1st time buyer, tenants in the house

Benight

AdrianC wrote: »

Yes, ultimately the vendor may well be paying. Although it might involve a court case, and you might not see the money even after getting bailiffs etc involved.

But don't confuse hassle and expense. They're very different things.

That's an issue that could affect any sale, tenanted or not.
It's not unknown for a seller not to leave thir property on completion day, or perhaps less common, where a property is supposed to be unoccupied, for others unknown to assume occupancy.

It's down to the seller to deliver up the property in a vacant condition - that's what the contract they agreed to will say.

Remember, the buyer doesn't pay until the seller conforms to contract (the money will be held by the solicitor) - so any expense costs incurred in forcing conformation could probably be deducted from any monies owed otherwise according to the contract.

Some MOPs may attempt to play silly games, but most lawyers tend to play things strictly by the book.

AdrianC

Benight wrote: »

That's an issue that could affect any sale, tenanted or not.
It's not unknown for a seller not to leave thir property on completion day, or perhaps less common, where a property is supposed to be unoccupied, for others unknown to assume occupancy.

Sure, but it's far MORE likely when there's tenants in the property.

It's down to the seller to deliver up the property in a vacant condition - that's what the contract they agreed to will say.

The vendor has ultimate control over whether they move out of their own-occupied property. They have zero control over whether the tenants do, or what state it's left in.

steampowered

I also would not exchange unless the property is vacant.

Your mortgage lender won't lend if the property isn't vacant on completion. If the tenants refuse to leave because their next accommodation isn't sorted, you would then be then left with fighting through court to get your deposit back.

You could just have a very small gap between exchange and completion.

Exchange when the tenants leave, complete a day or two later.

hb2

I'm another who would not exchange until/unless the property was vacant. How can you set a completion date when you don't know how long it will take for the tenants to leave? Yes, it will be the vendor's responsibility but it could cause a lot of upset and inconvenience to the buyer if the tenants hadn't moved out by completion. It's not a risk I would be prepared to take.

Benight

steampowered wrote: »

I also would not exchange unless the property is vacant.

Your mortgage lender won't lend if the property isn't vacant on completion. If the tenants refuse to leave because their next accommodation isn't sorted, you would then be then left with fighting through court to get your deposit back.

You could just have a very small gap between exchange and completion.

Exchange when the tenants leave, complete a day or two later.

You won't find many properties for sale with them being vacant at exchange (unless you exchange and complete on same day as I proposed)

You won't fight in court for the deposit back; you will fight for the property to be sold to you according to the contract signed by the vendor. You have the money (or will have when the vendor conforms to contract) - the vendor has the property; easy for a court to force if it comes to that stage.

Its not like a buyer being unable to complete due to lack of funds
(e.g. mortgage offer withdrawn and unable to get another)

Benight

hb2 wrote: »

I'm another who would not exchange until/unless the property was vacant. How can you set a completion date when you don't know how long it will take for the tenants to leave? Yes, it will be the vendor's responsibility but it could cause a lot of upset and inconvenience to the buyer if the tenants hadn't moved out by completion. It's not a risk I would be prepared to take.

Have you ever bought a property? What about one off plan??? :cool:

It's not rocket science.

hb2

Benight wrote: »

Have you ever bought a property? What about one off plan??? :cool:

Yes, we have bought/sold property - including one that had tenants when it was put up for sale. These tenants had left before exchange. No, we have never bought off plan, it is not something that has ever appealed to us.

GDB2222

hb2 wrote: »

I'm another who would not exchange until/unless the property was vacant. How can you set a completion date when you don't know how long it will take for the tenants to leave? Yes, it will be the vendor's responsibility but it could cause a lot of upset and inconvenience to the buyer if the tenants hadn't moved out by completion. It's not a risk I would be prepared to take.

Luckily for the buyer, there seem to be quite a lot of very cautious people around. Hence, he's getting really quite a substantial discount for taking on this risk of "upset and inconvenience". Clearly, there's room for a difference of opinion on this.

This is the first buy for the OP, so the downside is substantially reduced for him. If he were in a chain, the downside would be far worse.

steampowered

Benight wrote: »

You won't find many properties for sale with them being vacant at exchange (unless you exchange and complete on same day as I proposed)

It is a bit different where the occupiers are the vendor vs. the occupiers are tenants.

The vendor has a big incentive to leave - as they'll get sued if they don't.

The tenants - not so much.

You won't fight in court for the deposit back; you will fight for the property to be sold to you according to the contract signed by the vendor. You have the money (or will have when the vendor conforms to contract) - the vendor has the property; easy for a court to force if it comes to that stage.

Its not like a buyer being unable to complete due to lack of funds
(e.g. mortgage offer withdrawn and unable to get another)

Even for a slam dunk case, it still takes a lot of legal fees and several months to get "specific performance" of a contract for sale. By that time the mortgage offer will be long gone.

lookstraightahead

The tenants might not want to leave. It's not up to the property owner/landlord.