Buying with tenants in situ BUT leaving prepaid rent to previous owner to boost offer

saajan_12

lb00 said:

My brother and I are working in London and have found a nice flat we would like to buy. The flat asking price is 675, we have offered 620 which was rejected. The flat is currently being rented with the tenancy expiring end of September. We are happy to wait until Sep to move in. - are you happy to wait another several months if the T doesn't leave until chucked out by bailiffs? If the T is serving the notice, the timeframe is lower but still not impossible that they stay longer. 

As we are FTB we do not want to go above 625k to avoid losing the stamp duty relief and pay 8k more. The EA has proposed that we offer 625 and complete quickly by the end of May, but agree to leave the rent from June to September (10k) with the seller. This would mean the effective offer price is 635k. The crucial bit is that the rent has been paid in advance for the full year, so it's effectively already with the seller, meaning we wouldn't need to transfer it to them. Is this legal? - debatable.. the usual thing would be for rent to be apportioned similar to service charges so a deviation from that might be seen as you paying more for the house. Equally that's not a universal rule and since the rent is already pre-paid not engineered for this transaction, it might be okay. 

What scares us is that we would still have to enter the lease with the tenant from June to September, becoming the new landlord and therefore being responsible for property maintenance. Is there a way we can buy the property but the seller can still act legally as the landlord until the end of the tenancy, being responsible if anything happens? Or is it possible, even if we become the landlord, to require formally the old seller to step in if something breaks down between June and September? - No, you step into the shoes of the LL from the day of completion. Besides what is property maintenance.. what if you want a brand new roof, or if they say some damage is just wear & tear? The only way would be to complete in Sept. 

We are buying cash so no need to have vacant possession

Thanks very much in advance for your help!

Comments in line. 

Sea_Shell

Buying with a tenant in situ, when you don't want to be a landlord, could be the worst decision of your life.