Interested in buying our rental house

IamJen

Just wondering if anyone has ideas about how to approach the landlord of our current (rented) house to see if she would be interested in selling it to us.

Our small, independent letting agent recently joined together with a larger agency. We've dealt with them previously, in the house we rented prior to this one, and they are just snakes. We spent months arguing with them and had to threaten legal action before we received our deposit back. To say that they are truth-challenged is an understatement. So, obviously, we'd like to avoid dealing with them. We have an address on our lease for the landlord, but I think she has since moved to a new place for which we don't have details.

If she magically did decide to sell to us, would she be under any obligation to the letting agency?

We are struggling hard to find something (in Oxfordshire..good god are houses expensive here), so hoping this might work out for us.

MisterB1959

try writing to the address you do have, first of all. the contract with the agency is likely to run until your tenancy agreement ends.


with regards to buying your property, as a landlord given the current climate of price rises, if I needed to release capital I could remortgage, if I wanted to sell I would be looking at getting market value, not selling to you cheap. the other point to consider is that if the landlord has sat through the recent banking crisis when things were looking bad, why would they sell now its looking better? especially if they would be looking to reinvest in the same area, they may lose money on the sale and subsequent purchase


but having said all that, It wont cost you anything to ask, but be ready to put forward good arguments, ie you will pay market value (average of three written price guides from estate agents or comparible recent sales) and the landlord will save on estate agency fees, advertising etc. they may be tempted, they may actually be looking to move their investment elsewhere if youre lucky

Pixie5740

You can certainly approach your LL about buying the property. However, a lot of LA have something written in the contract with the LL covering this scenario. The LA charges a fee for introducing the buyer to the LL.

IamJen

MisterB, we do realize that it's a bit of a long shot, but the situation here is pretty bad, so think it's worth a shot. Pixie, that's the sort of thing we were wondering about. Hm.

Can't believe that with a large deposit ready, we're likely to still end up renting because we can only afford a flat. !!!!!!

LEJC

Not all LL want to sell their properties...but there is no harm in writing to see if it would be something your LL would consider.


I am a LL and were I to receive a letter from a tenant enquiring about the possibility of purchase...on one of my properties it would be a definate no(it was my family home) and on the other 2 it might be a possibility,but as the other poster said,it would be at market value rather than offering a discount to the existing tenant.


A lot will depend on how the LL came to be one...through choice or as a result of not being able to sell a property..ie as a reluctant LL.


In order to leave existing tenancies there are usually penalties and I would assume that removing a property from the LA with a view to selling to the tenant would attract a fee....but the LL would need to check their contract with the LA to confirm the specific details


If you were to write a letter and get the answer of "no"...how would that change your view on the property you are renting....would it make you less inclined to stay there because you knew it would never be somewhere you could own .....or would you still be happy to rent the place....?...or indeed on the other hand would it make you want to move to another rental which may or maynot be available to purchase at a later stage...
I'm not questioning your motives...just really interested in what you would consider...

AdrianC

Even if the LL doesn't want to sell, it won't harm to bring their attention to your previous experience with the new parent agent. If you explain that you aren't prepared to rent through the agent, the LL might prefer to change agency than lose a good tenant and risk a void.

agrinnall

MisterB1959 wrote: »

with regards to buying your property, as a landlord given the current climate of price rises, if I needed to release capital I could remortgage, if I wanted to sell I would be looking at getting market value, not selling to you cheap.

Of course, if you wanted to sell for full market value you'd have to have vacant possession before agreeing the sale, so unless you were very lucky you'd either have a period without rent coming in or your tenants might decide not to leave and possibly scupper the sale altogether. At least by selling to existing tenants you'd be able to rule out both of those.