Do buyers want existing tenants?

Hi there – In need of advice! I live in a multi-family brownstone that has been owned by the same person for 45 years. It has not been renovated since nearly then. There are two tenants and the landlord lives on the bottom two floors. I’m trying to get a sense for whether most prospective buyers would want to keep the existing tenants (whether we have a chance to be able to stay in our apartment). (It is not rent stabilized and our lease is up, so I know that we’ll have 30 days notice to leave.) Thanks!

crown-heightser

in Home Buying 8 years and 2 months ago

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glarph | 8 years and 2 months ago

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I kept the existing tenants when I bought my 4 fam. I needed the rent roll and I wanted to maintain a feeling of community and harmony, living so close to my tenants. Those folks stayed for years, until their lives took them elsewhere.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Misread this as you being the potential buyer. If you don’t have a lease, see if you can get one. It will have to be honored by the new buyer. Unless they are looking to occupy the entire house, buyers want good tenants whether they are below market or not.

xchx | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Generally people like to sell houses vacant so that they can get the new buyers to imagine they will get really high rents.

Is the owner selling now? Have they already posted it? Are you paying below-market rent? I’ve definitely heard of people keeping tenants.

If you sign a new lease, the new buyers will need to honor the lease or pay you to move out. The lease is not broken just because the house gets sold.

re: mozeeatupu — The building is probably not rent stabilized or regulated in any way unless it has 6 units or more, which the poster said it didn’t.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Your post is unclear as to what you want to happen. If they are in units that you want to occupy, have it delivered vacant in those units. Otherwise, you need to find out if there are leases and you can aske for some proof that rents have been paid regularly. Vacant is usually preferred over occupied in most cases.

mozeeatupu | 8 years and 2 months ago

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If it’s a multifam, not changed for 45 years, the units most likely are rent regulated.
No tenants is always preferred to existing tenants for buyers.