1st multifamily purchase, due diligence questions.

[Matthew Lindsey]

Hi, I was hoping someone could shed some light on my situation. I have been looking at buying my first multifamily property for a while now. I just managed to get two duplexes under contract. I am in my due diligence period now. The duplexes were inherited so the owner has little knowledge of them. They are on month-to-month leases with no written agreement in place anymore as the owner cant find them. 3 out of 4 units are rented with 1 tenant living there 2 years, 1 tenant living there 10 years, and the other tenant living there 13 years. The other unit is vacant only because the previous 10 year tenant just passed away. I guess to start with I have 2 questions:

1.) Would you suggest me seeing if I can get the owner to have his tenants sign a written month-to-month agreement prior to me closing?

2.) He has no tenant ID's or applications. Is it normal to ask for these in due diligence and if so, since he don't have them, should I have him have them complete some applications during due diligence period? Or should I not count on that and just get what information I can after closing?

Thanks, 

Matt

[Stephen Brown]

Get an estoppel agreement from the current tenants stating that they are paying rent and how long they've lived in the property. If the seller refuses to let you do this then there's probably a good chance that there's something up.