The tenant tried to destroy this property but we still bought it

People reach out to us all the time about selling a house with a tenant in it. These type of properties can be harder to sell as the pool of buyers is reduced as you cut out the owner occupier market. It can be even harder when you have bad tenants, that may be behind on rent or who aren’t looking after the property. We buy houses like this pretty regularly as these are normally the landlords that decide they don’t want to be a landlord anymore. We own a large portfolio or rental properties and have property managers so are used to these sort of problems. While we hate these issues just as much as anyone else, we are used to it and we see it as part of doing business as a landlord.

Dealing with tenants is one thing, but when those tenants are extended family that can be a whole other issue. Just like this property we bought in New Orleans. The owner had been renting it to extended family at next to no rent and had told them to leave because he was selling it. We first saw the property when the tenant was there and agreed to buy it. When we walked the house prior to closing the tenant had tried to sabotage the property. Watch the video for the details or see the transcript below.

Video Transcript

Hey guys, Aussie Steve here from Home Buyer Louisiana. We buy houses in any condition in Louisiana. I’m here at a property we are due to close tomorrow morning. We’re on the West Bank of Orleans Parish in the Old Aurora area.

There were tenants in the house, but the tenants had to move out because the homeowner wanted to sell the house. We’ve agreed on the purchase, so we came by today to make sure the tenants were out, which they are.

But there is a bit of an issue right now, and I feel really bad for the seller, because he was trying to look out for the tenants. He gave the tenants a really cheap rent, and the tenants have been renting it for a while, but now that he needs to sell it, he had to get the tenants out. The tenant resented this, and from the look of things, there seems to have been a sabotage here.

When we walked in, we found the faucet running, and there was water everywhere. We’re worried because the water is not going down in the bath. We feel the tenants purposely left the taps on because they’re angry, it also seems like they’ve done something in the sink. Hopefully it’s not too bad. But definitely, they’ve done something to the sink.

This has caused some damage. Right now, water squeaks out when I push down on the board. We would have to fix the water, get the place dry and replace the baseboard. For us, it’s really not a huge deal because we buy houses in As Is condition. However, if there’s cement in the drain, which we suspect, that’s a big deal because we will need to dig a trench under the house to get the cement out, and that’s not cheap. It would cost around six grand.

Nonetheless, we’re still going to close tomorrow. Just that we’re going to get our plumber in here to run some checks to see what we’re dealing with. Hopefully, it’s something that we can clear out pretty easily. If it is cement, we will still buy the house, but the seller will have to reduce the price a little bit to factor in the cost of fixing it.

It’s quite unfortunate that this tenant worked against the seller. It’s really terrible. But it’s one of those things that happens. We are used to such, and we consider it a cost of doing business. We can bear such incidents because we are used to them, but it can be really hard for people that aren’t used to such.

If you’ve got a house like this that you are looking to sell, whether you’ve got tenants in it or not, reach out to us. Visit our website, homebuyerlousiana.com, you’ll see a lot of information and tips on selling your home.

Thank you.