How many viewings of a rented house is 'reasonable'?

theartfullodger

mrkat said:

.................

What would you consider a reasonable frequency for viewings? Am I being unreasonable in requesting one viewing for 2 hours per week? 

Never IMHO: (Unless landlord offers incentive).

It's you home, your property: Just say no, in writing/email to landlord & agent, keep copies. Or whatever you are happy with.

They're just being greedy, not wanting to check if anything needs doing to the place before putting it on the market, empty.

Change the locks (keep old ones to put back when you leave) - unless you are desperate for a good reference.

Me, I'd want at least 50% off rent in normal times to permit viewings, more during covid and with dogs.  But I'm a greedy landlord.

Good luck!

Artful: Landlord since 2000

Martin_the_Unjust

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

Sitting tenants are a deal breaker for anything other than a buy to let mortgage as well

mrkat

moneysavinghero said:

When you say that your lease 'officially ends' next month. Do you mean that your LL has given you S21 notice, and that notice has ended and the LL has then gone to court and the court has ruled that the tenancy has ended?

If not then your tenancy does not officially end next month (unless you agree with the LL to end it).

I was first on a 1 year contract and then it got extended by 6 months which ends in May. We always knew he was going to sell the house and originally was going to do this after we moved but now, as we'd like to stay a little longer and he could do with the rent while selling the house, a casual arrangement seems to be the best option for both.

mrkat

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

The house seems to be getting a lot of interest, despite us being here. Would we still be considered 'sitting tenants' if we leave when the sale of the house is more finalised? 

NaughtiusMaximus

mrkat said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

The house seems to be getting a lot of interest, despite us being here. Would we still be considered 'sitting tenants' if we leave when the sale of the house is more finalised? 

Put yourself in the situation of the buyer.

You see a house you really like which is currently rented out, the current owner assures you the tenants will vacate the property before completion. The problem is you have no way of knowing if they actually will move out as planned, they could refuse to do so requiring lengthy eviction proceedings, adding months to the sale process and risking the entire chain collapsing if people below you get fed up with waiting, not to mention a good chance you initial mortgage offer expiring before the sale goes through. The easiest way to avoid this entirely is to disregard any property currently occupied by a tenant.

I'm not suggesting you would actually do that, but if I was a buyer I wouldn't want to take the gamble.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

mrkat said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

The house seems to be getting a lot of interest, despite us being here. Would we still be considered 'sitting tenants' if we leave when the sale of the house is more finalised? 

No, you wouldn't be sitting tenants after you have left;  but the problem for a buyer is up until you have left you have the potential to become sitting tenants who remain after the sale. No buyer  will want to make much movement on the sale until you are gone.

Scotbot

ScorpiondeRooftrouser said:

mrkat said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

The house seems to be getting a lot of interest, despite us being here. Would we still be considered 'sitting tenants' if we leave when the sale of the house is more finalised? 

No, you wouldn't be sitting tenants after you have left;  but the problem for a buyer is up until you have left you have the potential to become sitting tenants who remain after the sale. No buyer  will want to make much movement on the sale until you are gone.

More to the point no lender will allow exchange until the property is vacant unless it is a BTL mortgage

mrkat

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

The house seems to be getting a lot of interest, despite us being here. Would we still be considered 'sitting tenants' if we leave when the sale of the house is more finalised? 

Put yourself in the situation of the buyer.

You see a house you really like which is currently rented out, the current owner assures you the tenants will vacate the property before completion. The problem is you have no way of knowing if they actually will move out as planned, they could refuse to do so requiring lengthy eviction proceedings, adding months to the sale process and risking the entire chain collapsing if people below you get fed up with waiting, not to mention a good chance you initial mortgage offer expiring before the sale goes through. The easiest way to avoid this entirely is to disregard any property currently occupied by a tenant.

I'm not suggesting you would actually do that, but if I was a buyer I wouldn't want to take the gamble.

Gotcha, thanks for the info. Yeah we're definitely not planning on doing that but I see how it could put off buyers. 

mrkat

Scotbot said:

ScorpiondeRooftrouser said:

mrkat said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

mrkat said:

Martin_the_Unjust said:

How reasonable is your current landlord? How reasonable do you wish your future landlord to be?

Our lease officially ends next month but we have a casual agreement after that so that we can stay a bit longer and he can still get rent while the house is being viewed and the sale finalized which can take a few months. 

I wouldn't rely on him sticking to that agreement. Sitting tenants are a deal breaker to many potential buyers, if and when he figures that out he likely won't be so keen.

The house seems to be getting a lot of interest, despite us being here. Would we still be considered 'sitting tenants' if we leave when the sale of the house is more finalised? 

No, you wouldn't be sitting tenants after you have left;  but the problem for a buyer is up until you have left you have the potential to become sitting tenants who remain after the sale. No buyer  will want to make much movement on the sale until you are gone.

More to the point no lender will allow exchange until the property is vacant unless it is a BTL mortgage

I guess we're lucky in that from what we understand, most people interested are cash buyers. The house is made of clay which apparently is difficult to mortgage. On top of that, the chimney is letting in damp/water droplets through the wall so any potential buyer who gets a valuation for mortgage purposes will likely find it difficult.