Semi-hypothical: Would it be more unfair to sell or to not sell to this person?

AdrianC

Unfair to who? The ex-tenant-now-buyer? Or the neighbour?

The tenant knows what they're getting into.
The neighbour is going to take against whoever. That type always do.

G_M

Bossypants wrote: »

I have a former rental property which I intend to sell in in mid-2021. ....?

Not even worth thinking about yet then.

Bossypants

G_M wrote: »

Not even worth thinking about yet then.

I agree in terms of putting it on the market, but now that I know, I wanted to let her know well in advance, so that she could think about it and get herself in order in case she wanted to proceed. I was planning to drop her a quick note along the lines of 'just FYI since you asked to be notified, the house will be sold in mid-2021, if you decide you'd be interested between now and then, let me know'. More of a heads up than anything else.

AdrianC

The ex-neighbour may have exploded with rage before then.

zagubov

There are people who could pick a fight in an empty room, and the neighbour sounds like she is of that ilk.

Whoever moves in, she might find fault with them. Sell to the tenant if they want it.

P0123

It is a shame that no-one appears to be grasping the point of the neighbour's behaviour not being meanfully nasty, nosey or negative, (and I've certainly had my share of those), but down to a mental illness.

I would certainly offer the ex-tenant the opportunity to buy, but adding a reminder to be mindful of the neighbour and her illness. If she agrees to buy, then send a letter to the neighbour explaining that you are aware of her health problems but should she feel that the previous tenant moving in will affect her health further, then, at this point, she may well be in a situation where she can get help or advice from ***, giving the odd helpline, service or place where she can be reassured about her own health, the situation and see the positivity.

If the ex-tenant does not want to buy it, then still send a letter to the neighbour, expressing the above, whilst advising that you have no control over the potential buyers, and it's best to contact the aforesaid helplines, etc, if she incurs anything that feels as though it is a potential problem for her.

This way, you have covered all aspects, and hopefully everyone will be able to carry on their lives as they would like.

Mojisola

P0123 wrote: »

I would certainly offer the ex-tenant the opportunity to buy, but adding a reminder to be mindful of the neighbour and her illness.

If she agrees to buy, then send a letter to the neighbour explaining that you are aware of her health problems but should she feel that the previous tenant moving in will affect her health further, then, at this point, she may well be in a situation where she can get help or advice from ***, giving the odd helpline, service or place where she can be reassured about her own health, the situation and see the positivity.

I think this is a dreadful idea.

It's more likely to set the neighbour off than help her get treatment for whatever problems she has.

Jumblebumble

Bossypants wrote: »

I have a former rental property which I intend to sell in in mid-2021. A former tenant was very keen on the house and, when she moved out, asked me to let her know if I ever wanted to sell. This was about three years ago, and though there is a very good chance that she wouldn't be willing or able to buy it now, let's assume for the sake of this post that she would.

Now the only drawback to this house is that one neighbour (on the detached side), has a highly anxious disposition and feels entitled to have the world bend around her anxiety. This is mostly just an occassional irritation to the people living in my house (myself included), as she is quite polite about it, but she really took against the potential buyer at the time when she was my tenant, and complained repeatedly to myself and the managing agent. Even to hear her (the neighbour) tell it, though, the tenant didn't seem to be doing anything wrong. 'Nuisances' included starting the car to go to work too early in the morning, or playing music in the garden for a couple of hours on a sunny weekend afternoon. In my opinion, all normal if occassionally irritating facts of suburban life. The neighbour, though, was really worked up about it, and kept going round to the tenant to complain. The tenant eventually got fed up and told her firmly to stop coming round, at which point the neighbour decided that she felt 'threatened'.

Long story short, the managing agent and I eventually stopped trying to placate and told her to go to the council if she was so sure there was a nuisance to report, and I haven't heard anything since. The tenant obviously wasn't too bothered, since she expressed interest in buying. My question for the forum is, if I did happen to end up selling to this former tenant, would it be really unfair to the neighbour (who was genuinely distressed, even if the cause was unreasonable)? Or would it be more unfair for the former tenant to potentially miss out on a house that she really liked just to placate someone else's anxiety?

The good situation about this is that if you sell the place to your former tenant then the neighbour becomes their problem and you no longer need to concern yourself
Their flat their issue

Missus_Hyde

Mojisola wrote: »

I think this is a dreadful idea.

It's more likely to set the neighbour off than help her get treatment for whatever problems she has.

Totally agree; having a "mental illness" doesn't give the neighbour the right to veto any prospective buyers and I think that by indulging her it would simply encourage her to object to anyone who was unfortunate enough to do anything of which she didn't approve.

kdotdotdotdot

If the neighbour only had problems with that one tenant, and not with you or subsequent tenants, which is what you seem to be saying, then yes, there may well again be an issue if you were to sell to that tenant. However, I don't see why that's your problem, exactly. As others say, it's also possible that there'll be a problem with someone else that you sell to, and what are you going to do then? Refund and buy it back? Of course not.

Remind the tenant of the situation and then go ahead and sell. Don't get in touch with the neighbour - nothing you can say or do will make things better.