Can you rent out your house and keep it up for sale

Eton_Rifle

franklee wrote: »

I'd be livid if I rented a property without being told first that I was expected to pay for the privilege of strangers trooping though my home such that I could shortly be made homeless and that I was expected to vanish for said viewings (not a chance).

Absolutely! Livid is the word. I had this forced on me for a year and not only did it make my family's life a misery but we were expected to absent ourselves so they could snoop without having us spoil the ambiance.
We developed many strategies to further ruin that ambiance and Other tenants may be similarly inclined when they feel disrespected and abused.

Also, from a practical point of view:

1) Tenants may deliberately put viewers off the house either through self-interest, a sense of self-importance and drama leading them to 'share' things with viewers or in the worst case, sheer malice.

2) Their furniture, having probably not been bought for that house, may not fit or clash horribly in colour or style. To say this won't help stage your house may be an understatement.

3) With no profit or lifestyle incentive and relying only on a tenant's own personal pride, standards and time schedule the chance of the house being especially well cleaned and presented at its best for viewings is, at best, compromised.

In short, with tenants in the house, unless you are extraordinarily luckily, you're probably going to achieve a lower price for the house than with an owner-occupier.

MrsBauer

Thanks for your comments. Perhaps we can rent the house for a year and then hope to sell it on once the Market has picked up a little. We aren't planning to buy in the immediate future anyway. Has anyone done this successfully?

Thanks again for your help

skintandscared_2

I am a tenant and was given notice on our previous flat as the landlord wanted to sell. We put up with viewings all over Christmas and moved out at the end of January 2009. 6 months later the flat was still unsold and he had to put it back up for rent at a lower rent than we'd been paying for 3 years. So he ended up losing 6 months rent and perfect tenants. His loss.

I would never in a million years move into a property that the landlord intended to sell imminently. We have to pay agents fees too you know, plus removal costs.

Werdnal

MrsBauer wrote: »

Thanks for your comments. Perhaps we can rent the house for a year and then hope to sell it on once the Market has picked up a little. We aren't planning to buy in the immediate future anyway. Has anyone done this successfully?

Thanks again for your help

Have you asked your lender yet? Perhaps you can let it, perhaps you can't, but until you ask them perhaps you will never know! Sorry to be so blunt, but how ever many times you ask the same question here, and get varying responses from members with different perspectives on your options, it really boils down to getting consent to let. If you can't then its all hypothetical anyway as your hands will be tied.

richiewormiling

It should be illegal to rent out an up-for-sale house - it's just a mean way to treat people. In other countries tenants have five years rental agreements, instead of a ridiculously low six months. It should be the law to let the tenant know the landlords intentions.

Gonzo33

MrsBauer wrote: »

Thanks for your comments. Perhaps we can rent the house for a year and then hope to sell it on once the Market has picked up a little. We aren't planning to buy in the immediate future anyway. Has anyone done this successfully?

Thanks again for your help

I became an accidental LL when I met and married my husband and he was posted overseas with his job (armed forces). My property let very well for the past three years. I made the decision to sell the property when the contract was due up in February, so the LA let the contract roll onto a periodic agreement. They advertised the property and it was a disaster.

After one month I gave the tenants and LA two months notice and I got the property back 11 days ago. Now it is being advertised by a motivated EA, not a LA with a side arm of sales. The property has been viewed by the same amount of people in 11 days as did in 3 months with the LA.

See where I am going with this?

Put it on the market at a competitive price and it will sell.

Oh, and don't bank on the market picking up in a year!

Werdnal

Gonzo, the OP's post is almost 12 months old. Resurrected by a new poster to rant about the unethical policy of letting and selling simultaneously.

Gonzo33

Oh dear, see what a long day does to you!