buying a property - tentant has a contract till next March

BitterAndTwisted

Go back the the EA and ask them to show you alternative properties. Then they can tell the vendor that you can't proceed with the tenant in situ

RLH30

Hi - we were tenants in a property when the landlord decided to sell in Oct 09. Landlord really messed us around and said to the buyers that we would move out whenever, even though we also had a contract until March! In the end we said we'd move out early if the landlord compensated us. We got £600 out of the landlord - helped towards our deposit saving - and were happy to be rid of the place!

You could try asking EA if the vendor could offer compensation to the tenant in a similar fashion and see if this would get them to move out early?

G_M

The vendors and the EA are both mad.

Putting a property on the market with a tenant in place, especially one with a (nearly) 6 month contract means

only selling to another LL, who will take over the tenancy, pay cash or have a BTL mortgage, and will almost certainly pay below market value or

messing around an OO buyer (like you)

Most sensible vendors would either wait for the tenancy to end and the tenant to leave (which might not be March - could be April, May June.....)and then market the property or

pay the tenant to leave early and then market the property.

Richard_Webster

G_M wrote: »

The vendors and the EA are both mad.

Putting a property on the market with a tenant in place, especially one with a (nearly) 6 month contract means

only selling to another LL, who will take over the tenancy, pay cash or have a BTL mortgage, and will almost certainly pay below market value or

messing around an OO buyer (like you)

Most sensible vendors would either wait for the tenancy to end and the tenant to leave (which might not be March - could be April, May June.....)and then market the property or

pay the tenant to leave early and then market the property.

I agree - make a note of the agents and make sure if you ever sell in that area you don't use them. First thing they should have checked with the seller.

waynede

I have contacted the estate agents and asked them to see if the current tenant would be prepared to leave, am awaiting for them to call me back.

It is annoying if the tenant has just signed the agreement as I want to view the flat a couple of weeks ago but the current owner or tenant kept saying that they where not available everytime I wanted a viewing.

Gwhiz

Just FYI - I was a tenant with 4 months left on my AST when LL decided to sell. Got a buyer right away and I was happy to move out as soon as I got a new place (never pressurised) as it meant LL was happy to give me full deposit back, no BS etc.

Mutual backscratching can go a very long way!

waynede

Thank you for your comment.

I have asked the estate agents to do it in a polite manner, just saying would the tenant be prepared to move if an agreement for the property was agreed.

If the tenant wishes to stay until the end of her agreement then myself and my partner will have to just look elsewhere for now.

Jowo_2

You also should be aware that if a tenant doesn't leave of their own volition when their contract ends, the landlord must take them to court and get a possession order and the tenant can ask the judge for extra time before the date becomes effective. If they ignore this, the landlord must then return to the court and get court appointed bailiffs to enforce their removal.

This can add anything between 2 and 6 months onto the fixed term depending on court waiting times for cases, if the landlord has served them with 2 months notice within the fixed term or does it at the end, if there are any mistakes on the paperwork which means the notice is invalid, if the tenant requests extra time and so on.

DVardysShadow

waynede wrote: »

Thank you for your comment.

I have asked the estate agents to do it in a polite manner, just saying would the tenant be prepared to move if an agreement for the property was agreed.

If the tenant wishes to stay until the end of her agreement then myself and my partner will have to just look elsewhere for now.

Oh, upset the applecart, go on.

The vendor and the Agent have mucked you about. I would go and knock on the door and ask the tenant what their position is if the LL asked them to move. It is bad manners, it might cause a scene between the Landlord and the tenant - but that is not your problem.

If you can see that the tenant is not going to move easily, this will be the quickest way of finding out and moving on. And if the tenant is willing to move out, you can ask how many months rent the Landlord should give them and stitch the Landlord up that way. Oh, wait, I think you need to be sensitive....

sequence

You can almost be sure that the tenant will have been told "this is a long term let" "we don't want you to move any time soon" "stay as long as you like, we're not selling"

Classic accidental landlord imo.

Steer well clear.