Buying a previously rented house

giger

Afternoon MSE

We will shortly be buying a new house as we are moving areas with work. We've got 2 on our short list that we really like, one is a very smart house, owned by seemingly wealthy (ish) people and is slightly more money, the other is a vacant house that was previously rented and should be available cheaper. The owner of this house has given the walls a new coat of paint, carpets look newish (or at least good condition), 2 new bathrooms and is generally a nice house. Boiler and wiring around boiler looks new and should have been serviced annually by landlord. The owner previously lived in the house and extended it before moving and renting it out for whatever reason.

We really like this house, and as we have FTB's buying our house, in theory a deal could be done and there will be no chains.

So question is - would you buy a previously rented house, and what kind of things should we look out for over a house lived in by the owners? The house looks in good condition, it hasn't been knocked about, but a rented house never gets looked after as much as a owner occupied house.

Thoughts?

marliepanda

giger wrote: »

So question is - would you buy a previously rented house, and what kind of things should we look out for over a house lived in by the owners? The house looks in good condition, it hasn't been knocked about, but a rented house never gets looked after as much as a owner occupied house.

Completely flawed logic.

Some tenants will not look after their home. Some owners will not look after their home.

Some tenants will take wonderful care of a home. Some owners will take wonderful care of their home.

So look at the house and decide if its been well looked after rather than making wild, inaccurate assumptions. I have been in some disgusting owner occupied homes (as well as tenanted)

bitsandpieces

marliepanda wrote: »

Completely flawed logic.

Some tenants will not look after their home. Some owners will not look after their home.

Some tenants will take wonderful care of a home. Some owners will take wonderful care of their home.

So look at the house and decide if its been well looked after rather than making wild, inaccurate assumptions. I have been in some disgusting owner occupied homes (as well as tenanted)

In some ways, a rented house may be better looked after, too. There are some minimum legal requirements on landlords which don't fall on owner-occupiers, and tenants may push for some repairs/maintenance to be done more promptly than an owner-occupier would (given they're not paying for them ).

Either house may or may not be in good nick. Look at both houses and judge accordingly.

Notmyrealname

bitsandpieces wrote: »

In some ways, a rented house may be better looked after, too. There are some minimum legal requirements on landlords which don't fall on owner-occupiers, and tenants may push for some repairs/maintenance to be done more promptly than an owner-occupier would (given they're not paying for them ).

This. The best bargains are ex-LA.

giger

All fair points. We were also concerned that there may be problems that the seller is just not aware of as tenants have not made them aware of issues etc. We are guessing that if the seller originally lived there and put a big extension on, then rented it for a while and now wants to sell, that he probably wants/needs to release the equity for whatever reason. Therefore potentially more willing to be flexible on price.

I guess because there is potentially more of the unknown with the house you can't help but wonder if you will have certain issues down the line. The house looks to be in as good condition as owner occupied ones. As mentioned it hasn't been knocked around and it is presented well. You could move in as-is and worry about changing/upgrading certain things later.

bitsandpieces

giger wrote: »

All fair points. We were also concerned that there may be problems that the seller is just not aware of as tenants have not made them aware of issues etc.

On the other hand, the tenants may have nagged their landlord into fixing non-urgent problems which an owner-occupier (even if aware of) might have ignored. How you feel about this depends whether you believe that the sellers will tell you about any problems which they know about but which aren't readily apparent.

giger

...and I guess dealing with an estate agents when they are also showing you the property means that you probably won't find out about such things. However we are confident we could get the property for a good price (which would perhaps cover any issues that may arise).

The reason for the thread was to get people's general opinion and experiences so the more the merrier

minimadtrix

You are assuming that there is equity in the rented property. Maybe the seller did the same as me, move area, couldn't get a seller, bought elsewhere and rented the original home out that still has a hefty mortgage on it because they bought in the boom.

Personally, I'd just treat it as any other house - take it on face value, if you've fallen in love with it, put an offer in, if you're not sure, look elsewhere. If you want it, you can always have the highest survey on it, have the electics tested, take a builder mate round etc, etc

Werdnal

If you didn't know the place had been a previous rental, would you still have concerns? An owner occupier who may be desparate to sell, could just as easily hide things behind a new coat of paint, or have neglected repairs and maintenance due to money troubles.

One thing you should remember if you do go ahead with an ex-rental, is to change the locks as soon as you complete. Wise for anyone moving house anyway, but with numerous previous tenants possibly having kept (or even lost) a key, more important in this case.

agrinnall

giger wrote: »

We were also concerned that there may be problems that the seller is just not aware of as tenants have not made them aware of issues etc.

If you are really concerned about this then pay a bit extra to get a more comprehensive survey. If that does find anything then you can either walk away or use it to negotiate the price, if it's all clear then you have peace of mind to proceed.