sitting tenant wanting to buy off landlord

noseymum

I have been renting my house since 1990 and have been told that I am a "sitting tenant".
My landlord has recently passed away and his family, who have inherited the house,have kindly given me first refusal to buy it.
They have not mentioned any figures and have asked me instead to get quotes from 3 local estate agents to value the property as they are not living in the area.
My rent is low at the moment and I am worried that if I try and take up their generous offer I may not be able to afford mortgage repayments.
I have trawled the internet to try and find information but have not yet managed to find anything with relevance to my particular case.
A family friend has told me that if I do buy I should pay less than the marketable value as the house would be harder to sell for them with me in it.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

blissfulbabe

Ask the estate agents to value it taking into account there is a sitting tennant - that should get you a more realisitic price.

IWasWondering...

Hi,
I think your friend is correct in that properties with sitting tenants do usually go for less than the market value but with the buy to let market you may find investors eager to buy. And your rent might go up.
If you don't already know I think your first step should be to investigate what similar properties sell and/or rent for in your area.
Call into your local estate agents to get a feel for prices and have a chat with them.
Obviously any valuer would take into account the condition of the property and how well it has been maintained. EG: Do you need rewiring, new kitchen, bathroom etc.
If these things have not been replaced since 1990 then you could factor the cost of upgrading into any offer you might make.
If you decide to buy make your offer subject to survey and have a proper survey done.
Goodluck.

noseymum

Thanks for that.
I suppose that was obvious really but I would never have thought of it! Sometimes its hard to see the wood for the trees in a situation your not used to being in.
I was wondering about what I should say to the estate agents.
Can I openly tell them that I am the sitting tenant or am I supposed to be acting on the landlords familys behalf to try and sell the house or both?
What is in it for the estate agents for them to come and value it if I am going to buy it from my landlords family? Are the estate agents obliged to value a property even if you arent going to sell your house through them?
Sorry for asking so many questions but I have never been even close to buying a house before and am at this point it would seem a bit greener than the average.Thanks again.

noseymum

Thank you "Iwaswondering" very little has been done in the house since I moved in in 1990 and it is in a bit of a run down state and needs rewiring and new windows the kitchen is really,really old and the driveway is so old and uneven that it is dangerous and I have been told by next door who have seen my roof that that too needs repair.
My old landlord was a good bloke but very old and I think financially unable to do much and I didnt like to feel I was hassling him about it!
The rent has been fixed at the "fair rent" level so I dont think a landlord could charge more than that, but maybe a new landlord can,Im not sure!

PasturesNew

Roughly speaking, any property that has a sitting tenant in it is worth about half what it is on the open market.

Obviously that figure depends on how old/infirm the sitting tenant is perceived to be by everybody, the property, the area, etc etc.

Andy_Hamilton

There are lots of property price finding websites to find out what your neighbouring houses have sold for so that could give you an idea.
Push the estate agents in your favour saying things like "wanting a quick sale" needs "serious modenisation" and "sitting tenant".

You have already paid your landloard 18 years of money when a mortgage would be 25 years so you don't really want to get the best market price for your home.

Badger_Lady

I thought you couldn't up the rent on a sitting tenant?

Someone was selling a property under your circumstances in my area last year - it was up for about 60% of what it would otherwise have been worth and still struggling to sell... the rent was way below market as well but with no option to increase it or get the tenant out.

People considering buying it would ask questions like "How old is the tenant? Are they in good health?". If you're a very suspicious person, this could actually be quite a dangerous position to be in...

However, if the family will sell to you at that sort of price (60% of normal market value), which the estate agents should agree with, I'd say you're doing very nicely out of the whole deal!

Somerset

I think you need to establish whether you are a 'sitting tenant' or not. You've said ''you've been told'' - who by ? your landlord's family ?

What most people refer to as sitting tenants are long-term tenants who come under statutory protection - ie they have security of tenure for life if they stay put. These "Rent Act" tenants will have a tenancy dating back to pre 15 January 1989.There was another period of time up to 28 February 1997 when tenancies could default to a Rent Act tenancy (or something similar - Assured Tenancy) if the relevant paerwork was not in order.
After this time the default tenancy is the AST.

So when exactly did yor tenancy start ? You said 1990. Do you have the paperwork ie a proper tenancy agreement ? The answers to these questions will determine if you have a protected tenancy.

If you have - you would expect a discount on sale price. If your landlord were selling he might get between 50%-70% of the property's value. It sounds like his family just want shot of the place so you might get a good deal. But I'm interested whether you got the 'sitting tenant' information from the landlord's family or somewhere else. If the latter, it could be that the family don't regard you as a 'sitting tenant' and they are expecting full market valuations from you.

Colincbayley

Somerset is spot on here. The terms of your current tenancy agreement will mean a great deal on the valuation of the property.
There are three possible tenancies in place.
1977 - Rent Act
1988 Assured Tenancy
1996 Assured Shorthold Tenancy

As far as valuations are concerned if you hold a rent act tenancy then this will reduce the value of the property by upto 50%, the other two tenancies won't have that much of a bearing on the value.

Other conciderations will be the condidtion of the property, e.g. if the roof is that bad, then a buyer may not be able to sucure a mortgage on it.

noseymum

Thanks for that "somerset".
Yes I have got an tenancy agreement and no it wasnt the landlords family who told me I am a sitting tenant.
I took legal advice years ago and I am in the category you mentioned,defaulted to rent act -assured tenacy.
Am I an assured tenant or have I been given wrong advice?
I am 47 .