Accidental absent landlord, needing to sell at a distance

theartfullodger

Have you served (or had served) notices for s3 & s48??  

Are you carrying on with rent paid to the estate of deceased parent or does rent now come to you.  If now rent coming to you check if these notices have been served: If not no rent due & iirc possible fines & criminal offence.  See (I know it says sale but the principles apply)
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/renting/change_of_landlord/tenants_rights_when_a_landlord_sells

If you've done no training or education in being a landlord & landlord/tenant law you are taking BIG risks... Strongly suggest you sort it.

Remember to be a lettings agent in england requires no qualifications, no training, no criminal records check.  The whole office could be staffed by criminals on early release from GBH & fraud sentences at Brixton nick.

Good luck -- think you need it...

BikingBud

Is the property in the estate still?

Have the tenants been advised of the death of landlord?

Are the executors collecting rent?

What Happens To Tenants If Their Landlord Dies?

Legally, the tenancy does not die with the landlord but becomes part of their estate.

The executor should continue managing the tenancy during probate and then sell or pass the property on as the will directs.

Albermarle said:

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.

This .

I would read as much as I could find from reputable sites to understand fully the tenant's rights before even considering what you might wish to do.

tenants_rights_when_a_landlord_dies

ReadySteadyPop

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. 

Sometimes it is, many tenants will just move out when you ask them to and rent somewhere else, sometimes the advice on here makes it sound like all tenants are the tenants from hell, I think in this economic climate selling will be a bigger task than getting the tenants out.

newsgroupmonkey_

ReadySteadyPop said:

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. 

Sometimes it is, many tenants will just move out when you ask them to and rent somewhere else, sometimes the advice on here makes it sound like all tenants are the tenants from hell, I think in this economic climate selling will be a bigger task than getting the tenants out.

Sorry, but that's not true. Particularly in England.
Rents are shooting through the roof and because Landlords are getting out of the market, there are fewer and fewer properties about. The right houses in the right conditions are still selling in a number of days if they're priced correctly.

Where I live, I've seen lodger rooms going for £700 a month for a single bedroom. I live in the middle of nowhere.

sclare

It's a long story, but the property was in both names as joint tenants, so it reverted to me and no probate necessary.  But I'd never had anything to do with the place and was basically just a name on the deeds. My parent bought it and received all the rental payments. The back story would take too long to tell, but I never wanted any of this. Hence me seeing the place as a milllstone rather than a benefit. The stress that this and the back story has caused me one way or another is horrific. It may be that I don't even get the proceeds of the sale so I don't really care what it goes for.

So this is why I want to get rid as simply as possible. I would have loved for the tenants to be able to buy it, but that's highly unlikely. 

I have faith in the letting agent doing everything properly (famous last words) and simply don't have the time or headspace to learn how to be a landlord when I just want rid. I just want a handhold and someone who can take charge of as much as possible, even if it costs. 

subjecttocontract

If the agents can't, won't or don't want to handle things you could talk to Landlord Action who will handle the eviction process for you. Easy to find and their costs are all online.

FlorayG

First of all, get your agent to serve the Section 21 - you never know, it may all go well and they will go. Just hope the agents have followed legal process in the tenancy otherwise it could take forever if they won't go.
Consider offering the tenants a cash sum to leave on time, this is quite legal and commonly done; you just need to find out how MUCH money they will need. I'm talking in thousands, not hundreds BTW but if you can get them to agree to that it will cost you money but save you hassle. Get everything in writing if they agree
Once it's empty you can put on the market as it is, as long as the price is right someone will buy it. Price it low if you really don't care about the money and a private developer will buy it, gut it and 'do it up' to sell on.
The house I live in now is an ex-rental. The EA told me that he told the vendors if they spent £2,000 on it they could put the price up by £10,000 but. like you, they just wanted shot of it so I got it cheap and everybody was happy

HobgoblinBT

Have you discussed your property plans with the letting agent?  Some letting agents keep in contact with landlords who are looking to buy further letting properties. If you can sell to a landlord at a reasonable price, the difference between that and selling a vacant property might be one worth paying to save you a lot of work and stress.

sclare

I'll be talking to the lettings agent this week @HobgoblinBT . Selling to a landlord would be ideal, but the tenants haven't been great at all, so I don't think a landlord would want them in situ. If they checked the state of the place and their rent payment history, they'd be put off.
Also I imagine that the new laws coming in will be putting people off buying rental properties.

ReadySteadyPop

sclare said:

I'll be talking to the lettings agent this week @HobgoblinBT . Selling to a landlord would be ideal, but the tenants haven't been great at all, so I don't think a landlord would want them in situ. If they checked the state of the place and their rent payment history, they'd be put off.
Also I imagine that the new laws coming in will be putting people off buying rental properties.

Yes, that and the BTL borrowing costs, much harder to break even now I think.