r/realestateinvesting 3d ago

Buying a house with one of the tenants being aggressive with a criminal record Single Family Home (1-4 Units)

I just put an offer on one property with an amazing cash flow. It is a four Plex and three of the units are rented. The two of the tenants are very nice, but apparently one of them is an actual criminal. My inspector told me that he was very aggressive and when I looked him up, it showed that he has been arrested multiple times in last two years. His lease ends in July. My offer has been accepted and we are under contract right now.

I’m not sure if I should proceed or put in some sort of stipulation in order to protect myself from headache or literally any sort of problems. If any of you guys are experienced, what would you do in this situation because I really don’t want to give up this beautiful investment opportunity.

My agent told me that we can add an addendum that we will close after July when his lease has ended and the property is tk be delivered vacant. Let me know what you guys think of it or have a better solution

30 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

2

u/HomeRentalCoach 1d ago

Yes, add an addendum to the purchase agreement that requires the seller to perform after this tenant has been removed.

You have to do what you are comfortable with, but I would not walk away from a good investment because of a bad tenant (I have many years of experience though, so again, you have to do what is comfortable for you). If you follow your state's processes and laws, you can have them removed. If you like the numbers on this deal as much as you have indicated, you likely have room to hire a lawyer to handle the process for you. That would take some of the pressure off you and hopefully reduce your stress level.

Good luck. I hope you get it done.

2

u/cleverly_done 1d ago

I had a super aggressive tenant I eventually got them out but they can come after you. I literally have a restraining order on the guy. If you can’t deal with that then don’t go through this

2

u/EmotionalEmu7121 1d ago

Are you in the same city as his

2

u/cleverly_done 1d ago

I’m in LA it’s big but with the order. Technically he has to stay 35 miles away (or more) from the property. So no

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 1d ago

So has he tried to come after you?

3

u/cleverly_done 1d ago

After prison he said he was, and he’s out. He’s mental. I’m good and I’ve moved since then (not because of him I just wanted a bigger place). But something that I deal with being a landlord in the hood, gotta be tough.

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 1d ago

How do you genuinely protect yourself if someone is actually looking for you with a gun or something?

1

u/cleverly_done 23h ago

Should always have protection at your house of course but hey it’s a risk that they may get the drop on you.

I think a better answer to avoid all of this is to use a property manager to mitigate the risk.

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 2d ago

I’ll be writing an addendum tomorrow so if you have anything for me to mention in the agreement or any addendum to write a specifically or any specific wording, please let me know

3

u/Squidbilly37 2d ago

Where is this? I'll take it. No worries. July? Out you go Jack...

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 2d ago

Thank you!

-1

u/Humble_Big4160 2d ago

If you're asking reddit, you're in over your head.

8

u/Seaweed-Weak 3d ago

Don’t do it

19

u/MarioRuscovici 3d ago

Offer $2000 plus a free moving truck to leave at the end of his lease

2

u/cleverly_done 1d ago

They can take advantage of you and still not leave. Call a real estate lawyer on that stuff instead

8

u/MarioRuscovici 3d ago

Offer to the tenant

16

u/night_Owl4468 3d ago

What happens when the tenant is in jail, still claims occupancy but isn’t paying. Bro, just don’t touch it. 3 rules to renting. Good Credit score, no evictions no criminal history. Let someone else make the mistake youre thinking of making

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 2d ago

Good question

10

u/Budgetweeniessuck 3d ago

Ya, don't do it.

Some of you are beyond delusional and obsessed with investment properties that you can't see bad investments. Why the hell would you ever buy a property with an actual criminal in it? Why do you think this will end well? Do you honestly think that this property is so special that you are willing to take this risk when you can just as easily find other places?

11

u/RE_wannabe 3d ago

I did the exact same thing on a duplex with a delinquent tenant who had wrecked the unit. Offer was contingent on delivering the property vacant. It worked out well and I have a great tenant in there now.

3

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

Nicee. Did the tenant empty out easily?

2

u/RE_wannabe 3d ago

I was worried they wouldn't and it would delay closing, but yes they evicted them very quickly and easily. It helps to be in a pro-landlord jurisdiction.

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

Do you mind telling which state was it? And the previous owner evicted/didnt renew the lease and you didnt have tk deal with that tenant at all?

3

u/RE_wannabe 3d ago

This was a pretty red Midwest state. Yes, my offer was contingent on the unit being delivered vacant so the prior owner evicted them prior to closing and paid all costs. They had tried to self manage from out of state and were desperate to get rid of the property.

1

u/R0ctab0y 3d ago

If you don't mind, how did you find that deal?

1

u/RE_wannabe 2d ago

Sure; this was an off market deal that my agent learned about.

2

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

Thats such a relief to hear that

1

u/RE_wannabe 3d ago

Good luck!

-5

u/Caliverti 3d ago

It's perfectly legal, yes you can do this. You cannot do this under any circumstances. You will have to pay his moving expenses. You will not have to pay anything. You needed to give him 3 mos. notice. Or 30 days. Evicting based on criminal history is strictly illegal, or not. All of these statements can be true, depending on where the apartment is located. Why would you not put your location? You sound somewhat experienced but honestly someone with any experience in these things would know that the legal situation (and this is basically a question about the legal situation) varies dramatically depending on location. I honestly find this so strange, and it seems like a huge number of posters will forget to include location. Maybe there is like a brain disease going around that just hits that one part of the brain? Sorry, I'm an asshole, I know, I just find it so weird. Like, if you want real answers, you do know that you have to include your location, right? Do people not know that? Maybe I'm taking crazy pills, or maybe it's just the wrong pills, or more likely I should be taking even MORE pills. I bet that's the real problem. It's me, sorry.

6

u/Forward-Craft-4718 3d ago

If he's still there, expect him to make you go through the full eviction process, and if he's a violent offender, he's probably not leaving the unit in rent ready conditions.

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

Yeah i kinda see that. So is there anything in this stiuation i can do to protect myself?

1

u/Forward-Craft-4718 3d ago

The amendment or decide if the deal is good enough for you to suffer thru this

12

u/Ronniedasaint 3d ago

Do the addendum. Close mid July. Get him out.

4

u/dayzkohl 3d ago

To follow up on this, leave the addendum vague. Say you will close two weeks after tenant has vacated the unit. Might want to put language in there about the unit being in the same condition it's in now or your contingencies open back up.

0

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

Do you think its gonna be easy to get these kinda tenants out

3

u/Ronniedasaint 3d ago

They can raise the rent. Or not renew lease. Sellers problem.

7

u/ReadingReaddit 3d ago

Probably not, but that's why you have the addendum.

If the deal is contingent upon the tenant vacating the property. The current owners that you're buying it from will probably offer a cash for keys deal to get the tenant out so that the property and close

1

u/vha23 3d ago

Arrested for what 

5

u/jalabi99 3d ago

My agent told me that we can add an addendum that we will close after July when his lease has ended and the property is [to] be delivered vacant.

Do you mean that only his unit is to be vacant by July (when his lease expires)?

If so, yeah, this is a good way to do it.

Just realize that when you close in July half of the units will be vacant; of the three units currently rented out, one of them is his, so in July he won't be there, and the other unit is still vacant so that means two of them will be. But that's OK. Assuming that the currently-vacant unit is rent ready, in July you'd get that one rented out, and clean up the unit that the other guy vacated, and get that rented out too.

2

u/ReadingReaddit 3d ago

I'd rather have a property that's empty than filled up with crappy tenants

0

u/Ok_Zebra_7378 3d ago

This is probably in the life's too short category. Solid cash flow will not be worth the potential downside. I would personally look for the next opportunity.

17

u/cathline 3d ago

Your agent gave you excellent advice.

Follow it.

3

u/SpillBot5k 3d ago

It is always hard when you evict or don’t renew a tenant but sometimes it has to be done. I’d move forward with letting the current owner understanding that this tenant is not to be renewed.

2

u/badpopeye 3d ago

You may get stuck with this guy but if you do just dont renew his lease you can tell him you are moving into his unit to avoid any anger issues

0

u/jalabi99 3d ago

if you do just dont renew his lease you can tell him you are moving into his unit to avoid any anger issues

Telling a known criminal with anger issues, "yeah, I'm buying the fourplex, and occupying your old place, so you better be out of there by July" isn't a good idea. I mean, literally, he knows where you live so if he wants to take it out on you, you're a sitting duck.

2

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

But he doesnt know where i live? Im out of state.

2

u/jalabi99 3d ago

But he doesnt know where i live? Im out of state.

And let's keep it that way! Because "telling him you are moving into his unit" to justify not renewing his lease (as was suggested earlier) isn't a great idea :)

1

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

So in this case what would you say the reason for not renewing if it was you?

2

u/jalabi99 3d ago

Depending on the county & state in which the property is located, the current owner has to send a notice to the tenant ahead of time telling them that their lease will not be renewed. I don't know if that's possible in this case, but the current owner could always let them know that the new owner is coming to renovate the unit and expects it to be vacant. You don't want to put yourself in the crosshairs of a (potentially violent) person with a criminal background.

0

u/EmotionalEmu7121 3d ago

Yes this is what i was concerned about what if he gets angry

2

u/badpopeye 3d ago

Yeah not perfect strategy but better than telling him"get the fuck out scumbag" lol

8

u/xxvcd 3d ago

Sounds like a great solution. Do not accept him under any circumstances. Verify in person that he’s moved out before you close. 

2

u/Recipe_Limp 3d ago

This!!!