Where the money goes while a non-paying tenant stays
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 ordinary buyers walk away from arrears
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 Stuyvesant Avenue. A three-bedroom on George Drive. A three-bedroom on Clinton Avenue. All of them in Mastic, all bought by us.
Mastic is roughly 15,404 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11950, and the housing stock is mostly ranch, cape cod, bungalow. Around Montauk Highway and Mastic Road, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. We have bought enough here to know which streets take water, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what the William Floyd 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.
How we help Mastic landlords with a non-paying tenant
Landlords in this position are often embarrassed and we would rather they were not. A non-paying tenant is not a judgment on the landlord, it is one of the ordinary risks of owning property, and a great many careful owners are sitting in exactly the same place this month.
What we offer is a straight conversation. What the house is worth as it stands, what the alternatives look like, and which professional to call if the answer turns out not to be a sale. None of it costs you anything to explore.
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
- $27,000 at 5% of the Mastic median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $10,800 on a $540,000 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 72 to 87 days finding a buyer and waiting for their loan none
What the tenant gets told, and when
Landlords worry, reasonably, that a sale will provoke a non-paying tenant and make things worse before closing. Nothing we do announces anything. We are not photographing the property for the internet or scheduling weekend showings.
The notice that eventually goes out is a routine one about where rent should be paid, and it goes out after closing, when the property is ours.
What the two paths cost in Mastic
These are the two routes open to you with a house with a non-paying tenant, priced against what Mastic houses actually sell for.
Work it against Mastic's own numbers. The median sale here is $540,000. A 5% commission on that is $27,000, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $10,800. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $37,800 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 Mastic the median house takes about 27 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 72 to 87 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 | $540,000 (Mastic median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$27,000 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$10,800 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 27 days (Mastic 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 | 72 to 87 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 | $502,200 | 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.
What listing looks like with a non-paying tenant
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 Mastic sold for $540,000 and took about 27 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 72 to 87 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 Mastic 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 Mastic 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.