Where our experience with occupied property helps
The reason a tenant makes a house hard to sell is that most buyers need vacant possession and their lenders insist on it. We do not.
We buy subject to the existing tenancy and take the tenant situation on ourselves after closing. You do not serve notice, you do not start a proceeding, and you do not pay anybody to leave on our behalf. If the arrangement is undocumented, the rent is behind, or the lease ran out long ago, tell us plainly and we will price it. Those are the Wyandanch calls we get most.
Selling a Wyandanch house with the tenant still in it
New York does not make removing a tenant quick, and a landlord who is already tired of the property should not have to fight that fight just to be allowed to sell.
So we do not ask. The tenant stays, the lease comes with the house, and the situation becomes ours the day we close. If you want out of being a landlord, wanting out should not require one more proceeding first.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A four-bedroom on Mt Avenue. A three-bedroom on Beech Street. A two-bedroom on Irving Avenue. All of them in Wyandanch, all bought by us.
Wyandanch is roughly 12,046 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11798, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, ranch, multi-family. Around Wyandanch LIRR station and Geraldine Park, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Wyandanch stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have bought enough here to know which streets take water, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what the Wyandanch Union Free School District does to a resale price.
Non-paying tenants and holdovers
Frequently the tenant is not a complication in the sale. The tenant is the reason for the sale. Somebody stopped paying, the proceeding is slow, and being a landlord stopped being worth it.
That is a completely ordinary call to make to us. We price the house with them in it, close on your date, and inherit the problem. What happens with that tenant afterward is our expense and our time, not yours.
Two-family houses and the unit holding up the sale
On a multi-family, a sale usually dies over one tenant rather than over the building. The other units are fine, the rents are fine, and one of them will not let an appraiser in or has not paid since spring.
We are not going to lose interest over that. Give us the rent roll, tell us which tenant is the problem, and we will price the building as it actually stands rather than as it would stand if everybody behaved.
What the two paths cost in Wyandanch
These are the two routes open to you with a tenant-occupied house, priced against what Wyandanch houses actually sell for.
Work it against Wyandanch's own numbers. The median sale here is $685,000. A 5% commission on that is $34,250, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $13,700. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $47,950 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Wyandanch the median house takes about 42 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 87 to 102 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $685,000 (Wyandanch median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$34,250 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$13,700 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 42 days (Wyandanch median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 87 to 102 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $637,050 | The number we put in writing |
The listing column assumes a 5% commission and seller closing costs of about 2%. Both vary. We have not subtracted repairs or the cost of carrying the house while it sits, because those depend on the property. A house in good condition listed with a good agent can absolutely beat a cash offer, and we will say so if that is your situation.
Leases, deposits and the paperwork you actually need
The practical list is short: who the tenants are, what they pay, what they owe, and what has been signed. If you have estoppel-level detail, good. If you have a shoebox, that is workable too.
We confirm the deposits at closing and take the transfer through the attorneys. From there the leases run with the house, and every tenant relationship becomes ours to manage rather than yours to lose sleep over.
What you do not pay when you sell a tenant-occupied house
Every line below is a cost of listing a tenant-occupied house the retail way that simply does not arise here.
- Agent commission
- $34,250 at 5% of the Wyandanch median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,700 on a $685,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever the house needs, paid up front none
- Cleanout and removal
- Per truckload, before anyone views it none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 87 to 102 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
When listing is the better move
A listing can work on a tenant-occupied house, and when it works it usually nets more. It needs three things: a tenant who will allow showings, a lease a buyer's lender can read, and time.
When all three are true, list it, and we will say so plainly. When the occupant will not cooperate or the timeline is the binding constraint, that is the version we are built for. Either way you get a straight read rather than a pitch.
Common questions
Do you need to inspect the tenant-occupied units in Wyandanch?
We prefer to see them, but we can work from what you are able to show us. We do not expect a landlord to force access on a tenant, and we will not make an unrealistic showing schedule a condition of the offer.
What happens to the security deposits?
Deposits move with the tenancies at closing and the attorneys handle the accounting. If a tenant's deposit was spent or never formally held, say so early and we will work it into the numbers rather than discover it late.
Can you buy if the tenant is already in a court proceeding?
Yes. A pending case does not stop a sale, it just needs coordination between the attorneys. In many cases the proceeding can carry on after closing rather than you having to see it through first.
Will the tenants find out the Wyandanch house is for sale?
There is no sign on the lawn and nothing online, so nothing announces the sale to a tenant. The notice that eventually goes out is about where rent gets paid, and it goes out after closing.
Do I have to give the tenants notice before selling?
What notice a tenancy requires depends on the lease and on state and local rules, so ask your attorney rather than guessing. What we can tell you is that we never ask a seller to end a tenancy as a condition of the sale.