Buying the house off your landlord / neighbours

Meehash

I've rented the house for almost four years and I really like the area I live in. I have (mostly) everything I need: job just few minutes away on foot, big park to walk my dogs, some shops and a post office round the corner, train station with direct and quick connections to Manchester and Liverpool, access to motorways, two main airports in less than an hour drive, close to nature parks etc. Immediate neighbourhood and the street itself is not the perfect one, but much better than other places around and getting a bit better. The only three things I don't like about it are: the weather, far away from the Channel tunnel and almost no properties for sale on the market. There's one house way overpriced for what it offers (you can easily find something bigger and better for that price) and one within the budget, but in very bad condition, neglected by the previous owner/tenant (dog poops smeared-into the carpets, mould and damp everywhere, leaking roof, no gas or elec service, artex present on many walls and ceilings). Some other houses further away, but either too far away or above my budget. There were much more properties offered last year and two years ago and I can't stop thinking I missed the chance.

So I thought about writing a letter to my landlord offering to buy a house off them. The problem is my landlord is a big company registered in Jersey, so I'm not convinced they would even reply. Has anyone been successful with buying off their landlord? Or is it better to ask neighbours (personally / in writing)?

csgohan4

no harm in trying, but don't hold your breathe, maybe contact the estate agent as well

AdrianC

A corporate landlord may well make it more likely they'll consider your approach - because they'll be more less emotional about the whole concept. Is the price worth selling at? An individual might get all "Oooh, but it's my pension!" or, worse "SELL AUNTY GLADYS'S HOUSE? NEVER!" (Aunty Gladys died in 1976)

But if the comparables on the market are "outside your budget" or inside but in "very bad condition", that suggests what they'll think is a price worth selling at, and what you think it's "worth", might not coincide...

steampowered

No harm in asking.

Worst that can happen is they say no.

Cakeguts

It is probably a build to rent company so they may not want to sell at this stage. How old is the house?

Cakeguts

One thing that won't happen is that you won't get the house cheaper than it would be on the open market because a big landlord won't need to sell.



What you need to do before you do anything else is to work out what the house would sell for on the open market because if you couldn't afford that there is no point in even writing the letter.

Meehash

All terraced houses on my and neighbouring street were built around 1920, are of the same size and same 2-bed layout and all used to be social rented in the past, with some still rented this way. Average price paid in the recent five years is 80k for neighbouring street and 74k for my street. There are some 3-bed semis on our street, average price paid 118k.

The dirty neglected house has offer accepted at 84k,the other one is listed for 130k (not a single house was ever sold for even close to this price, even the big semis).

My house will require some repairs at landlord's expense and is of similar standard to the "dirty" house, so I thought about offering around 85-90k.

Is it worth getting a house buyer report (or other professional valuation) before asking?

Cakeguts

If you buy it the repairs will be at your expense not the landlord's.

Meehash

I know and I'm happy to carry out all repairs while renovating the whole house.
If I carry on renting though, the landlord will have to pay, which would take some time to recover the cost and they can't reasonably increase the rent as there are better houses to let for only slightly higher rent price.

Yet, I don't want to rent, let alone move to another rental, which I would be stuck in for at least six month and would be costly. Even with just 5% deposit the mortgage rent would come 200 pounds cheaper then the rent, each month.

Plus my parents want to gift me and my girlfriend some money, to either increase the deposit or to spend on repairs and decorating.

We want to pay the full open market price, don't want to rip off.

Cakeguts

Look for one on the open market then. You might find one in better condition than the one you are renting.

Meehash

Nothing else on the market in immediate area, aside from the two mentioned before. Further away there are some, but are bigger and thus more expensive. We already lost two houses to someone else. Sadly, both times the offers had been accepted and houses removed from the market just before we wanted to make ours (literally few minutes). Spoke to the agent and it's very quiet year compared to previous two. Tough luck!
That's why I thought about the letters to landlords and/or neighbours. Staying in my house would mean dealing with property management company to carry out repairs, and they've been terribly unreliable in this matter so far.