Considering flogging our house we currently let out for various reasons. Anyone else done this with existing tenants and new buyer took over, or best sell it with vacant possesion once notice given and they have gone? Tenants did have an iffy period of late payments a while back but have been okay in recent months, want to be as fair as possible to them. Going to speak to a few estate agents next week but any experience to share appreciated. Cheers

I lived in a flat the landlord wanted to sell, offered me a few thousand quids to move, i did.

also worked at houses that had tenants and they where forced to move out before a sale, they usually stop paying rent and slowly destroy the place, before eviction takes place., have a look at the bailiffs programes on ch4, seems quite common to evict tenants prior to a sale, new ownere rarely want sitting tenants.

I don’t think a buyer will get mortgage approval with tenants in situ. Without vacant possession you may be limiting your market to cash buyers only.

We own a property that’s let out, pretty sure when we looked into this a while back if the contract is still in force then you can sell to a new landlord who has to pickup the contract till it ends and can then evict or keep tenants.

Having looked at a few tenanted properties recently there’s no way I’d be keen to sell one. They have been so badly presented as the tenants had no interest in tidying up. In fact one was interested in buying it so made it deliberately bad for viewings. You’ll be limited to btl investors and it will cost you money. I suppose it depends on the market but in any market empty will sell better.

Most lenders will not lend when existing tenants remain in place as the signed tenancy and legal rights of the tenants are dated earlier than the mortgage/title deed and that COULD be problems in court for lender should repossession be needed. However some people try to get round this by putting in place notice on the tenants and then asking them to sign a new tenancy after the mortgage completes. But this could have obvious legal problems also.

I did this, didn’t think it could be done but it can. In one sense it creates complications but if everyone plays ball it works to everyone’s advantage. However, if the tenant doesn’t have an impeccable payment history and glowing reference from the seller then as a buyer I’d want vacant possession.

You’ll need proper lawyers, spend a few quid instead of asking on here.

You’ll need proper lawyers, spend a few quid instead of asking on here.

What’s the fun in that!

We recently sold our buy to let flat with sitting tenant, winner for everyone, buyer wanted a good tenant, we didn’t loose any rent and tenant got to stay in their home (this is very important I feel, as you are talking about peoples home) and it was no problem at all.

Most tenants will be looking for somewhere new as soon as the for sale board goes up. How long is left on the agreement or is it down to month by month?
The risk for you is an empty property for a few months while your trying to sell.

As a FTB I can see a fair few properties coming on the market with tenants in situ and I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. Partly the mortgage would be tricky as mentioned above, partly I wouldn’t want to be responsible for evicting someone and partly as a renter my experience is almost wholly that landlords do as little maintenance as possible as they’re in it to make money or just assume tenants will wreck the place so ‘it’s not worth it’ – so I’d expect to find a load of work to do…

As a side note I gather there’s a lot of landlords who aren’t aware of what’s happening next April so you may find a big increase in properties on the market next year – and with BTL being slowly killed by gvnmnt you’ll likely find few BTL buyers so I’d be getting the place shifted asap…

Oh and don’t waste your time asking estate agents for advice! Ask a lawyer

its a shame that so many landlords do so little

i rent out my old house, got good tenants in it, 2 years now, and want to stay longterm

fitted them a new kitchen (£4500) last year

no wonder they are pleased !

As a side note I gather there’s a lot of landlords who aren’t aware of what’s happening next April so you may find a big increase in properties on the market next year – and with BTL being slowly killed by gvnmnt you’ll likely find few BTL buyers so I’d be getting the place shifted asap…

Before that.
There will be a few first time “landlords” confronting the full extent of their tax liability come the end of January and wondering whether btl is indeed a golden goose…

Good tenants are worth their weight in gold. Mate rented his flat out when we left uni in ’97. Still the same tenant in there to this day. He’s even offered to sell to her, at below market cost, but she’s happy as it is. That’ll be the mortgage paid so happy days.

Estate agent friend saying he’s starting to have loads of inquiry’s from landlords looking to sell up come spring time when tax situation etc changes. Possibly an awful lot more property on the market by then which could suppress prices so I’d say you’re best selling now if you’ve made up your mind to do it.

Personally I’d give the tenant their two months notice, and also put it on the market at the same time, perhaps offer the tenants some financial incentive to help them with the move and offer to be flexible by a couple of weeks either way to help them complete the process. Remember Xmas is not the ideal time to be handing someone their notice.

We sold our rental place out with tennants in it.
It was the perfect arrangement TBH..we found a place we wanted to buy and needed to release the equity in teh rental house.
I spoke to a local estate agent, who ‘had someone on their books looking for a rental investment’.
The house sold for £5k less than asking price later that week, tenants in situ.
I paid the estate agent £3000….

It might seem like £3k for ‘no work’, but I saw it as ‘exactly the right amount of work’!

So, it can be done – ask local agents if they have interested investors on their books.

I know EAs speak shite most of the time, but this one WAS actually telling the truth!

DrP

Estate agent friend saying he’s starting to have loads of inquiry’s from landlords looking to sell up come spring time when tax situation etc changes. Possibly an awful lot more property on the market by then which could suppress prices so I’d say you’re best selling now if you’ve made up your mind to do it.

Be interesting to see how many people actually have enough deposits and access to finance then, plenty of people are renting as they have no hope of buying so the private landlord could just be replaced by the corporate.

Be interesting to see how many people actually have enough deposits and access to finance then, plenty of people are renting as they have no hope of buying so the private landlord could just be replaced by the corporate.

Yes could be, and I think that’s the governments plan, to weed out small time BTL investors and let the big boys survive. Although if house prices do drop (no guarantees here) then they would be much more affordable for the said FTB’s.

“…I think that’s the governments plan, to weed out small time BTL investors and let the big boys survive…“

That does seem to be very much the plan. It won’t help FTBs though, it won’t collapse prices, and it won’t net additional taxes for the gov. because as we all know, big business is very good at “efficient” tax management.

🙁

I don’t think a buyer will get mortgage approval with tenants in situ.

Well I bought my house with tenants in situ, wasn’t hard at all. Also meant from Day 1 the mortgage was fully covered.