Current Tenants in Potential House Hack

[Christin Nguyen]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to house hack and saw a triplex that has potential. First floor is a commercial space (law office) that could be turned residential with proper permits. It’s in an old historic area so the building itself needs rehabbing. I’ll get a contractor in soon to get an estimate but I have a bigger issue at hand: unhygienic tenants.

The second and third floor are both occupied with current tenants who have poor hygiene and hoarder-like homes inside their unit. My realtor is reaching out to see when their lease is up and if I would be able to not renew their lease when the time comes. 

Has anyone encountered a similar situation? What are your thoughts and concerns? How would you approach this situation?

[Ryan Thomson]

You will have to honor their lease if you bought the house. But once that is up you should be free to boot them and move into one of the units. You will also want to talk to your lender and see if it is a problem that you can't move in within 60 days. 

Make sure you get their security deposit transferred to you at closing bc it sounds like you're going to have to pay for some junk removal.