advice please on buying the house we rent from a private landlord.

c.liverbird

Hi all. We currently rent our 3 bed house at 550pm and have done for 10 years.
Our LL has told us that they are 'regretably' selling up and asked us if we could buy it from them. This will save in estate agent fees and stress of selling.
We have had to change work situations to accomodate a mortgage offer...but we have been told we can get a suitable mortgage to buy it from him.

On zoopla it is valued at 171000. Next door has just sold at 160000 and was valued at 184000 as an end of terrace.
He has told us that he would give us a reduction in the selling price as we have looked after the property and done things at a cost to us to make the property better.
Should a percentage of the 66k we've paid to him in rent over the years be taken into consideration.?

What is a reasonable reduction in these circumstances?

Any advice and tips we haven't thought of greatly appreciated.

thesaint

No, the rent you paid is irrelevant.
There is no "reasonable" figure for reduction.

If I were advising him, I would sell it for the market value minus estate agent fees.

martindow

I wouldn't think that the rent you've paid will affect the price he wants - in exchange for the rent you have been living there.

If next door is comparable and the same design that would be the starting point. If that was a wreck yours will be more valuable, if it was in better condition yours will be worth less.

If the LL sells to you he will (possibly) save estate agent fees and should have a straightforward sale with no chain. If he lets through an agent there may be a clause which allows them to collect a fee if a tenant buys. He will also be able to collect rent up to the sale - normally tenants have to leave beforehand to offer vacant possession to the buyer. These are advantages which warrant a reduction from the house's value.

c.liverbird

Thank you both. That's exactly what I thought but thanks for the affirmation. X

8-of-us

We were in this situation a year ago, our landlord did take into account a percentage of the rent we had paid (though we still couldn't afford it)
Find out what they brought it for and do a bit of maths to come up with an agreeable figure to offer, never any harm in an offer, especially not if you've had a good relationship and you do want the house.

c.liverbird

They paid 120k for it 12 years ago.
Thanks...we have a good relationship and they feel bad for us as it's our home so hopefully we can all be reasonable.

HappyMJ

c.liverbird wrote: »

Hi all. We currently rent our 3 bed house at 550pm and have done for 10 years.
Our LL has told us that they are 'regretably' selling up and asked us if we could buy it from them. This will save in estate agent fees and stress of selling.
We have had to change work situations to accomodate a mortgage offer...but we have been told we can get a suitable mortgage to buy it from him.

On zoopla it is valued at 171000. Next door has just sold at 160000 and was valued at 184000 as an end of terrace.
He has told us that he would give us a reduction in the selling price as we have looked after the property and done things at a cost to us to make the property better.
Should a percentage of the 66k we've paid to him in rent over the years be taken into consideration.?

What is a reasonable reduction in these circumstances?

Any advice and tips we haven't thought of greatly appreciated.

Firstly ignore Zoopla valuations. They are utterly useless.

I would offer at least 5% if not 10% less than what it's worth to cover the savings your landlord will make by not having to evict you and the agency fees that they won't have to pay.

His_Dudeness

If the one next door has just sold for 160k and is comparable then that is the benchmark and a good indication of the current market value.
Whatever your landlord paid for the property in the past has no relevance.

Estate agent fees are 1-2.5%, which would be a saving for your landlord if you bought.

If your landlord sold to a third party, You would also probably have to leave before exchange can take place so your landlord would stop receive rent, but equally you could stay longer (because chain, etc.) and thus he might get rent for longer.
It would also be a pain for you to have to move, so there is also value to you in buying the property.

Based on that, I agree with thesaint above: market value minus agent fees. You both win.

thesaint

8-of-us wrote: »

Find out what they brought it for and do a bit of maths to come up with an agreeable figure to offer, never any harm in an offer, especially not if you've had a good relationship and you do want the house.

It always makes me laugh when I hear people ask to find out what the previous owner paid for the house.

If they paid £450 for it in 1959, then they will surely accept ten times that price now shouldn't they?

ViolaLass

His_Dudeness wrote: »

You would also probably have to leave before exchange can take place so your landlord would stop receive rent...

Really? Why?

HappyMJ

ViolaLass wrote: »

Really? Why?

Quoted message did say "probably"

Exchange commits both sides to complete, the buyer may be an owner occupier the mortgage conditions requiring vacant possession on completion. To guarantee vacant possession the tenant should be out before exchange of contracts. Of course if the buyer is an investor there's no need to leave as a new tenancy agreement can be set up with the new landlord.