The cost is never only the missing rent
The rent is the visible part. Underneath it the mortgage still goes out, the Suffolk County taxes still come due, the insurance renews, and anything that breaks still gets fixed by you.
A non-paying tenant turns a property that used to contribute into one that takes, every month, with no date attached to when it stops. That open-ended quality wears landlords down more than the arithmetic does.
Why a Lindenhurst house with a non-paying tenant will not finance
There is also the access problem. A tenant who has stopped paying rarely welcomes an appraiser, and a lender will not fund a property it cannot value properly.
So the retail pool for a house with a non-paying tenant narrows to cash buyers before you even begin. You can start there rather than arrive there four months and two failed contracts later.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom on Palm Street. A three-bedroom on Easton Street. A house on Venetian Boulevard. All of them in Lindenhurst, all bought by us.
Lindenhurst is roughly 27,148 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11757, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, ranch, hi-ranch. Around Wellwood Avenue and Montauk Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Lindenhurst stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Lindenhurst Union Free School District does to a resale price.
The proceeding does not have to finish before you sell
Landlords assume the sequence has to be: remove the tenant, then sell. In New York that sequence can take a long time, the timeline depends on the court, and an owner who is already exhausted has to fund the whole of it while collecting nothing.
We reverse the order. Sell first, and the non-paying tenant situation transfers with the house. What happens after that is our expense and our time rather than yours.
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
Every line below is a cost of listing a house with a non-paying tenant the retail way that simply does not arise here.
- Agent commission
- $33,000 at 5% of the Lindenhurst median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,200 on a $660,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- The work it needs to show well, out of your pocket first none
- Cleanout and removal
- Charged by the truckload, and done before the first showing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities while you spend 76 to 91 days finding a buyer and waiting for their loan none
Selling quietly while the Lindenhurst arrears are unresolved
A listing means a sign on the lawn in Lindenhurst 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 Lindenhurst
These are the two routes open to you with a house with a non-paying tenant, priced against what Lindenhurst houses actually sell for.
Work it against Lindenhurst's own numbers. The median sale here is $660,000. A 5% commission on that is $33,000, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $13,200. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $46,200 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 Lindenhurst the median house takes about 31 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 76 to 91 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 | $660,000 (Lindenhurst median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$33,000 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$13,200 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 31 days (Lindenhurst 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 | 76 to 91 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 | $613,800 | The number we put in writing |
Assumptions: 5% commission and about 2% seller closing costs on the listing side, and both move from deal to deal. Repairs and the cost of holding the house are not deducted, since they vary by property. A well-kept house with a good agent can come out ahead of a cash sale, and if that describes yours we will say it.
What listing looks like with a non-paying tenant
The median house in Lindenhurst sold for $660,000 and took about 31 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 76 to 91 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. That is the ordinary path for an ordinary house. Add a non-paying tenant and it frequently does not finish at all, because the buyer's lender will not go where the occupancy is unresolved.
Weigh the retail figure against a closing you control and the two are often much closer than owners expect.
Common questions
Will you buy my Lindenhurst 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 Lindenhurst 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.