What squatters and holdover tenants have in common
The version that surprises owners most is the holdover tenant who is not a bad person and not obviously a problem. The lease ended, nothing was renewed, life carried on, and now the property cannot be sold on the open market because no document says who is entitled to be there.
That gap alone is enough to end a financed sale. It is not enough to end ours.
Making an offer on a Port Washington house we cannot enter
We make offers on houses with squatters that nobody has been inside for a long time. That is normal work for us rather than an exception, and it is a large part of why owners in this position call a cash buyer first.
Give us the outside, the age of the property, whatever you knew about the condition before the occupancy began, and anything you have been told since. That is enough for a written number.
Why local knowledge changes the number
The median has slipped 2.51% year over year as of 2026-10. It is a small move, but a softening market punishes the houses that need work first - buyers with choices do not choose the project. A $1,228,370 median means Port Washington buyers are financing heavily and scrutinising accordingly. Appraisals are tighter, inspections are more thorough, and a property that will not satisfy a lender has a very small retail audience. The median house here goes under contract in about 34 days, which is quick for Long Island. It is also a figure that only applies to property in showable condition.
Port Washington is roughly 16,753 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11050, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, tudor, split-level. Around Main Street and Port Washington Boulevard, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Port Washington 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 Port Washington Union Free 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.
Listing a house with a holdover tenant still in it
A buyer with a mortgage has to hand their lender a property the lender could take possession of if it ever had to. A house with squatters in it is not that, so financed offers fall away as soon as the occupancy is disclosed.
We buy with our own funds. There is nobody behind us who needs the house empty, appraised from the inside, or documented to a standard the occupancy cannot meet.
What we bring to a squatter or holdover problem
We have bought Nassau County houses at nearly every stage of an occupancy problem. Before anything was filed, in the middle of a case, and after an owner had spent a year on it and had enough.
What we can give you is a clear read on which parts of your situation are ordinary, what tends to happen next, and who to call. Proceedings in New York are slow and the timeline depends on the court, so nobody should be promising you a date. What we will say is that a difficult occupant has never been the reason we walked away from a seller.
How selling a house with squatters or holdover tenants in Port Washington works
- 1
Start with the basics
Where the house is (11050) 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
We come and look at it
One visit, one person, usually under half an hour. On a colonial or tudor of the age most of Port Washington was built, we are mainly looking at the roof, the boiler and the electric rather than the kitchen.
- 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
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 79 to 94 days a Port Washington listing usually spends on finding a buyer and then on that buyer's lender.
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
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
- $61,419 at 5% of the Port Washington median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $24,567 on a $1,228,370 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
- Per truckload, before anyone views it none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 79 to 94 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
What the listed route realistically looks like
If the occupancy is close to resolving and the property is in decent shape, waiting and listing afterward may net you more. We will tell you when we think that is your situation.
The median house in Port Washington sold for $1,228,370 and took about 34 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 79 to 94 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. The case for selling to us is when the occupancy has no date on it, which with squatters and holdover tenants is usually the whole problem.
Common questions
Will you buy a Port Washington 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 Port Washington house is being sold?
Not from us. There is no sign, no listing and no photographs online. One visit and a private closing.