Buy flat and rent temporarily to current owners until they find where to move?

leo.ge

theartfullodger said:

leo.ge said:

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

Is it not common to rent property to people? Estate agents manage lettings, so you - the owner don't need to do much (am I wrong?)

Oh dear: Oh dear, is this a wind up?

The landlord always remains liable (although sometimes they may have claim on agent).

Remember, in England, a lettings agent requires no qualifications, no training, no criminal records check.  The whole office may be staffed by ex-convicts on early release from Brixton Jail from their sentences for GBH & Fraud.  Other countries do these things better.

Artful: Landlord since 2000.

Well... I think it depends on the neighborhood, in a good one this does not happen. Tenants who don't pay bills... But if they work in the City and show salary slips, then I don't think they'll spoil property or will not pay debts or will need eviction. Of course everything is risk.

Snookie12cat

leo.ge said:

In fact, my concern with buying property which has chain is complete uncertainty. 
Back when I was buying my own flat, I made an offer on some flat and waited for 6 months and finally I was told that the owners are still looking for the property to move. So I had to give up. It was really frustrating. I don't want this situation again, because you cannot make offers on several properties in parallel, and once you made offer you are stuck and you depend on an unknown number of people whom you have never seen.

How do normally people get some certainty/assurance of the date when they get their property if there is chain?

There is none - I am in this at the moment, in the middle but there are 3 of us. The one i found had no chain, but I am reliant on people i dont know doing what they should and not changing their mind. I am on my 3rd buyer.... I am resolved to accept that homebuying is unpredictable and uncertain. 

theartfullodger

Leo.  What training on how to be a landlord have you done, please?

fewcloudy

theartfullodger said:

Leo.  What training on how to be a landlord have you done, please?

No need!!  Those city types are as honest as the day they were born, it will be fine.

leo.ge

theartfullodger said:

The whole office may be staffed by ex-convicts on early release from Brixton Jail from their sentences for GBH & Fraud.  Other countries do these things better.

I cannot believe that a high-street agency branch like Foxtons or Dexters in a good neighborhood is staffed by ex-convicts. I had many friends who bought flats using agencies and who rented flats and I never heard of any wrongdoings, and in UK it works  in fact much better than in other countries.

Indeed very frustrating what you said above, and perhaps in central London or in Brixton or similar places this can happen, but not in places where young professionals live and commute to central London to work.

leo.ge

theartfullodger said:

Leo.  What training on how to be a landlord have you done, please?

I have not done any. Are you telling me that some family whose old parents deceased and left to them their property - they need training to rent it out?

Slithery

If you don't already know everything in the following 2 posts and all the links they conain then yes, you need training...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67759929#Comment_67759929

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67759934/#Comment_67759934

Snookie12cat

leo.ge said:

theartfullodger said:

Leo.  What training on how to be a landlord have you done, please?

I have not done any. Are you telling me that some family whose old parents deceased and left to them their property - they need training to rent it out?

In some parts of the country you actually need to pass a landlord training course and register... 

Bad tenants are everywhere and good tenants can easily become bad through change of circumstances. Renting is not for the uninformed and would not be cost effective for you to do all this for a few months while these people buy something else.

Scotbot

leo.ge said:

theartfullodger said:

The whole office may be staffed by ex-convicts on early release from Brixton Jail from their sentences for GBH & Fraud.  Other countries do these things better.

I cannot believe that a high-street agency branch like Foxtons or Dexters in a good neighborhood is staffed by ex-convicts. I had many friends who bought flats using agencies and who rented flats and I never heard of any wrongdoings, and in UK it works  in fact much better than in other countries.

Indeed very frustrating what you said above, and perhaps in central London or in Brixton or similar places this can happen, but not in places where young professionals live and commute to central London to work.

Many are staffed by nice but  incompetent juniors who don't know what they are doing. The problem is they are not liable if something goes wrong, you are and there is a lot of  legislation to comply with including annual safety checks

I agree with you that most tenants do the right thing and pay their rent but some don't.  Then it's  a nightmare to evict them,  it can  take well over a year.  That is over a year when you are not getting any rent. The law are stacked against the landlord far more so than in some other countries

As for not trashing a property I had a colleague who rented a flat out in Kensington. On his return he found a wall had been replaced by a one way mirror. The carpets had been replaced with some lurid purple numbers and the walls painted  in black. He had used an agent, apparently they hadn't  noticed. He also had to put up with  had many people knocking on his door late at night for the first few months . 

user1977

leo.ge said:

theartfullodger said:

Leo.  What training on how to be a landlord have you done, please?

Are you telling me that some family whose old parents deceased and left to them their property - they need training to rent it out?

If they know nothing about being a landlord, of course they'd need to find out what was involved.

If my parents left me their property, I'd sell it. Or perhaps move into it. I wouldn't take it as a cue to start a lettings business.