The cost is never only the missing rent
Landlords tend to count what a non-paying tenant costs them as unpaid rent and stop there. The fuller number includes the carrying costs you keep paying, the legal fees if a proceeding is underway, the repairs you make to a unit occupied by somebody not paying for it, and the months of your own attention it quietly consumes.
Against all that, a sale that closes on a date you pick is worth more than a comparison of prices alone suggests. Do that arithmetic honestly before deciding to wait it out.
Why ordinary buyers walk away from arrears
A buyer using a mortgage needs their lender comfortable, and a lender looks at a property with a non-paying tenant and sees a house it might not be able to take possession of. Most will not lend on it. The buyer who wanted the house cannot complete, and the landlord is back at the start.
We have no lender. The occupancy question is ours to solve after closing, which is why the arrears that ended three previous deals do not end this one.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom estate sale on Cortland Street. A house on 14th Street. Both in Babylon, bought and paid for by us.
Babylon is roughly 12,188 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11702, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, cape cod, victorian. Around Main Street and Deer Park Avenue, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Babylon stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have been buying across Suffolk County for 15+ years. We know what the Babylon Union Free School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
You do not have to get them out first
If a case against the non-paying tenant is already underway, that is not a problem either. A pending matter does not prevent a sale, it needs coordination between the attorneys, and in many cases the proceeding carries on after closing with us in your place.
Tell us what has been filed and where it stands. Your attorney and ours handle the sequencing between them, and nobody asks you to reach the finish line first.
Working with Suffolk County landlords whose tenants have stopped paying
We have been doing this on Long Island for 15 years, and the first useful thing is usually somebody telling you plainly which parts of your situation are ordinary. Rent taken in cash. A lease that ran out years ago. A tenant who came with the house and never signed anything. A relative who moved in and stayed.
All of that is familiar. Tell us what is true and we price the house with the non-paying tenant in it. Where it needs an attorney, you get a name and an introduction.
What you do not pay when you sell a house with a non-paying tenant
These are the costs of putting a house with a non-paying tenant on the market through an agent. None of them apply when you sell to us.
- Agent commission
- $37,550 at 5% of the Babylon median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $15,020 on a $751,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Everything a buyer would flag, paid for before you list none
- Cleanout and removal
- Per truckload, before anyone views it none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities while you spend 79 to 94 days finding a buyer and waiting for their loan none
What the tenant gets told, and when
A listing means a sign on the lawn in Babylon and strangers walking through on weekends, which is the last thing anybody wants while a tenancy has already gone bad. It also announces the sale to the tenant on your behalf, at a moment you did not choose.
There is no sign, no listing and no open house with us. One visit, a written number, and a closing date you pick. What the non-paying tenant is told, and when, stays a decision for you and your attorney.
What the two paths cost in Babylon
These are the two routes open to you with a house with a non-paying tenant, priced against what Babylon houses actually sell for.
Work it against Babylon's own numbers. The median sale here is $751,000. A 5% commission on that is $37,550, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $15,020. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $52,570 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 Babylon the median house takes about 34 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 79 to 94 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 | $751,000 (Babylon median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$37,550 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$15,020 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 34 days (Babylon 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 | 79 to 94 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 | $698,430 | The number we put in writing |
The agent column uses a 5% commission and about 2% of seller closing costs, which are typical rather than fixed. It leaves out repairs and holding costs because no two houses are alike there. Where a house is in good condition, listing with a capable agent can beat our number, and we will be upfront if that is the case.
Listing a Babylon house against selling it as it is
The comparison worth making is our offer against what the listed route actually produces for a house with a non-paying tenant in it. Months of carrying a property that generates nothing, commission and closing costs at the end, and a real chance of a buyer withdrawing once the arrears come up in attorney review.
The median house in Babylon sold for $751,000 and took about 34 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 79 to 94 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. We will go through both columns with you plainly.
Common questions
Will you buy my Babylon house with a non-paying tenant in it?
Yes. A non-paying tenant is one of the most common reasons landlords call us. We price the house as it stands and take the arrears situation on ourselves after closing.
Do I have to start an eviction before you will make an offer?
Not at all. Whether starting a case makes sense for you is a question for a landlord-tenant attorney and we can introduce you to one. It is not something we require.
Can I still recover the back rent I am owed?
What a tenant owes you is a claim against that tenant, and it is a separate matter from the sale of the house. Whether it is worth pursuing depends on the specifics, so ask a landlord-tenant attorney for a realistic read.
How long is this going to take?
We can generally close quickly on a house with a non-paying tenant in it, and we can also wait if you need time. What nobody can put a date on is a court matter, which is exactly why selling takes that uncertainty off your side of the table.
Do you need to see inside the Babylon unit first?
We would like to, and we can work from whatever you are able to show us. A non-paying tenant rarely welcomes visitors, so we plan for that rather than making it a condition.