Morrison, CO · Member since 2016 · 42 posts · 12 votes
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!
Investor · Bath, ME · Member since 2017 · 97 posts · 29 votes
6y
@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.
Real Estate Investor · Burlington, VT · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
@Terri O'Brien Personally that's how I would do it, make it contingent on them getting removed. The eviction process is pretty slow in VT, and even slower now. Hopefully an offer phrased that way would give the current owner to do "cash for keys" or something like that to get them out sooner.
Investor · Bath, ME · Member since 2017 · 97 posts · 29 votes
6y
@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.
Im in the same process and also wrote contingent on unit being vacant. If the tenant been squating there for 3 months unpaid rent, there is no doubt that tenants will squat till however long it takes to get the tenant out with eviction. I would talk to the seller about a cash for keys scenario to get that tenant out. That is what i am trying to do. Otherwise youlll just be tied up in escrow for months without ever moving an inch.
Rental Property Investor · White River Junction, VT · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 12 votes
6y
Hi Terri,
I just recently purchased a 4 unit in Vermont this year, I too had some troubled tenants that were existing and needed to go before closing. The situation was simul, both tenant were behind on rent which voided their existing lease. When i presented my offer to the sellers, I came in at full asking, on the condition that the tenants were gone before closing, the other part to that was, that if the tenants weren't out before closing, the seller was responsible for all fees associated with the process eviction. The sellers accepted the conditions and the tenants were gone before closing.. best of luck!