Buying current rented property from landlord?

Ike1

Hi-

My partner and I have recently relocated to a new city. We had originally wanted to buy a new property (we have sold our last one), but we couldn't find anywhere that we liked enough to buy, so we are currently renting. However, we've now fallen in love with the flat that we're renting would very much like to buy it.

We're worried that the landlord will not sell it to us because it is most likely that he bought it as an investment and wishes to keep renting it out for a few more years.

Has anyone been able to successfully buy their rented home from their landlord (without the landlord having previously expressed a desire to sell)

Ta for any advice.

Ike1

rosysparkle

Several of our tenants over the years have bought their rental properties, some buy to let, some to live there. It's worth asking youir landlord if they are prepared to consider it.

PoorDave

If the landlord sells to you he has no agent's fees to pay, so you might find an "over the odds offer" which meets what he'd get through an agent, plus half what the agent's fees would have been could get his interest.

Any idea how long he's owned it?

You can find this info from any of the "sold prices" websites, as long as it was in the last 6yrs, I think.

rosysparkle

If you rent the property through a lettings agent, the agent may well have a clause in their ATC with the landlord which permits them to charge commission on a sale where a tenant buys a property from the landlord. Probably less than an EA fee, though.

Phirefly

We're going through exactly this situation.

In the first instance, get your landlords address from the rental agreement and write to him directly enquiring as to whether he would be interested in selling the property. Don't expect a quick reply. Its probably the furthest thing from his mind and a hassle he can't be bothered to think about. It can be assumed that he's happily reaping your rental income without a second thought for the immediate future of his property.

We first contacted our landlord in this way last August. Now almost 6 months (and 3 intrest rate increases :mad: ) later we've been through the mill with it and waiting for his verdict on our latest offer. We've gone from him not being remotely interested in selling, through us losing interest in buying, to him deciding he's now selling it regardless, to it being valued £10k over what an identical house sold for on the street just before xmas :'(

The letting agents have now got wind of the potential sale and can sniff a cut so are promising him all sorts of nonsense about how they have potential buyers lined up. We're now in the unhappy position of our solid, economic, well-loved long term rental property potentially being sold out from under us and I can't help feeling like we've dug our own grave.

I suppose I'm just saying just think LONG and HARD about what you're about to embark upon and prepare for lots of sleepless nights. Good Luck

Ike1

Thanks for the advice guys.

Before asking the landlord if he would be willing to sell the property to us, we'll check out other flats which are for sale in our block to try and estimate how much ours is worth (other flats in our block are listed on sites such as 'Our Property' and 'Net house prices', but our particular flat is not there).

We'll then wait until about 3months before our tenancy agreement is due to run out before asking the landlord if he would consider selling to us (we will offer an estimated price based on the other flats for sale in the development). If he is unwilling, we will then revisit some of the other flats that are for sale in the block with a view to buying one of them.

Does that sound like a good idea- or do you have any alernative strategies?

Ike1

PoorDave

Ike1 wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys.

Before asking the landlord if he would be willing to sell the property to us, we'll check out other flats which are for sale in our block to try and estimate how much ours is worth (other flats in our block are listed on sites such as 'Our Property' and 'Net house prices', but our particular flat is not there).

We'll then wait until about 3months before our tenancy agreement is due to run out before asking the landlord if he would consider selling to us (we will offer an estimated price based on the other flats for sale in the development). If he is unwilling, we will then revisit some of the other flats that are for sale in the block with a view to buying one of them.

Does that sound like a good idea- or do you have any alernative strategies?

Ike1

Can't argue with that!

Phirefly

Ike1 wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys.

Before asking the landlord if he would be willing to sell the property to us, we'll check out other flats which are for sale in our block to try and estimate how much ours is worth (other flats in our block are listed on sites such as 'Our Property' and 'Net house prices', but our particular flat is not there).

We'll then wait until about 3months before our tenancy agreement is due to run out before asking the landlord if he would consider selling to us (we will offer an estimated price based on the other flats for sale in the development). If he is unwilling, we will then revisit some of the other flats that are for sale in the block with a view to buying one of them.

Does that sound like a good idea- or do you have any alernative strategies?

Ike1

Sounds sensible. The issue of value has been the biggest problem for us. Because its not the usual buying process, the usual rules don't apply. Nethouseprices and sold prices on rightmove are not recent enough IMO for comparisons to be made, and you've no way of knowing what properties which may be in the same street/block had in terms of added value. Add into that the reverse dynamic of seller and buyer, and your respective desired outcomes and it all becomes very complicated indeed.

We waited until he expressed an interest in selling then based our initial offer on an idential house next-door-but-one that had just sold. I made friends with the EA of that house and he pretty much told me what it had gone for and based on that how much he'd value ours. We knocked 2k off that (as thats how much our landlord would be paying in EA fees the conventional route) and made our offer.

Much to our frustration, another house in the row then went on the market with an asking price 10k over next-door-but-one's sold price. This got our landlord thinking and he got our letting agents to value our house. They valued it at almost 10k over what we were offering and made out like they could get that for it at the drop of a hat. Our trump card is the lack of hassle and the fees factor, but when they're dangling a carrot like that, its hardly surprising we went back with a higher offer and haven't heard from him for two weeks.

All very draining - I hope yours goes more smoothly, keep us posted

RabbitMad

I'm a landlord and I've only been renting my house out for 6 months. If my tenants offered me the market value I'd snap their hands off.

If you don't ask - you don't get.

scorpio_princess

I'd love to buy my rented flat (I love living here) but annoyingly it's well out of my price range (actually, everything is out of my price range - that's why im renting!) There's so many things I'd love to change, like the horrible bathroom carpet (carpet in a bathroom? Why?) and the truly awful curtain rails. But alas, it's unlikely to happen unless I get a lucky scratchcard

Anyway, back to your situation..... I think you should enquire with your landlord as to how open he is to selling the place. Just be straight with him - say if he'd like to sell, you'd like to buy, but won't stand for any 'funny' business. Research your prices as well as you can, present him with your findings and keep your fingers crossed! Don't leave yourself open to being messed around - make him believe you're not so desperate to buy his flat that you'd put up with anything. A straight question deserves a straight answer - and if it doesn't go your way, you might have to be prepared to move anyway.

Good luck!