Accidental absent landlord, needing to sell at a distance

sclare

I 'inherited' (it's complicated)  my parent's rental property, which I've never seen and which is two hours away from me. I need to sell, but really don't want to get tied up in doing much to the house. 

The tenants won't be able to buy it, nor can I sell it with them in situ, as their credit is poor,  they've not been reliable in paying rent and they've not taken care of the house, so it's unlikely that anyone would choose them as tenants. 

The letting agency has a sales department, so I could just let them get on with it once the tenants have gone, but again, I'm at a distance so I'm not sure how difficult it will be. Also I don't know what state the tenants will leave it in, but I don't want to have to be sorting out decorators, garden maintenance,  whatever, when I don't know the area or who to ask to do any work.

What do you suggest? Is there anything that the letting agent or estate agent would be able to organise? Maybe just a deep clean or mowing of the lawn/rubbish clearing? 

I'm absolutely clueless on this, and I just want this millstone of a house off my back. I'd be tempted to send it to auction but I've been warned that it might not sell. 

Basically life is a nightmare at the moment and I need to be able to hand as much over to someone else as I can. So I thought I'd ask here before I set everything in motion. 

tacpot12

The letting agents should be able to start the eviction process to get the tenants out, i.e. issue the S21 notice. The eviction could take a long time, but when it is done, the lettign agents should be able to find a local contactor who will do the place up, and they will sell it for you. Selling is the easy bit, but you wll pay handsomely for being hands-off. 

You will probably want to find a local solicitor will do the eviction, but this will be very expensive. You could perhaps find a solicitor who is prepared to be paid by results. You will also need a local conveyancer when a buyer is found. 

You will need to discuss with the contractor what needs doing. Generally it's not worth doing big jobs - let the buyer's negotiate on the price depending on what the survey turns up - but you might want to change the locks, repair any broken electrical accessories so the property is safe to be viewed and fill any holes and repair any damage to plaster left by the tenants. The letting agents should also be able to find a cleaner that will do an end-of-tenancy clean and dispose of any rubbish left by the tenants. 

sclare

Thanks @tacpot12. Can you explain this bit though? 

You will probably want to find a local solicitor will do the eviction, but this will be very expensive.

Is that if they don't leave at the end of the notice period and need 'forcing' out? Is assumed that the section 21 would do the job. 

RAS

The first thing you need, assuming England, is to read up on the requirements for letting a property, and check that the agency have ALL the required paperwork. If they haven't you'll need to check through your parents' paperwork. 

The agency have been tasked with letting and managing the property, but as LL you are legally responsible for any errors they have made.

Have the tenants been formally advised of the change in landlord? In not, they may not required to pay rent.

If you are in Wales, you need a licence and to register with Rent Smart Wales. Scotland is different again.

theartfullodger

Agent cannot evict unless they have solicitors department.

If England would any s21 be valid?  (Ie have you checked with eg nearly legal's checklist?)

Which country ?  Both where you live and where the property is please?

Sorted probate ?  Any IHT/CGT declared and/or paid?  I ask as I paid CGT on late brother's house which I and sister inherited (after sorting intestacy) and do you have paperwork to do it...

sclare

I'm in England, as is the property, and probate isn't an issue. 
There will be CGT to pay. 

Absolutely nothing has been done at this point, other than me meeting the lettings agent a few months ago, and signing the contract with them. 

Obviously I'll be taking to the agent next week, I just want to get an idea of how this works, before I do, so that I know what to ask. The agent knows that I'm likely to  need to sell, but hasn't mentioned anything to the tenants. 

tacpot12

sclare said:

Thanks @tacpot12. Can you explain this bit though? 

You will probably want to find a local solicitor will do the eviction, but this will be very expensive.

Is that if they don't leave at the end of the notice period and need 'forcing' out? Is assumed that the section 21 would do the job. 

The Section 21 notice won't do the job on its own unless you are very lucky. When the notice arrives with the tenants the first thing they will do is seek advice on whether it is valid. Hence the advice to check whether a valid Section 21 can be issued. It should be the letting agents job to ensure that a valid S21 can be issued at anytime, but lots of mistakes are made. They are unlikely to leave at the end of the notice and you wll have to force them out by going to court. (I got lucky with my tenants that my letting agents issued a S21 to, they did leave, but also left quite a bit of stuff that we had to store for a number of months.  

I think the first job is to ask the letting agents would a S21 notice issued at this time be valid, and if not, why not. 

Then find a solicitor in case the tenants don't leave, and ask them if they want to issue the S21 or whether they are happy for the letting agent to do it. (It's more money for them if they do it, but if you are paying by results they may insist on this).

The solicitors will do all the court paperwork and will represent you in court if you ask them to, but you are paying £300/hr+ for them to do some things you might do yourself. If it were me, I would find someone who seems to be an expert (ask them how many evictions the firm as acheived in the last month) - anything above five is good enough, but if there is not much choice of solicitors who specialist in this sort of work, you might have to lower your expectations.  

If you mention which general area the property in, someone on the formum may be able to recommend an expert. The other forum to try for recommendations is the landlord zone forum at LandlordZONE Forums - Advice & Discussion for UK Landlords | LandlordZONE forum  

sclare

Thank you for that link @tacpot12. Clearly I've been far too naive about this. I just want rid of the place as quickly and easily as possible, but clearly it's not that simple. 

Keep_pedalling

sclare said:

I'm in England, as is the property, and probate isn't an issue. 
There will be CGT to pay. 

Absolutely nothing has been done at this point, other than me meeting the lettings agent a few months ago, and signing the contract with them. 

Obviously I'll be taking to the agent next week, I just want to get an idea of how this works, before I do, so that I know what to ask. The agent knows that I'm likely to  need to sell, but hasn't mentioned anything to the tenants. 

If this is a recent inheritance you should not have a CGT liability unless it sells for quite a bit more than you valued it for probate.

gwynlas

As much as you wish to be hands off you do need to visit the property when vacant to get some idea of what it is you are actually selling.

Whist the letting agents might also have a sales department you should still follow the guidelines of getting valuations from 3 local agents and choosing who to market the property with..

Before their visit make sre that the place is clean and tidy without ex tenants detritus and that small repairs are attended to as they will base their figures on first impressions.

You should look at the local property market to educate yourself on comparables

Albermarle

sclare said:

Thank you for that link @tacpot12. Clearly I've been far too naive about this. I just want rid of the place as quickly and easily as possible, but clearly it's not that simple. 

When dealing with property, whether rented or not, it is often not so  simple.
You just need to read through this forum to realise that.