Offer made on a flat without viewing

housebuyer143

Don't do anything until the tenant has left. The fact that the tenant won't allow viewings screams problem and there is a reason the landlord hasn't started legal proceedings. 

pinkshoes

Earthling_1 said:

Thank you all for the comments.
The property is in England, just 5 min away from where I reside currently and I'm not planning to be a landlord, I'm buying it to live in. The acceptance letter from the vendor does not mention being sold with 'tenant in situ'. Anyway, I'm still waiting to receive the draft of the contract and will not sign anything until I've been able to view the flat.

That's fair enough, but DO NOT spend ANY money until the tenant has been evicted. 

Make it clear with your offer that it is subject to survey which will be carried out once the tenant has been evicted. Don't start any searches either, even if the EA pressurises you to do so.

I would then ask to see a copy of the tenants contract, the date the eviction notice was issued and when they are expecting them to leave.

If the property has been on the market for 9 months, then I'd be a little suspicious that the owner has not made any effort to evict the tenant so far if the tenant is not wanting people viewing the property. Are they hoping to exchange with the tenant in situ? (don't do that!!). Can they afford their mortgage once the tenant moves out (as it will take time for survey, searches etc...)?

michael1234

I think you're going to have to assume the place is utterly trashed and price it accordingly. It might be fine but you really don't know and the tenant not allowing viewings is a very bad sign.

Smalltownhypocrite

Earthling_1 said:

Thank you all for the comments.
The property is in England, just 5 min away from where I reside currently and I'm not planning to be a landlord, I'm buying it to live in. The acceptance letter from the vendor does not mention being sold with 'tenant in situ'. Anyway, I'm still waiting to receive the draft of the contract and will not sign anything until I've been able to view the flat.

I mean does it have to 'say' it? its pretty obvious it has someone in it, tenant has rights and could easily be a squatter not tenant.

It sounds like madness. 

I only viewed 1 houses with tenants in, it was cheap so thought it was worth a view but it was utterly destroyed. It had SERIOUS structural issues from collapsed drains and tree roots, water ingress (through massive cracks) and mold basically everywhere and my god the smell from the drains was ungodly. Felt sorry for the tenants, the fact that anyone has been living in that as it clearly wasn't even suitable for habitation was mental.

Some nutter bought it though, can only imagine they did NOT go look at it (EA even said they where willing to accept half the average house price because its failed to sell in the past).

We nearly bought a house with structural damage, I'm not easily scared off but honestly that house was beyond saving and even if given away free it wouldn't be worth the sheer nightmare of work that needed doing.

FlorayG

As others have said; if you buy this with the tenant in situ you then become the landlord. Obviously tenant does not want to leave otherwise hey wouldn't have a problem with viewings. It could take you 12 months to remove the tenant and in that time spiteful people will do a lot of damage. In this situation, I wouldn't be taking the risk unless the price was about 50% of open market value

m0bov

Sounds pretty reckless to me. Offering on a flat with a sitting tenat, no idea of condition of interior. Unless it's cash or second home.... 

BungalowBel

Do not commit to buy until you have proof that the tenant is out.

Murphybear

theartfullodger said:

Buying it does not end tenancy nor compel tenant to leave.  You will just become landlord.  Any idea about how to be a landlord?

That owner is selling with tenant in place a strong indication that owner doesn't have all paperwork to evict - so you wouldn't have paperwork either.  Old tenancy simply continues, just landlord changes.

Which country? (Wales, NI...?).  Laws vary.

But it can work out.  I stuck my hand up & bid at an auction for a house I had only driven past in 2000.  But I could afford the gamble.  Views of sea lochs & mountains., - from sitting room, 2014...



Sold it a few years ago. Bought £18.5k, sold £116k. Mainly rented out   It washed it's face 

That is gorgeous.  We are lucky to live in such a beautiful country.  

Slinky

I worked as an EA briefly. In that time we had a lady offer on a flat without viewing, but only because her grandma lived in the flat downstairs and she didn't want the vendor to know that it was her making the offer and bump up the price. Fortunately for the offerer the surnames were different, and the vendor didn't clock that the offerer wasn't one of the people who had viewed the flat until much later.

LoopyLoops

As others have said don’t spend any money until the tenants have left.  To be fair to the tenants the landlord might have hoped to sell the flat before they started to evict the tenants because the landlord wants to keep getting rent.  We refused to allow any viewings when our landlord issued a section 21, not because we had done any damage, but because we didn’t want people coming through our home.  Landlord had to wait until we had gone.  He even offered us reduced rent, but our space and privacy meant more to us.  So the tenants might be fine, just don’t want to leave, or the landlord has done something meaning he can’t issue a section 21.