Thinking of offering to buy our rented house

Thinking of offering to buy our rented house

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richatnort

Original Poster:

3,018 posts

130 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
After a bit of PH wisdom if possible.

I've been living in a rented 2 bed terrace house in Leeds for coming up to 2 years in October. I deal with the Landlady directly and in all honesty she's been pretty good with some things that needed doing in the house.

I know that she's planning on selling it in 2017 so i'm thinking asking if she'd be willing to sell it to us directly earlier and cut out estate agents to save us both some cash. We currently have around 6k saved but need to get to probably 14 for a 10% deposit on the house.

Has anyone done anything like this before and got any advice? Are there anything i could suggest to the landlady to help us get to our deposit quicker, one idea i had was to ask if we could pay just the mortgage cost for a few months to help save up and quicken the process.

Do you think it's too cheeky asking for an estate agent coming to value the house so we have a rough idea what it would go for?

Thanks!
Richard

fido

16,752 posts

254 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
richatnort said:
Do you think it's too cheeky asking for an estate agent coming to value the house so we have a rough idea what it would go for?
They'll want a fee for selling it then!

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,018 posts

130 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
fido said:
They'll want a fee for selling it then!
What if I got them out on the pretence i was thinking of selling my house and wanted to know how much it's worth and then never contact them again?

BigTom85

1,927 posts

170 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Unless you have an incredibly close relationship with your landlord I can't really see why they'd accept anything less than full rent followed by market value. What's in it for them otherwise?

Estate agents fees are the only saving, maybe £1400, so you might be able to save about half that off the price of the house.

By all means speak to the landlord and see if there is any appetite to sell to you, but anything will be on goodwill and I would expect nothing tbh.

All the best of luck with it though, you might just pull it off.

MDMetal

2,775 posts

147 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
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If nothing else you might actually hinder yourself. If they know your happy to pay X for the house then then can certainly look for X+1 on the market frown

Renovation

1,763 posts

120 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
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Dad sold his rental to his tenants - slight discount to cover:

Est Fees
Hassle
Probable vacancy period

I think he knocked circa £5k off a £500k house - of course what it's valued for and what you accept might be two very different amounts

It can't hurt to ask.

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
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It was a long time ago but a landlord on a flat I was renting approached me asking if I wanted to buy it off him with a view to saving on the estate agents fees etc. So yeah in your situation don't see why it wouldn't be worth having a chat.

I decided to move on rather than buy it off him, decided it was time to move to a more lively town, from a social life perspective it was a good decision but financially I still kick myself over it. He offered it to me for £25k, they sell for £80k now.

Simon Brooks

1,517 posts

250 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
on the basis that I rent out several properties, I'm struggling to see what the landlord is gaining from your proposed arrangement, unless I'm missing something ??

Other than the saving on estate agent fees, which isn't going to be huge, I personally would wait until I've received the monthly rental income each month, until such time that I wanted to sell, Obviously at that point I would be prepared to strike a deal with a tenant if it was commercially beneficial and was a reflection of current market prices

Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear

bayleaf

285 posts

98 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
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You have nothing to bring to the table over any other prospective buyer as I see it. Other than you don't have a deposit or mortgage arranged.

Simon Brooks

1,517 posts

250 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
bayleaf said:
You have nothing to bring to the table over any other prospective buyer as I see it. Other than you don't have a deposit or mortgage arranged.
The OP does however make themselves a slight more attractive purchaser as they obviously wouldn't be part of a chain

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,018 posts

130 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Simon Brooks said:
on the basis that I rent out several properties, I'm struggling to see what the landlord is gaining from your proposed arrangement, unless I'm missing something ??

Other than the saving on estate agent fees, which isn't going to be huge, I personally would wait until I've received the monthly rental income each month, until such time that I wanted to sell, Obviously at that point I would be prepared to strike a deal with a tenant if it was commercially beneficial and was a reflection of current market prices

Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear
So i know for a fact the landlord is going to sell it in 2017 no matter what so i'm thinking i can beat her to it and put in an offer. As the day has gone on we think we have got a deposit together (family gifts smile ). So really all we need to do it see if she's willing to share and save on estate agent fee's and as someone said above the lack of a tennant for the period it's not sold.

SlackBladder

2,579 posts

202 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Simon Brooks said:
bayleaf said:
You have nothing to bring to the table over any other prospective buyer as I see it. Other than you don't have a deposit or mortgage arranged.
The OP does however make themselves a slight more attractive purchaser as they obviously wouldn't be part of a chain
Would anybody be part of a chain with a £140K house?

richatnort

Original Poster:

3,018 posts

130 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
I think once i get the deposit together i'm going to see if she would be interested and then really start to crunch the numbers.

There are a few things i'd like to do to it car port and decking at the back being the biggest thing as i think on a terrace this could add some good value to it but also make the already dry cellar into a utility / storing room as it's currently uneven floor and bare brick but dry and fairly warm.

Leedssurveyor

72 posts

122 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
SlackBladder said:
Would anybody be part of a chain with a £140K house?
Can tell someone lives down south. A look of the profile just confirmed.

boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
As a one-house landlord, if I wanted to sell my property I would definitely ask the tenants if they were interested in purchasing.

Saving on Estate agency fees = £1500
Lost rental income over selling period = £1800 (three months rent)
Money saved on tarting the place up to sell = £1000 or more


So worthwhile to me to see if they are keen.

twokcc

815 posts

176 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
I can see advantages for landlord
1)Would have to give you notice to vacate property and would then have a void period without any rental income.
2)during void period he would be liable for council tax, energy costs etc
3)House may require refurbishment after tenants have moved out, even a well looked after house will almost certainly require some maintenance (even if its only decorating) before it is put on the on the market.

Typical conveyancing period is about 8 to 12 weeks so could be a few thousand pounds plus saving in estate agents. Savings could be considerably more if house doesn't sell for a few months

Landlord may also see the less hassle as being worth giving a discount to existing tenant.

Just ask him and see what response you get.

boyse7en beat me to it

Edited by twokcc on Tuesday 3rd May 17:03

BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
BigTom85 said:
Unless you have an incredibly close relationship with your landlord I can't really see why they'd accept anything less than full rent followed by market value. What's in it for them otherwise?

Estate agents fees are the only saving, maybe £1400, so you might be able to save about half that off the price of the house.

By all means speak to the landlord and see if there is any appetite to sell to you, but anything will be on goodwill and I would expect nothing tbh.

All the best of luck with it though, you might just pull it off.
More like £500 fees to sell a rental. OP might be lucky to get a months rent off the selling price.

MDMetal

2,775 posts

147 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Surely the issue is how much demand there is the area, once you get anyone else interested in it then the landlord has a nice "banker" offer from the OP and can happily look for more, at the end of the day even if they're saving 2k if they can get 2-3k extra then why not. It's worth a shot for sure but as people have said you've not much to offer.

lewisf182

2,084 posts

187 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Definitely worth a try mate.

The biggest bonus is the lack of vacant periods, she'll need you out before she can sell it as anybody buying it will require a vacant possession to get the mortgage in place. She can even still get rent off you while the exchange goes through. With rent at say £600 I think she'll easily save about £1800+ there plus the saving on estate agents fees and the less faffing about. It makes sense for all involved, the main sticking point would be that she knows you want the property so will probably ask for an offer pretty much around the valuation fee less the above savings.

I'd do some research see how fast other similar houses are selling in the area and for what prices, then you'll have another angle to come at her from. If she's selling it in 2017 anyway I can't really see what she's got to lose, apart from a potential rise in house prices in the area OR if she has a mortgage which she cannot exit out of for X years without a penalty.

SlackBladder

2,579 posts

202 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Leedssurveyor said:
SlackBladder said:
Would anybody be part of a chain with a £140K house?
Can tell someone lives down south. A look of the profile just confirmed.
No need to look at the profile, the name and grammar says it all wink