Rental Business: Should Closing Date be Postponed in this Case?

Hi,





I have an accepted offer to purchase a 4-plex. Initially the seller's RE agent mentioned all units are being occupied. However, I only received 3 tenant acknowledgments today and found out from him that one apartment is vacant.





If I knew one unit is vacant I would not agree to close end of this month but rather end of next month in order to allow enough time to find a new tenant. Should I ask to postpone closing day by one month? does it complicate things financing-wise or not really?


(I do not even have to purchase as I did not waive conditions yet.)





Lastly, do you agree I should ask permission to look for a tenant myself and not let the owner try to find a tenant for me?





THANKS.





PS. places I previously purchased were fully occupied so did not have to deal with this situation before.Rental Business: Should Closing Date be Postponed in this Case?
Don't have the seller or agent find you a tenant in a hurry. They'll walk away leaving you with a dodgy tenant.





Are you buying this stuff on borrowed money? Ooer. That's a bit scary.





What I'd do to be perfectly honest is put a guesstimate on 3 months rent, and have them take that off the price, and buy exactly when you said you would. Then you've got 3 months to find yourself a great new tenant who you can trust, move them in etc etc etc.





That's a happy penalty for them messing you around and telling you half-truths.Rental Business: Should Closing Date be Postponed in this Case?
I apologize for being so harsh, but by the mere asking of the question, I can see you have never really purchased income property before.


You don't have enough knowledge (yet), and you are getting yourself into world of financial hurt.


Walk away from this deal, and educate yourself on multi-unit properties.
The question is whether misrepresentation regarding the no. of tenants put you in some way at a disadvantage. It's certainly a material term sufficient to block the deal. If you prefer to find your own tenant and nothing else grates, carry on full steam ahead. Unfortunately, quite often where's there's smoke, there's fire. One misrepresentation is often indication that there are others. Investigate further before you sign anything.
Yes - postpone. Getting the leases confirmed with the tenants is part of the contingencies you should have in the contract.