How to approach the lanlord to buy the house

sheff6107

"How do we approach the landlord to inquire whether he would be interested in selling the house to us?"

Pick up the telephone.

TBagpuss

Either phon the landlord or write a brief note to say
"We are planning to buy a house in the near future and before we look elsewhere wanted to enquire whether you have any plans to sell the house at [address]? If so, we would be interested in discussing the possibility of our buying it"

That opens the door to discussions anf doesn't tie your hands if anythign unexpected were to come back on the survey.

If you know where the landlord lives you can send the lettter to them directly rather than via the letting agent.

But bviously before that you need to have the conversation with your husband so you are both on the same page. Maybe view some other properties so he has a better feel for what is available in your price range.

Cakeguts

Why do you think that the house that you are renting would be any cheaper than others in the area? If you live in a popular area it could be argued that the landlord would have no difficulty selling the house if he wanted to and would not have to accept a low offer from a tenant? You say that you are being realistic about what you can afford in the area that you live in but expecting your landlord to sell you a house that he lets for less than it is worth is not realistic.

westernpromise

I would make the approach along the lines of "we're thinking ahead to our options come renewal; these include buying, and that might be round here; were you thinking of selling at all?"

There are two bonuses for the landlord in this situation. One is that if he sells to you he gets rent right up until the day of completion. That's better than a mere chain-free sale because even with a chain-free buyer it is still advisable to have the tenants out of a rented property before you exchange on selling it, just to be sure you can give vacant possession when you complete. If he does that and the sale falls through he then has a void property, no tenants, and a between-tenancies freshen-up bill. If OTOH he sells to you and that sale falls through - he still has his tenants.

The other bonus is that, as you've noted, you would be buying it as-is (subject to survey) and won't be wanting anything fixed, serviced, altered or indeed removed from the property.

Hinges on whether he wants to sell, of course.

EDIT: I think you'll find that the letting agreement with the landlord means the agent gets the usual sales commission if a tenant they introduced buys the property.

LEJC

I think there is no harm in trying...I like the short approach that you have considered in your first post together with the opening line of bagpuss suggestion....although I would put your request in writing rather than phone as it does give time perhaps for more consideration.

some LL's will look at selling some wont and until you ask you'll never know which type of LL you have...

Fwiw...I've got 3 properties and am not in the market to sell any of them ...but I wouldn't be offended if I were to receive such contact....I think perhaps if you go into it with an open mind theres nothing ventured,nothing gained as long as you dont take it to heart if the answer is a polite no.

trsv

Cakeguts wrote: »

Why do you think that the house that you are renting would be any cheaper than others in the area? If you live in a popular area it could be argued that the landlord would have no difficulty selling the house if he wanted to and would not have to accept a low offer from a tenant? You say that you are being realistic about what you can afford in the area that you live in but expecting your landlord to sell you a house that he lets for less than it is worth is not realistic.

I'm not after an unfair price - other houses on the same street sell for more as are in a better throughout order and with bigger gardens (ours is quite small). They are on the market for a while, if the asking price is a bit too steep though they eventually will sell. But yes, it is sought after location, so the landlord will have no problem to sell the house for a fair price.

Cakeguts

trsv wrote: »

I'm not after an unfair price - other houses on the same street sell for more as are in a better throughout order and with bigger gardens (ours is quite small). They are on the market for a while, if the asking price is a bit too steep though they eventually will sell. But yes, it is sought after location, so the landlord will have no problem to sell the house for a fair price.

Before you do anything it might be worth finding out what the other houses on the street have sold for. The size of a garden won't make much difference to a sale price. The biggest difference is between areas. So if you live in a popular area it is the area that makes the difference to the prices rather than the condition of the house or the size of the garden. Unless the condition makes it so that you couldn't move in unless you spent money first but as you are already living there that won't apply here. If someone wants to live in a particular area the fact that a house needs a bit of money spent on it to update the interior won't make a lot of difference to the price. In some areas houses needing updating sell for the same amount as houses that don't. In expensive areas people will change the kitchen and bathrooms anyway to suit their taste. Decorating is expected when you buy a house.

trsv

Yes, you are probably right.
I'll approach the landlord via letter and see what happens. The worst case scenario is he says no or names a higher price than what we can afford.