I’ve always had a pretty hard-fast rule that I would not let the seller stay in the property after closing, but earlier this year, we found a good way to let them stay (just for a few weeks to pack, not long term!) but still protect yourself. We now use a “Post-Occupancy†addendum which basically has the title company hold some of their proceeds in escrow and if they are not out by a certain date, that money gets released to me (this only works if the seller is getting money from the sale). So here’s the one that just happened:
We closed on a house August 15th that 2 sisters were living in. We held back $3,000 in escrow at the title company and wrote up a lease and an agreement that if they were not out by August 31st then $100 per day would be our “rent†and would be taken out of their escrow money. It also said that if they were not out by Sunday, September 3rd (yesterday) that the whole $3,000 would be released to me and they would be holdover tenants and we would have full powers to evict. There was also a clause that said if the place was not cleaned out and broom swept (no junk, no furniture, no food in fridge, etc.) that the actual cleaning costs to hire someone would come out of the escrow money also. (That part I learned on a deal a few months ago…I used to just put a flat $500 if it wasn’t cleaned out, but one of my recent deals cost me $1,200 to clean out ((dumpster rental was $500 alone!)) so his $500 didn’t go very far, although it’s better than zero which is what most investors put in contracts!).
Anyways, back to the $3,000…I just drove by the property and they’re still there!!! My partner on this deal, Pat, said he spoke with them on Friday and they knew they only had the weekend, they were almost done, and they would call him to set up a walk through. So, looks like we just upped our profit $3,000 (less a few days holding costs and whatever it costs to get them out).
I’ll keep you posted!
Oh, by the way, one of the guys giving us a bid on the Pensacola house went by on Friday and I guess some neighborhood kids broke in and vandalized the place, I don’t know how bad yet, I guess broke some of the toilets, knocked holes in the drywall…just goes to show how a vacant house carries risks…get them rehabbed and sold asap!
And the other Pensacola house I had an offer countered on last week…we revised our offer significantly downward and I guess it has been rejected…oh well! Tim didn’t like the numbers on that one anyway.
Keep makin’ offers!
Andy
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