What we see in Islip 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.
When squatters mean you cannot get into your own property
The part owners find hardest is the access. You are responsible for the property, the taxes, the insurance and anything that goes wrong inside it, and you cannot simply walk in to look.
We do not ask you to. We will not request that you force entry on anybody, and we do not make an interior inspection a condition of the offer. We price what we can see, assume conservatively about the rest, and tell you exactly what we assumed.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A six-bedroom on Gladstone Avenue. A four-bedroom on Storey Avenue. A three-bedroom on Montauk Avenue. All of them in Islip, all bought by us.
Islip is roughly 18,418 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11751, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, cape cod, ranch. Around Main Street and Sunrise Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Islip stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have bought enough here to know which streets take water, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what the Islip Union Free School District does to a resale price.
Squatters, holdovers and an Islip buyer's lender
There is also what a listing does to the situation itself. Photographs online, a sign on the lawn in Islip 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.
How we help Islip owners with squatters or holdovers
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 Islip works
- 1
Tell us where it is
Just the address in 11751 and roughly what shape it is in. It takes a couple of minutes. Leave the house exactly as it is; we do not need it tidied, photographed or fixed.
- 2
We walk through it once
A single visit by one person, normally under thirty minutes. With a colonial or cape cod built when most of Islip was, the roof, heating and electric matter far more to us than the kitchen does.
- 3
You get a number in writing
Within 24 hours, as a written figure rather than a range or a "starting around". Take it to a Suffolk County agent for a second opinion if you want to. On a house already in showable condition, listing may well beat us, and we would rather you knew that.
- 4
Closing happens on your date
If you need it done quickly, it can be. If probate, a tenant or a move means waiting, we wait. What you skip is the 80 to 95 days an Islip listing usually spends on finding a buyer and then on that buyer's lender.
Selling an Islip house in the middle of a case
Owners who have already started a holdover case often assume they are committed to seeing it through. Usually they are not committed to seeing it through personally.
We have taken houses on mid-proceeding more than once. The costs and the waiting from that point become ours. What matters for the offer is an accurate picture of where things stand, including anything that has not gone your way, because surprises late in a deal help nobody.
What you do not pay when you sell a house with squatters or holdover tenants
Listing a house with squatters or holdover tenants the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $33,850 at 5% of the Islip median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,540 on a $677,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever it takes to make it listable, paid in advance none
- Cleanout and removal
- Charged by the truckload, and done before the first showing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities through the 80 to 95 days a listing takes to sell and close none
The comparison, made honestly
The median house in Islip sold for $677,000 and took about 35 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 80 to 95 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 an Islip house with squatters in it?
Yes. We buy houses with squatters in place and take the occupancy on after closing. Nobody asks you to remove anyone, fund anyone's departure, or finish a case first.
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?
We prefer it, and we work with what is possible. Not being able to get inside is one of the defining features of these situations, so we plan for it rather than treat it as a surprise.
Will the neighbors know the Islip house is being sold?
Not from us. There is no sign, no listing and no photographs online. One visit and a private closing.