good enough deal, maybe you could bump the offer up by $1,000 and have the seller use it to get them out (cash for keys).

If the deal is good enough, just know that they might get a few months (6 + in our current situation) free rent. Don’t let it bother or get to you. Make it an objective decision based on the numbers.