Looking for Advice on Buying an Occupied Foreclosure in Brooklyn, NY

[Isadore Nelson]

I’m considering acquiring an occupied foreclosure property—a two-family home in Brooklyn, NY—and I'm hoping to connect with anyone who has experience in this area?

Also, I’ve purchased occupied foreclosures in Connecticut and have managed the eviction process, which has been challenging but manageable. I’m curious if the process in NYC is similarly structured, where it’s difficult but feasible to follow through, or if there are unique barriers that make it much harder or even impractical.

If anyone has insights or could answer a few questions, I’d really appreciate it!

Thank you so much!

[Abel Curiel]

Hello @Isadore Nelson,

From my conversations with colleagues and investors in CT, evictions can happen in ~60 days. Not sure what the process is like there but compared to NY, it is a faster process.

We just toured an occupied 4-family in NY today with a client and the eviction process for those tenants commenced not long ago (within the last couple of weeks). This process can take a couple of months if the tenants are cooperative, but will likely take 6+ months and possibly over a year.

Do you know if the tenants for the subject property are cash tenants or program/voucher recipients?

Do you know if the eviction process was started by the owners before foreclosure?

More than likely, the bank will not want to invest in attorneys for an eviction if they're looking to sell as-is. 

In that case, this would need to be an all-cash purchase and could be sold along with any liens, violations, or judgments against the property to be the responsibility of the purchaser.

To your point, this is difficult but feasible. Aside from the risk of taking on the property with tenants, you may also have to purchase site unseen which makes it tough to calculate repair costs. 

All the best!

Abel