Viewing a property with a tenant in

steampowered

You just need to ask the agent what the tenant's plans are.

It is very possible that the tenants are planning to move out anyway. Tenants handing in their notice is a common time for landlords to decide to sell. 

However, if the tenants do not want to leave, then it is extremely difficult (quite rightly) for the landlord to turf them out of their home. 

C1996

turnitround said:

C1996 said:

user1977 said:

C1996 said:

IF my offer is accepted I could potentially have a mortgage and a house that someone else is still living in? 

No, that won't happen. But there may be a delay while everybody waits for the tenant to leave.

This also something else that I wondered. Would there be any specific questions I’d need to be asking other than the length of their notice?

Your solicitor would not allow you to complete the sale whilst a tenant is in situ.

As for questions, the agent will only tell you what you want to hear. He will have no idea really as he wont now the tenant's intentions and is just interested in getting a sale. As others have said the tenant may be told to stay till eviction which will take months so she can be housed by the council. Equally she may have plans to move and will be leaving in 6 weeks. 
The length of notice is irrelevant. The notice does not mean the tenant has to leave it just means that after the end of notice the landlord can apply to the courts for a notice to evict. 
It also depends on whether or not the notice served is valid or not as many are incorrectly served and if this is the case then eviction may take much, much longer.

Did you ask the lady what her intentions were when you called to 'build some sort of rapport'?

Just as an aside, I'm not sure knocking was a great idea either. If I was selling and I got someone who was booked to view doing this beforehand it would build a good rapport, probably the opposite.

The tenant isn’t aware that I have a viewing arranged, I didn’t ask any further questions as she didn’t seem keen to speak for long which is understandable. 

And I appreciate your feedback, I think that’s down to the individual as I didn’t feel I was doing any harm in knocking the door at the time. 

I am glad i did as the agent probably wouldn’t have told me about the tenants.

C1996

GDB2222 said:

I agree with @Gavin83 There’s no reason not to view. 

Just don’t invest (much) money in searches, etc until the tenant has left. And, of course, keep looking around, as this property is even more problematic than usual.

There’s another very recent thread on here about someone else with a similar situation. So would be worth reading. 

Thank you, I will try and have a look for the thread. But yes my search will have to continue.

C1996

steampowered said:

You just need to ask the agent what the tenant's plans are.

It is very possible that the tenants are planning to move out anyway. Tenants handing in their notice is a common time for landlords to decide to sell. 

However, if the tenants do not want to leave, then it is extremely difficult (quite rightly) for the landlord to turf them out of their home. 

I will make sure I ask the agents tomorrow, thank you 

canaldumidi

C1996 said:

GDB2222 said:

I agree with @Gavin83 There’s no reason not to view. 

Just don’t invest (much) money in searches, etc until the tenant has left. And, of course, keep looking around, as this property is even more problematic than usual.

There’s another very recent thread on here about someone else with a similar situation. So would be worth reading. 

Thank you, I will try and have a look for the thread. But yes my search will have to continue.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6347873/buying-a-house-with-problem-tenants-currently-in-situ/p1

GDB2222

It’s hard to get a feel for how many tenants simply move on when their notice expires. My impression is, like Eddy, that nearly all move out on time.

 Occasionally, on here, people post about having got involved in a purchase, and the tenants have not moved out. The would be buyers can lose out quite badly, not just because of losing the fees spent, but also because house prices have risen whilst they have been patiently waiting. 

On the other hand, if the price is right for the tenanted property, it would be a mistake to ignore it completely. 

babyblade41

Go & have a look with a caveat that this will possibly take a long time to get to completion.

One advisory though is possibly not to knock on peoples doors before viewing other properties.. in my opinion it would be rather rude & would prefer you to wait until you have an appt.

Some may even prevent you from viewing at all as you may come across as a little overbearing & may potentially be problematic through the process 

HopefulFTB22

Just to note that the estate agent / landlord would need to give her at least 24 h of notice before any viewings. 

I am currently in this situation - my landlord is selling the property we've lived in for a number of years and it is an incredibly difficult situation to be in, especially with children involved. Not all tenants are difficult (the amount of tenant-bashing on these forums is shocking) - my advice is to check who her letting agent is and request an update on her situation from them. In my case, the estate agent marketing the house has told potential buyers that we have been served an S21 notice to leave, which is not true (just to note, that they have not once asked us about our situation, this is from the landlord). We are hoping to exchange on a house purchase in the next few weeks and have an agreement with the landlord to hand in our notice in at the point of exchange. 

canaldumidi

HopefulFTB22 said:

..... Not all tenants are difficult (the amount of tenant-bashing on these forums is shocking) - ....

To be fair, there's a lot of landlord and agent bashing too.

People tend to post when things go wrong. It's rare for a poster to wax lyrical about their tenant, landlord or agent. That does not mean there aren't paragons of virtue in each category!

C1996

HopefulFTB22 said:

Just to note that the estate agent / landlord would need to give her at least 24 h of notice before any viewings. 

I am currently in this situation - my landlord is selling the property we've lived in for a number of years and it is an incredibly difficult situation to be in, especially with children involved. Not all tenants are difficult (the amount of tenant-bashing on these forums is shocking) - my advice is to check who her letting agent is and request an update on her situation from them. In my case, the estate agent marketing the house has told potential buyers that we have been served an S21 notice to leave, which is not true (just to note, that they have not once asked us about our situation, this is from the landlord). We are hoping to exchange on a house purchase in the next few weeks and have an agreement with the landlord to hand in our notice in at the point of exchange. 

Thanks for sharing, I can imagine it’s not a nice situation to be in at all. I hope everything goes well. 

I have read negative comments about tenants however, there will be good tenants. 

I just have no idea atm what there position is but thank you for advising to check with their letting agency.