miamicuse wrote:

Looking to make a purchase offer on a single family home for myself to live
in. However, the home is not occupied by the seller, but by a tenant who
has a lease that will not expire until December 2006. Closing date will be
in mid April.

The price will be around 500K (well that is what I plan to offer). But that
is what I am willing to pay for if the house is in move in condition.
Having this rental deal creates a real inconvenience, I have to pay two
mortgages for a period of eight months, I have to pay flood and windstorm
insurance for my current property and this one, property taxes and other
maintainance (water, sewer, lawn, pest control etc...) and the monthly rent
($1800) will not even cover part of a mortgage.

My question is, I want to quantify what this additional 8 months of rental
deal will cost me. Then I would like to deduct some of it from my offer
price because it does cost me extra money. Not to mention the hassle of
when it comes time to terminate the lease at the end, I might be stucked
with having to return a security deposit which the seller has already
pocketed. But how will I quantify such a thing?

I know, I know, a house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and
I know I am willing to pay 500K if the house is ready for me to move in, but
with a lease? I don't know, I will not pay as much. Can someone help me
figure out what is a fair reduction for this? Location is Miami, Florida.

I have reviewed the lease agreement and there is no out clause in the event
of a home sale.

Legally the new owner would assume the lease and its terms, even if that's not
mentioned in the lease. A key issue is the quality of the tenant. A bad tenant
or one that doesn't want the house to be sold because she's afraid she could
lose her home could create all kinds of problems. Trashing the place, leaving
the water on all the time, chemical "accidents" are examples. If there is
damage or updates that need to be done, the security deposit may be
insufficient, even if you can legally keep it. In most states there are clear
rules (written damage estimates, written notification to tenant etc) that must
be followed precisely before the landlord is entitled to keep the security
deposit.

In many states, the security deposit is required by law to be held in a separate
bank account, so that seller shouldn't be able to just clean it out and run.
You should ensure you know what is going on with both the security deposit and
prepaid last month's rent, if any. That should be spelled out in the lease
agreement that you reviewed.

Also just kicking the tenant out at the lease expiration may be more
complicated if the tenant doesn't want to go. The tenant may have additional
rights to stay in the middle of the winter., although that probably is not an
issue in Miami If the rent doesn't pay the mortgage/taxes than you will
effectively be subsidizing the tenant to live there as well.