Selling our house to our tenants - tips please

[NewFish]

Evening all,
We've just had our rental house valued and are looking to offer to sell it to the tenants directly without going through the letting agents to sell it.

My question is:
What key things do we need to consider?
Will our solicitors take care of most aspects and be able to advise us?
What papers and documents do we need to have?
We've owned the house from new for 7 years and have always rented it out. The current tenants are the 3rd set to have rented from us via a letting agent.

Any body able to give us some top tips?
TIA

[doobledootch]

I know someone who bought the house they rented, letting agents enforced the clause in the contract re finders fee if the tenants bought, caused a massive delay because they tried to not involve the agents. So as previous poster mentioned you will need to check this out estate agents in my experience are not shy of chasing up a commission.

[specialsubject]

you'll be paying that commission because I bet it is in the letting agreement that you signed with the agent. Sorry.

otherwise, just a normal sale, and yes, that is what solicitors are for. Your current EPC will do as it is less than 10 years old.

[LBOCS]

Yep, our (useless) letting agents took a fee for doing nothing when we bought from our LL.

[wowfudge]

In fairness to the agents (estate agents/letting agents are pretty much universally hated) the tenants wouldn't be in the house had they not advertised it and then screened them. But the time for negotiating is before you sign a contract with them. Ime letting agents are more likely to negotiate on things like their fee should the tenants buy the house because it rarely happens rather than other things like their fees for renewing the AST.

Check whether their fee is in line with what local estate agents charge though.

[NewFish]

Thanks all for the advice. I've looked through the contract and cannot find a single reference to a fee for selling to the tenants. Anybody able to give me an idea as to how it would be worded?

Tia

[specialsubject]

it should be obvious! This is the contract between you and the agents of course, not the tenancy agreement. Also check any other correspondence.

but maybe you are in luck!

[Willow33]

The tenants pay you rent until the day of completion - ensure that is made clear.

[Sunnyshores]

it would say something like....

any contract extension to the afore mentioned tenants after the fixed six month AST period shall attract a fee of one months rent.....

and then wording would continue with . . .

and any sale to the aforementioned tenants, or relations of the tenants, or people introduced by the tenants, shall in effect be a sale effected by this Agency and shall attract a fee of 2% of the sale price.....