That should of been handled when you bought the house

It's also for people that just do not want to handle that part of development and source it out so they can spend more time on finding and doing deals.  

Laws are different for storage and you're waaaaaaay past the statutory requirements for holding his belongings without payment.Look for the NY laws regarding auctions.

Other companies may handle those two issues differently so you need to be clear to the agent what the situation is and have them spell out how their policy would respond.

@Kim Meredith HamptonAt this point we have no idea as to whether he has handled it appropriately or not.

@Joe Villeneuve  To expand on my previous post, for every money investor there are 20-30 "investors" willing to manage the property, play bird dog, oversee repairs, oversee accounting, handling evictions, etc. 

Other than that, just take your time and handle your due diligence.

If you want the best possible advice, talk to a CPA now and ask for the best way to handle it.

The problem is that the seller is represented by a Realtor, and I also am a Realtor.I just want to make sure that I don't get my self into any ethical issues with discussing the furnishings and then if I ask for repairs.My intentions were to let the listing agent know that I was going to call and discuss the contents of the home, and then based on those conversations ask for repairs, if any.Any insight on how best to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Odds are good they will not be long term tenants.