Should I buy this Maisonette?

PasturesNew

We don't know as any risk is situation specific....

The general/legal advice is always: "Do NOT exchange until the tenant has left the property and you have visited the property and done a visual inspection to confirm they have left and it's not been trashed".

Davesnave

greenhouse28 wrote: »

My next, and hopefully final question is; what is the risk with exchanging contracts while the tenant is still on his notice period?

Vendor wants their cake and eat it too!

Do not exchange until you are satisfied the tenant has gone and the property is in the condition you saw on previous inspection.

It can take anything up to 40 weeks to legally evict a tenant; longer if the landlord makes mistakes with the process.

greenhouse28

Now that I know the drain Survey is ok, and that the crack is just the window lintel, would anyone here actually purchase a property with a willow tree 6 meters from it?

tlc678910

Hi OP,
I may well find myself corrected but I think the law requires a tenant to be given two months notice (before a landlord can ask a court to end the tenancy). A statutory requirement whatever the contract says I think.
Tlc

Smodlet

Sorry, OP, but no power on this earth would impel me to buy a maisonette. Just my opinion.

greenhouse28

Hi all, had the tree report done now, they have confirmed in writting that the tree is not causing an issue, and that the crack is just a result of shoddy work when the uPVC windows were installed!

pinklady21

How much will it cost to put right the "shoddy work" on the windows? How many windows are there? What else might have to be repaired as the work was 2shoddy"?

And a property with a sitting tenant, which is what this is, is worth a lot less than one with vacant possession. You would be wise to wait until the tenant has moved out, and you have confirmed this with a visit to the interior of the property, before you exchange contracts.

greenhouse28

Had a few quotes for around £500, 2 windows have the problem. Could a sitting tenant be the reason a property is valued at £87,500 when nearby properties of the same size are valued at £100,000. The interiors of the nearby properties are also a LOT more modern, but i cant imagine that makes a huge difference on a small 2 bed maisonette.

PasturesNew

greenhouse28 wrote: »

.... sitting tenant ....

You have mixed up important names.

Sitting tenant: A tenant who has exceptionally strong rights to remain in the property, maybe for life - possibly even the ability to pass the rental as an inheritance ... they will tend to be in older tenancies, 20-50 years old.

Tenant: A tenant who is on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (most usual since
~1997).

A tenant living in a property is a tenant.
A sitting tenant in a property is a major inhibitor to anybody being able to buy the house at anywhere close to "its real value" as they have far-reaching rights.

PhilE

A crack above the downstairs window by itself isn't a deal breaker, neither is a tree. Together though, its a problem considering the crack may be due to the tree.

You've then also got to go through the hassle of negotiating with the people downstairs, and if that doesn't go to plan you have thin floorboards between you and someone you don't get along with.

I'd call it a day on this one personally.

Try and avoid a masionette if you can.