Squatters & Holdovers

Selling a Valley Stream house with squatters or holdover tenants

Owners in this position are frequently at the end of their patience and often at the end of their money too. Proceedings in New York are slow, the timeline depends on the court, and meanwhile nobody is collecting anything.

That is the situation we buy. Tell us what you know about who is in the property and we will put a written number on the house as it stands.

What we see in Valley Stream occupancy cases

Owners describe a surprising variety of the same problem. A tenant whose lease ended two years ago who still sends something occasionally. A relative of a former tenant who stayed after the tenant left. People who moved into a vacant house nobody was watching closely.

We have bought houses out of all of those. The label matters to a court and to your attorney. To us it is a set of facts that goes into the number.

Dealing with squatters or holdover tenants in Valley Stream: empty bedroom with boxes left on a bare wood floor
Dealing with squatters or holdover tenants in Valley Stream? We buy houses full of belongings as-is. Pictured: empty bedroom with boxes left on a bare wood floor.

No access, and how we work around it

An unseen interior gets priced as an unseen interior and we are straightforward about it. There is a real difference between a house we have walked and a house we have not, and we would rather explain that difference than pretend it away.

What does not change is our willingness to buy. Squatters or holdover tenants in the property do not put us off, and we will not use an inspection we could not do as a reason to cut the number later.

Why local knowledge changes the number

A four-bedroom on State Street. In Valley Stream, bought and paid for by us.

Valley Stream is roughly 40,634 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11580, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, colonial, tudor. Around Green Acres Mall and Sunrise Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Valley Stream 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 Nassau County for 15+ years. We know what the Valley Stream Central High 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.

Why an ordinary buyer cannot close on this house

There is also what a listing does to the situation itself. Photographs online, a sign on the lawn in Valley Stream and strangers arriving on weekends is not a sensible way to handle a property with squatters in it.

We do none of that. One conversation, a written number, and nothing that announces anything to anybody.

What we bring to a squatter or holdover problem

The first thing worth having is a landlord-tenant attorney who does this work regularly, and we know who they are on Long Island. Whether you sell to us or not we will make that introduction, because the law here is specific and good advice early changes what the situation costs you.

The second thing is a genuine option. We buy houses with squatters and holdover tenants in place, close on your date, and take the occupancy on ourselves. You are not asked to resolve anything first.

How selling a house with squatters or holdover tenants in Valley Stream works

  1. 1

    Start with the basics

    Where the house is (11580) and a rough sense of its condition is all we need to begin. Call or use the form. Nothing needs fixing or clearing out beforehand.

  2. 2

    We walk through it once

    A single visit by one person, normally under thirty minutes. With a cape cod or colonial built when most of Valley Stream was, the roof, heating and electric matter far more to us than the kitchen does.

  3. 3

    A written offer within 24 hours

    One figure, in writing, inside 24 hours. Not a range. Show it to a Nassau County agent if you want a second view; if the house is already in good enough shape to list, an agent may get you more, and we will say so.

  4. 4

    You pick the closing date

    Fast if you need fast, or months out if you are waiting on probate, a tenant, or somewhere to move to. Either way you skip the 78 to 93 days a listed Valley Stream house spends finding a buyer and then waiting on that buyer's mortgage.

You do not have to see the case through yourself

If nothing has been filed yet, that is fine as well, and nothing needs filing before we buy. Whether starting something makes sense for you ahead of a sale is a question for a landlord-tenant attorney, and the answer turns on facts we would not want to guess at.

We will buy the house either way. The squatters or holdover tenants come with it.

What you do not pay when you sell a house with squatters or holdover tenants

Each of the following comes with a retail listing of a house with squatters or holdover tenants, and none of it comes with ours.

Agent commission
$38,750 at 5% of the Valley Stream median
none
Seller closing costs
About $15,500 on a $775,000 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 through the 78 to 93 days a listing takes to sell and close
none

What the listed route realistically looks like

The median house in Valley Stream sold for $775,000 and took about 33 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 78 to 93 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. That assumes a property that shows well and can be handed over empty. A house with squatters in it can do neither, which is why these listings tend to sit and then sell to a cash buyer anyway.

You can start at that point rather than arrive at it in four months with days on market attached to the house.

Common questions

Will you buy a Valley Stream house with squatters in it?

That is work we do regularly. Tell us what you know about who is in there and how long they have been there, and we will put a written number on the house.

My tenant's lease ended and they will not leave. What now?

You have options and one of them is selling the house with the holdover tenants still in it. Proceedings in New York are slow and the timeline depends on the court, so knowing what the house is worth with the holdover tenants in place is useful information while you decide.

How long does it take to get somebody out?

Nobody should hand you a number. It depends on the court, on the specifics, and on things outside anyone's control. A landlord-tenant attorney who works in your county will give you the most realistic read available, and we can introduce you to one.

Do you need to get inside before making an offer?

No. We make offers on houses we have not been inside regularly, and we will not ask you to force access on anyone. We price conservatively where we cannot see and say clearly what we assumed.

Will the neighbors know the Valley Stream house is being sold?

Not from us. There is no sign, no listing and no photographs online. One visit and a private closing.

Call us Check my offer