Landlord Wants to Sell us House - Advice needed please

Craig1

Hi All,

We recently moved into a 3 bedroom property and agreed to a 12 month lease with a local letting agent on behalf of a landlord for £700 a month.
The landlord has now contacted us and wishes to rent privately to us for £650 a month.
My first question is are we able to get out of the 12 month agreement to do this?
Typically is the Tenancy Agreement between the landlord and tenant and the letting agents are just a go between?

Secondly the landlord has suggested that we could buy the property off her and that she would act as the lender and give us a cracking interest rate. Does anybody know if this is possible and what the legalities are. She is getting on a bit and from what I can gather doesn't really need the hassle of it all, she doesn't even really need the money that the property generates but sees it as her legacy to her only daughter.

If anybody has any input on this it would be much appreciated.

theartfullodger

Secondly the landlord has suggested that we could buy the property off her and that she would act as the lender and give us a cracking interest rate.

Hmmn.. In theory possibly but it strikes you (yes??) and me & all other viewers as "fishy" in the extreme..

Unless she has a license she would be an "unlicensed lender" (like a dodgy money-lender who employs large gentlemen with unfriendly door-step habits) and as such I think (mmmmnnn get's interesting./..) would have no way of enforcing repayment (Anyone - have I misunderstood???)

Clearly she's in some difficulty & will be amenably, after a few discussions & maybe some glasses of vino, to move of price..

Hmn... Fishy but you might make some serious money! Ask to see a draft contract, then go see a solicitor & ask advice: If your solicitor disnae know, ask for a name of a solicitor who does know...

Cheers!

Lodger

Craig1

It strikes me as been an offer of a life time - no deposit needed, already moved into the house and settled down- nice area etc..

If the correct paperwork is drawn up this has the potential to work out really well for us.

I don't think there is anything dubious about it as she is fairly well off.

theartfullodger

Craig1 wrote: »

It strikes me as been an offer of a life time - no deposit needed, already moved into the house and settled down- nice area etc..

If the correct paperwork is drawn up this has the potential to work out really well for us.

I don't think there is anything dubious about it as she is fairly well off.

I agree...but am reminded of the old saying "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is".

Get yr Solicitor to check EVERYTHING out carefully. Talk to neighbours, planning people, postie, anyone... something's gorra be funny/fishy...


But, good luck & Cheers!

Lodger

zzzLazyDaisy

Why would she do this?

If she wanted to sell she could sell on the open market and get £k's in a lump sum to do with what she wanted. If she sells to you and acts as lender, she will get the money spread over what? 20 years? 25 years? She will be long gone by then. Also, as someone else has pointed out she will need a consumer credit license to do this, unless you are related.

What is she going to gain by it? If she rents to you, she gets a monthly income and get sell the house at any time for a lump sum. If she sells to you on extended terms she will probably get not much more per month than she would if she rented to you, so in effect she is giving the house away.

It makes no sense.

Is she all there, mentally? If not, any such agreement could be overturned.

In any case, I imagine once she sees a solicitor, s/he will be strongly advised not to go down this route....

.... unless I am missing something?

bingo_bango

I think in a case like this you need to consult a solicitor. If the deal is as good as you think, then it will be well worth getting some proper legal advice.

Technically she will be offering credit without a licence from the OFT, but I can't see that it would be in the public interest to prosecute in such a case anyway.

I hope that the advice you do get is sound, and workable. Good luck with the whole process, and it certainly seems as if someone is smiling down at you.

00ec25

a private loan secured against an asset (in this case a "mortgage" against "your" property) is exactly that, it is only as good as the paperwork which covers it.
You will of course take professional advice from your solictor who you appoint to deal with the purchase and will have to pay a bit extra in legal fees for him/her to vet the loan contract documentation, but apart from that, there is nothing dodgy about buying on a private loan agreement which cuts out the "normal" sources of finance.
I reiterate get your solictor to vet the loan terms and conditions so you know what you are into and what the penalities are in case you have problems repaying in the future - ie potential repossession.

re renting, the contract is between the LL and their LA, if they breach that by going direct to you then you will not become involved but if the LL is trying to avoid hassle then its not a particularly sensible thing for them to do! Once your existing TA has run its course then certainly they can deal direct with you but it's not your place to tell them how to manage their business! If you want to save the £50 pm then sign up now but the LL may be somewhat distracted in the near future if their LA sues them! for breach of contract!

zzzLazyDaisy

I notice on a couple of your other threads that you are having difficulty paying your debts.

You do realise that if your LL gets professional advice on this proposed arrangement, the first thing her adviser will do is run a credit check on you?

Craig1

Thank you all kindly for your comments.

In regards to my debts I recently got a substantial pay rise and everything is now in hand, I also managed to get my credit file amended due to an error on LTSB's behalf, but thank you for your concerns.

Tassotti

In my opinion..bull...s.t post wasting all our time..Would never happen....

dfh

Maybe it is a good idea to get advice from a solicitor.Maybe I am being cynical but her offer sounds fishy to me !