A question to all you tenants

FATBALLZ

Milliewilly wrote: »

I am talking about a tenant accepting a tenancy on a property already up for sale and it would be a condition of the reduced rent the tenant would enjoy compared to market rent that people will be viewing. I am not a 'greedy landlord' and would rather sell but leaving a property empty also has its problems.

Well since you can't legally enforce this 'condition' this isn't going to work is it?

Have you also considered that the reason it isn't selling is because you are overpricing it? And that having a tenant in it will reduce what it is worth and the pool of potential buyers still further?

What if you find a buyer and then your tenant decides to ignore your eviction notice and you have to take a year to force him out legally?

DVardysShadow

Milliewilly wrote: »

I am talking about a tenant accepting a tenancy on a property already up for sale and it would be a condition of the reduced rent the tenant would enjoy compared to market rent that people will be viewing. I am not a 'greedy landlord' and would rather sell but leaving a property empty also has its problems.

You are crazy.

If you want to sell it, then sell it.

If you want to let it, then let it.

And if you want to sell it, don't let it. Why? Because you will attract a professional tenant, who spots a cheap rent and knows exactly what to do. Which is to cover the floor with undies at viewing time and give the viewers a strong impression that the neighbourhood is rubbish and that he will cut up rough about moving out for completion. It is only 6 month's rent, but it is your choice.

Milliewilly

No I can't legally enforce the condition but would like to think there are still some decent people in the world who would accept that £200 off was in return for them accomodating viewings when this is made clear from the outset.

Is my house overpriced? Well until I can find somewhere decent to buy i'm not really overly concerned about that. As I posted on another thread renting the same type of house I have now will cost 5 x my current mortgage payments so I am not fussed about it being sold before I find somewhere else to buy.

I don't particularly want to let it but I'm not going to give it away for a quick sale if I can afford not to. It is more a concern about it standing empty and unfurnished.

SignificantAlter

You cannot override a tenant's statutory rights under a tenancy via financial incentives or legally unenforceable clauses in a tenancy agreement.

You just cannot legally do this.

Unless you are prepared to go for a 6 month AST, understanding that the tenant gets quiet enjoyment of their HOME with 24 hours' notice of any visits, inspections or viewings then don't let the property out. You don't appear keen to do this so don't do it!

No amount of discount on the rent buys out a tenant's statutory legal rights.

DVardysShadow

SignificantAlter wrote: »

You cannot override a tenant's statutory rights under a tenancy via financial incentives or legally unenforceable clauses in a tenancy agreement.

You just cannot legally do this.

Unless you are prepared to go for a 6 month AST, understanding that the tenant gets quiet enjoyment of their HOME with 24 hours' notice of any visits, inspections or viewings then don't let the property out. You don't appear keen to do this so don't do it!

No amount of discount on the rent buys out a tenant's statutory legal rights.

Agree.About the best you can do is agree a £50 cash incentive each and every time you have a viewing, but accept tenant may say no

clutton_2

the whole issue of inspections/selling/buying visits surely rests on the bedrock of the relationship already establisehd between landlord and tenant or agent and tenant - if a good relationship has been established; if repairs have been done as soon as possible; if siccessful negotiation have taken place for redecorating within the tenancy and any other changes to the AST that the tenant wants, they are more likely to want to cooperate with visits

IF i wanted to sell one of my tenanted houses, (depending on which ones) i would be offering an incentive ..... ie that i would be offering them inducements such as i might guarantee their deposit would be paid back in full or would offer to pay their removal expenses.... a few hundred quid for moving costs me a lot less than several months of no rent

They are doing me a big favour when all said and done...

arthur_22

As someone who is trying to buy a place, I have viewed (or tried to view) three properties with tenants in situ (and by in situ I mean sat in the sitting room).

1) Quiet tenant sitting quietly in the corner being quiet

2) Very, very grumpy tenant who moaned about stuff his landlord hadn't fixed, stood watching us as we looked round

3) Tenants who, half hour before the viewing started, apparently managed to set the oven on fire. At 2.00pm on a Monday.

I got booted out of my last flat when the LL wanted to sell it, and at the time I was miffed, but I can see why he did it now. You can't control what a tenant says or how he lives in your house, and even the best tenants might well get fed up if the house takes ages to sell or they have a different standard of tidiness etc to you.

I think it's a bit much saying that some posts are 'hysterical'. I agree that changing locks is never the answer, but 24 hours is minimum entitlement under law. Landlords who break the law - not just being a bit off, or taking a bit too long to fix something - but actually do something illegal have no right to complain about their tenants.

Fire_Fox

Milliewilly wrote: »

I am talking about a tenant accepting a tenancy on a property already up for sale and it would be a condition of the reduced rent the tenant would enjoy compared to market rent that people will be viewing. I am not a 'greedy landlord' and would rather sell but leaving a property empty also has its problems.

Indeed, but none of the 'near hysterical' posts are from tenants who willingly agreed well in advance to show prospective purchasers around! Many are from tenants who suddenly find someone on their doorstep, discover the landlord or letting agent has let themselves in without so much as a courtesy call or who feel pressurised into allowing complete strangers unfettered access to their home.

MissMoneypenny

Milliewilly wrote: »

It is more a concern about it standing empty and unfurnished.

What are you concerned about?

Over the years, I have left 3 properties empty and unfurnished in different parts of the country, as the sale (or in two cases, the lack of a buyer) didn't tie up with the date I was moving areas.

Only one of these properties had a tenant in and only then because a solicitor asked it he could rent it for one of his clients as he had made a mistake. We didn't let people view that house while we had tenants, but were able to leave a key with the EA for the other two empty houses and didn't have any problems.

With hindsight, if I was trying to sell a house, I wouldn't let it out. If the EA has the keys to an empty house, then he can take potential buyers to view the property whenever they want.

I was told that:-
If you are not getting many viewers, then your property is overpriced.
If you get lots of viewers but no offers, your house smells.:D

Nixer

Milliewilly I think you have probably realised this is a bad idea now but in case you haven't:

You don't sound as if you are cut out to be a landlord and in my experience reluctant and inexperienced landlords aren't very good at it. Some of them are very bad at it indeed.

The only way that this would work is if you already had a tenant in with whom you had a good relationship and that tenant did not mind the prospect of moving (which is costly and inconvenient) when you sell it, assuming it sells.

The implication also is that the tenant is going to have to tidy up for every visit - this was enough of a ball ache when we were selling our own house, no matter how nice my landlord is (and she's not bad) I would get fed up with having to do this all the time for her.

And yes, some people do want viewings at half an hours notice, it happened to me when I was working at home (it was actually ten minutes notice), the house was a mess and I was due on a conference call with my manager. Apparently it had to be then, some !!!! and bull nonsense about prospective buyer wanting her dad to see it and he could only do it in the next ten minutes. I said they could come in an hour as long as they didn't expect it to be tidy and was made to feel as if I was being difficult.

You reprimanded someone further up for saying that as they were paying rent it was their house. Ok, it's not their house, but it is their home and no one else's and this is something that very few people who haven't been tenants seem to understand. A landlord who understands it is worth their weight in gold.