Keep the tenant or don’t?

[Lindsey Pinkham]

Hey everyone! 

So I’m in the process of buying my first investment property. It’s a duplex and one side already has renters. When I get a renter for the other side (which already have a few lined up) it will be cash flowing $800/month. 

the current tenants on the other unit have completely destroyed the place. It’s structurally great, but just freakin disgusting in there. They are in violation of their lease due to not keeping up with maintenance and apparently they have two cats which is not allowed. 

So here’s my question: do I take the cash flow from them for the remainder of their lease (11 months) and store that money so I can pay to get the place professionally cleaned and get new appliances when they leave, or do I evict them now and go through that process and risk not having a tenant for a few months and risk them destroying the place even more? 

Thanks in advance for any advice!