Buying at Auction with Tenants

Mazza333

Hi All,

If anybody can provide any information on this then I would be very grateful?!

I'm thinking of purchasing my 1st property at auction and the Lot I'm interested in has tenants. These tenants have been given an AST on 1st Dec 2015. My question is why would the seller put tenants in 2 weeks before they are due to sell the property? Would you not get more people bidding on the property if people can view it beforehand? What is the advantage for the seller, selling with new tenants in? Is the place so bad they don't want people to view it?!

Any thoughts most welcome

davidmcn

Mazza333 wrote: »

What is the advantage for the seller, selling with new tenants in?

The buyer can collect rent from day 1, rather than having to find their own tenants.

thesaint

I would guess the tenants have been in there prior, and have simply got a new fixed term. If this is not the case, then I would be concerned.

Find out exactly when they moved in.
Have a look at the rent statement, and whether any deposit has been paid and if it has been protected correctly.

I don't understand why you can't view it. Has this been explicity said? If I were seling in two weeks, I would have made it clear in my contract that viewings were a condition Unless there was a reason I didn't want potential buyers to view.

jonathanrolande

Could be a problem so do your homework.

It may however simply be that the seller wants to keep income rolling in in case the property doesn’t sell.

macman

'first property': are you seeking to purchase a buy to let, or a property with vacant possession?
Not clear from your post. If the former, you save all the costs of finding new tenants. If the latter, buy something else.

G_M

I assume you are a (prospective) landlord. If not, forget this property.

If so, then do your usual due diligence.

And in case this is your first BTL:

Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants

45002

Mazza333 wrote:

Hi All,

If anybody can provide any information on this then I would be very grateful?!

I'm thinking of purchasing my 1st property at auction and the Lot I'm interested in has tenants. These tenants have been given an AST on 1st Dec 2015. My question is why would the seller put tenants in 2 weeks before they are due to sell the property? Would you not get more people bidding on the property if people can view it beforehand? What is the advantage for the seller, selling with new tenants in? Is the place so bad they don't want people to view it?!

Any thoughts most welcome

Ask yourself this Mazza333, why is the property been sold at auction with tenants in place.

Just because they been given a AST doesn't mean it's is a AST, who told you they had a AST ?

Find out exactly the date the tenant 1st moved in do it yourself and don't rely on other to check for you.

You could end up with a Assured or Regulated tenants (Sitting Tenants) which are much harder to gain a possession order .

If in doubt walk away and buy some where else which is Empty.

eddddy

45002 wrote: »

Find out exactly the date the tenant 1st moved in do it yourself and don't rely on other to check for you.

The AST, and other relevant info, should be in the legal pack.

If it's not in the legal pack for any reason, it's unlikely that you will get reliable info before the auction.

(With auction properties, it's very unlikely that you will get replies to pre-contract enquiries. So you buy based on the info in the legal pack. If important info is missing from the pack, you might want to bid less, or not at all, because of the risk/uncertainty.)