Buying a house at auction that is occupied in NC

[Fred Nesvet]

I am interested in buying a house that was foreclosed on by the bank. Either the former owner or a tenant is still living in the house. The bank says that I would have to do the eviction if I purchase the house. If the occupant is a tenant would a lease that they signed with the former owner still have to be honored by me? What is the procedure to do an eviction, the costs, and the time it takes in NC? Any suggestions to prevent occupant from trashing the house if I start eviction?

[Jiri B.]

I'm not an attorney so this is from experience and from what i know so not a legal advice.. 

If the property is occupied by a tenant and they have valid lease, then have to honer the lease. At the closing you would get the security deposit (if any) and the prorated rent. Unless the tenant have any breach of lease, you would need to wait until the end of the lease to get them out.. But in most cases, you can just try to pay them off, help them find a new home and pay the moving cost to agree to move out..

If its an owner occupied, you can just file the eviction notice for possession. Just search on bigger pocket, there are several threads about that topic for North Carolina. Very cheap in terms of fees and typically takes 4-6 weeks.

The real problem however is, the might be not very happy about moving out and they might trash the place a lot.. They are already loosing the home so the chances are that you will recover any cost is pretty slim. So you are taking pretty big gamble with this. That's why those houses come cheaper as you taking on the risk.

And in most cases, you cannot even access the home to see it, so you don't really know what you are buying.

Not sure if i would do it as my first investment property, seems too risky.