Purchasing with wear and tear

nekr0mantik

Hello all

So the flat I am looking to purchase has minor issues that need to be fixed like a small dent in plasterboard wall and one door with damage at bottom. So I offered 6k under asking price.

However as it's tenanted and not able to see all of the walls due to furniture, if there end's up being more work needed then do I just need to accept that and get it fixed?

I know smarter thing would been ask vendor to repair first and many offer closer to asking price but that may delay things or someone else who don't mind DIY would come along and offer without fixed first.

What are people opinions on this.

ciderboy2009

At this stage I would be more concerned about the fact that it's currently tenanted.

MaryNB

I wouldn't offer closer to asking just because they did a few minor repairs! A dent in the plasterboard is as minor as it's gets. It would have to be major work to bump it up by £6k. You're buying an older house that's been lived in by others. Any older house, whether rented or owner-occupied is going to have plenty of scuff and dents. Furniture can hide a lot. 

I wouldn't rely on the seller to do DIY (it's just basic maintenance really). If you want it done right, get it sorted yourself - or do it yourself. Bitta Polyfilla and some sandpaper.  

Do not exchange without seeing the property without the tenants and doing a proper inspection.

You have several other threads and I'm not going to go through them. Has the issue with buying a tenants property been explained to you? Especially with regards to ensuring the tenants move out in a reasonable time frame (or to repharse - how hard it is to ensure that happens).

spoovy

I would expect any property thats not brand new to have minor imperfections like the ones you describe, and I wouldn't let them influence me at all.  Even if you don't fancy DIY you can get these things sorted by a local handyman for very little.

Snookie12cat

As above - its a lived in house. The only way you get perfect is if you buy new and then its not guaranteed. If you offered £6k under asking for these I would probably refuse your offer. 

nekr0mantik

MaryNB said:

I wouldn't offer closer to asking just because they did a few minor repairs! A dent in the plasterboard is as minor as it's gets. It would have to be major work to bump it up by £6k. You're buying an older house that's been lived in by others. Any older house, whether rented or owner-occupied is going to have plenty of scuff and dents. Furniture can hide a lot. 

I wouldn't rely on the seller to do DIY (it's just basic maintenance really). If you want it done right, get it sorted yourself - or do it yourself. Bitta Polyfilla and some sandpaper.  

Do not exchange without seeing the property without the tenants and doing a proper inspection.

You have several other threads and I'm not going to go through them. Has the issue with buying a tenants property been explained to you? Especially with regards to ensuring the tenants move out in a reasonable time frame (or to repharse - how hard it is to ensure that happens).

So this is a 6 year old apartment so not period property.

Not been told about issues with buying rented property but the property is managed by the same agents as the one I'm renting at the moment. The tenants have a break clause of 2 months that landlord or tenants can give so based on that I think it should be not as difficult or is it not as simple as that? 

I'm buying in area where majority are tenanted already apart from new builds. 

user1977

nekr0mantik said:

MaryNB said:

I wouldn't offer closer to asking just because they did a few minor repairs! A dent in the plasterboard is as minor as it's gets. It would have to be major work to bump it up by £6k. You're buying an older house that's been lived in by others. Any older house, whether rented or owner-occupied is going to have plenty of scuff and dents. Furniture can hide a lot. 

I wouldn't rely on the seller to do DIY (it's just basic maintenance really). If you want it done right, get it sorted yourself - or do it yourself. Bitta Polyfilla and some sandpaper.  

Do not exchange without seeing the property without the tenants and doing a proper inspection.

You have several other threads and I'm not going to go through them. Has the issue with buying a tenants property been explained to you? Especially with regards to ensuring the tenants move out in a reasonable time frame (or to repharse - how hard it is to ensure that happens).

The tenants have a break clause of 2 months that landlord or tenants can give so based on that I think it should be not as difficult or is it not as simple as that? 

The latter. If tenants don't leave voluntarily after (or before) two months, landlord then has to go to court to evict them - which is likely to take months longer. And you don't know what else might happen to the condition of the property by the time they have vacated.

ashe

nekr0mantik said:

MaryNB said:

I wouldn't offer closer to asking just because they did a few minor repairs! A dent in the plasterboard is as minor as it's gets. It would have to be major work to bump it up by £6k. You're buying an older house that's been lived in by others. Any older house, whether rented or owner-occupied is going to have plenty of scuff and dents. Furniture can hide a lot. 

I wouldn't rely on the seller to do DIY (it's just basic maintenance really). If you want it done right, get it sorted yourself - or do it yourself. Bitta Polyfilla and some sandpaper.  

Do not exchange without seeing the property without the tenants and doing a proper inspection.

You have several other threads and I'm not going to go through them. Has the issue with buying a tenants property been explained to you? Especially with regards to ensuring the tenants move out in a reasonable time frame (or to repharse - how hard it is to ensure that happens).

So this is a 6 year old apartment so not period property.

Not been told about issues with buying rented property but the property is managed by the same agents as the one I'm renting at the moment. The tenants have a break clause of 2 months that landlord or tenants can give so based on that I think it should be not as difficult or is it not as simple as that? 

I'm buying in area where majority are tenanted already apart from new builds. 

My understanding is you won't get a mortgage it it's tenanted and even if cash purchase just because they can be out by XYZ date doesn't mean they will because they can resist eviction and it has to go down court process. 

Unless buying to rent out and you want the tenants, I'd avoid proceeding until that situation is sorted 

onylon

It's generally accepted that you will need to do a bit of painting and decorating when you move in. I would expect there to be more work needed for a flat that's been rented out. There are probably heaps of minor issues that the tenant is aware of but are too small to be worth reporting to the landlord. As an owner occupier you tend to keep on top of these things a bit more.

MaryNB

nekr0mantik said:

MaryNB said:

I wouldn't offer closer to asking just because they did a few minor repairs! A dent in the plasterboard is as minor as it's gets. It would have to be major work to bump it up by £6k. You're buying an older house that's been lived in by others. Any older house, whether rented or owner-occupied is going to have plenty of scuff and dents. Furniture can hide a lot. 

I wouldn't rely on the seller to do DIY (it's just basic maintenance really). If you want it done right, get it sorted yourself - or do it yourself. Bitta Polyfilla and some sandpaper.  

Do not exchange without seeing the property without the tenants and doing a proper inspection.

You have several other threads and I'm not going to go through them. Has the issue with buying a tenants property been explained to you? Especially with regards to ensuring the tenants move out in a reasonable time frame (or to repharse - how hard it is to ensure that happens).

So this is a 6 year old apartment so not period property.

Not been told about issues with buying rented property but the property is managed by the same agents as the one I'm renting at the moment. The tenants have a break clause of 2 months that landlord or tenants can give so based on that I think it should be not as difficult or is it not as simple as that? 

I'm buying in area where majority are tenanted already apart from new builds. 

6 years is more than enough time for dents and scuff to appear. It's not a new build. You need to lower your expectations. You can't expect a house that has been lived in for even 6 months to be as good and shiny as new build (of course not always the case, snagging surveys exist for a reason). 

It is not that easy. The fact it's let by the same agents you rent from makes no difference.
A break clause just ends the fixed term of the tenancy, it does not end the tenancy. Once the break clause is triggered, the agent/landlord can issue an S21 (2 months notice). It does not compel the tenants to leave. It just says "if you don't leave by this date I will go to court for an eviction order) which will take several more months. For most tenants an S21 would be enough for them to move out but not all. They don't legally have to without a court order.

Do you know if they require council housing? Going by your budget on previous threads I assume social tenants wouldn't have the funds to rent the type of properties you are looking at.

GDB2222

There's no risk at all in making an offer on the property. That costs you nothing. 

So, suppose the landlord accepts that offer, will he immediately give notice to the tenants?

Suppose he does, are you then prepared to start incurring legal fees, search fees, mortgage application fees?

So, two months down the line, you have spent say £2k on fees, but the tenants decide not to leave. Do you hang around, waiting for the LL to evict them? That could take a year. Or, do you walk away, £2k poorer, and start the process again with a new property?