Buying house directly from Landlady

GerryM6

Hello, I am after some advice as this whole experience is very new to us.

We are currently renting a two bedroom house from the landlady who has an estate agent deal with all the details for her (payments, inspections, etc).

We are in a position now where we can buy the property outright from her, however we (us & landlady) have had bad experience from the estate agents. (Feedback never gets passed on, there was a bad situation when we first moved in and few other things).

Because of this we want to do the deal privately with her to avoid essentially giving the estate agents anymore money. She is aware of us wanting  to purchase the property.

I am trying to get a Level 2 Home report on the property to get a price but am stuck from what I need to be doing next. I believe just giving her the money doesn't just make the house our property.

Who else do I need to get involved to complete the transaction/process?

I'm aware that just involving the estate agents may be the easiest thing, especially if we would essentially need to hire another estate agents just to do it. So should we just bite the bullet & use them? If we did, I would still get a separate Level 2 House Inspection so that we can talk about price.

Any advice much appreciated, cheers! 

hpsauce86

You both need to appoint solicitors. That’s the first thing. 

Sandtree

Where are you?

In England/Wales the estate agent just deals with marketing the property and filtering queries/bids etc. Once the sale has been agreed in principle (ie offer accepted) they add very little to the process going forward. Once offer has been accepted then you appoint your solicitors each and go through the legal process of due diligence on the property (aka the searches) and then execute a contract to complete the sale on day X on which you make the payment, the title transfers and the solicitors deal with all this for you etc.

hazyjo

Sounds like Scotland?

Think there are often fees to pay letting agents if tenants go on to buy the property. Your landlady will need to check her contract with them. Whether or not you both use them are prob up to you.

tightauldgit

If you've agreed a deal you need to both appoint solicitors to conduct conveyancing on the property and get all the legalities done to make it your property. No need for an estate agent at all at this stage.

user1977

The procedure is the same as for any other house purchase, the only difference is that the vendor hasn't had to use an estate agent to find a buyer.

eddddy

As above, you need a surveyor or conveyancer to do the legal stuff.

You say you're "buying the property outright" - do you mean you don't need a mortgage?

If you do need a mortgage, you should talk to a mortgage broker before arranging a survey - so that the broker can confirm whether you're likely to get a mortgage, and how much for.  There's no point in paying for a survey, if there's no chance of getting the mortgage you need.


One benefit of an estate agent is that they do sales progression. Sometimes this is annoying, but it can be useful, if you don't really know how things work.

For example:

• The estate agent chases the seller and buyer, and tells the seller and buyer when they should be chasing their solicitor, chasing their mortgage lender, etc.

• The estate agent can sometimes negotiate solutions to problems - like you want a discount because of problems mentioned in the survey, but the seller doesn't want to give you a discount.

But it's probably not worth paying an estate agent's fee just to do the sales progression.



Edit to add

I've seen situations where sales have fallen through because neither buyer or seller understood the process, and they were getting very angry with each other - and no estate agent was involved to explain things and calm things down.

aoleks

you don't need estate agents, the world would be a better place without them. since you and your landlady agree to the transaction, you remove the entire job of the agent (marketing, finding client).

you both need a solicitor that sort out the paperwork. once done, you pay and the house legally becomes yours.

you will want your solicitor to conduct searches on your behalf, check the lease and other legal matters (e.g. restrictive covenants) and you will want to appoint a surveyor to tell you what you need to know about the house. since you've been living there for years, you might know the place better than the owner/surveyor, but it's still worth having a second opinion. structural/hidden defects are not usually noticed.

GerryM6

Sandtree said:

Where are you?

In England/Wales the estate agent just deals with marketing the property and filtering queries/bids etc. Once the sale has been agreed in principle (ie offer accepted) they add very little to the process going forward. Once offer has been accepted then you appoint your solicitors each and go through the legal process of due diligence on the property (aka the searches) and then execute a contract to complete the sale on day X on which you make the payment, the title transfers and the solicitors deal with all this for you etc.

North West England

tightauldgit said:
If you've agreed a deal you need to both appoint solicitors to conduct conveyancing on the property and get all the legalities done to make it your property. No need for an estate agent at all at this stage.

Excellent, I didn't know that, Thank you

eddddy said:

As above, you need a surveyor or conveyancer to do the legal stuff.

You say you're "buying the property outright" - do you mean you don't need a mortgage?

If you do need a mortgage, you should talk to a mortgage broker before arranging a survey - so that the broker can confirm whether you're likely to get a mortgage, and how much for.  There's no point in paying for a survey, if there's no chance of getting the mortgage you need.


One benefit of an estate agent is that they do sales progression. Sometimes this is annoying, but it can be useful, if you don't really know how things work.

For example:

• The estate agent chases the seller and buyer, and tells the seller and buyer when they should be chasing their solicitor, chasing their mortgage lender, etc.

• The estate agent can sometimes negotiate solutions to problems - like you want a discount because of problems mentioned in the survey, but the seller doesn't want to give you a discount.

But it's probably not worth paying an estate agent's fee just to do the sales progression.



Edit to add

I've seen situations where sales have fallen through because neither buyer or seller understood the process, and they were getting very angry with each other - and no estate agent was involved to explain things and calm things down.

We don't need a mortgage.
We are friends with the landlady who is keen to sell the place to give the money to her children so I think we are mutual in getting it sorted.

aoleks said:

you don't need estate agents, the world would be a better place without them. since you and your landlady agree to the transaction, you remove the entire job of the agent (marketing, finding client).

you both need a solicitor that sort out the paperwork. once done, you pay and the house legally becomes yours.

you will want your solicitor to conduct searches on your behalf, check the lease and other legal matters (e.g. restrictive covenants) and you will want to appoint a surveyor to tell you what you need to know about the house. since you've been living there for years, you might know the place better than the owner/surveyor, but it's still worth having a second opinion. structural/hidden defects are not usually noticed.

I agree. They have not been very useful.

Would a solicitor be the person to sort out a surveyor? Or is it someone I would get elsewhere.

I would not say I'm a tradesman but certainly more of a handyman/maintenance. The property is pretty old by the condition of the conservatory & kitchen cupboards. Maybe circa 2010. It is a semi detached house, perhaps old farmers houses. 



Thank you all for the help. My next step is to arrange with the landlady for us both to get solicitors & talk to them. I think getting a surveyor/conveyancer would be a smart move as neither of us know the true value.

Thanks again!
  

canaldumidi

A surveyor is optional. If you feel confident that you know the property and are sufficiently knwledgeable to spot problems (leaks, subsidence, damp, dodgy roof) then no surveyor needed.

If you want a valuation to help you decide how much topay, an RICS will give you that if you pay him. Or do research and look at sold prices for other recent similar local properties.

Your landlady will need to check her contract with her agent - it may include a clause giving them the right to claim a fee for introducing you, even though initially that introduction was as a tenant. Though recent law may have outlawed that - I'm not sure.

Given your non-existant understaning of the (legal) process, you both need solictors to manage checks and the ownership transfer.

Note: conveyancers/solcitors don't get involved in valuation. You tell them what the agreed pice is, and they make sure it is paid!

Ultimately you and the seller agree the price, but you can get advice on this from a surveyor (or estate agent!). Or do your own research.

https://www.solegal.co.uk/insights/conveyancing-process-basic-overview

GerryM6

canaldumidi said:

A surveyor is optional. If you feel confident that you know the property and are sufficiently knwledgeable to spot problems (leaks, subsidence, damp, dodgy roof) then no surveyor needed.

If you want a valuation to help you decide how much topay, an RICS will give you that if you pay him. Or do research and look at sold prices for other recent similar local properties.

Your landlady will need to check her contract with her agent - it may include a clause giving them the right to claim a fee for introducing you, even though initially that introduction was as a tenant. Though recent law may have outlawed that - I'm not sure.

Given your non-existant understaning of the (legal) process, you both need solictors to manage checks and the ownership transfer.

Note: conveyancers/solcitors don't get involved in valuation. You tell them what the agreed pice is, and they make sure it is paid!

Ultimately you and the seller agree the price, but you can get advice on this from a surveyor (or estate agent!). Or do your own research.

Right so here are the steps I should do:

1. Get RCIS to get a price for the house. I'm not comfortable evaluating a house as I am new to this.
2. Optional: Get surveyor to inspect property for defects & condition.
2. Landlady needs to end contract with estate agents. We need to end contract as well.
3. Her & I need to get solicitors each to deal with money exchange & legality of ownership.
4. Bish bosh bash, we own house.