If your tenant had signed a years contract but you wanted to sell, when would you put it on the market?

[TheDayMyButtWentPsycho]

Say the 12 month contract ends in June, would you put the house on the market in March?

In fact scrap that.
I don't even understand what you said.

l rented a property a few years ago. They didn't tell me til l collected the keys that the landlord was keeping it on the market to sell. l was only there for five months and in that time, there were 12 viewings. l was sick to the back teeth of it.

houses usually take 8 months from market to go through.

Hmm, I’ll disagree here. From before being on the market-agent gave us a heads up because we’d spoken to them about what we wanted-the sale took 3 months. Spring is apparently the correct time to market, something to do with the garden starting to perk up.

I think you should tell the tenant that the house is going on the market in three months and they are welcome to break the lease at any time without penalties.
I looked at a couple of places that had tenants, and there was a huge difference to how the houses were presented to the ones that didn't, some were filthy. The tenants were often there and I felt uncomfortable really looking around. It gave the house a different vibe. I would try to get the tenant out, you will probably get more for the place, and it may sell faster, especially if you don't have to ask permission to show someone through.

I am a LL, and I'd wait until they'd moved out.

IMO it's a violation of their right to 'quiet enjoyment' to have EAs and viewers traipsing around their home.

You should wait until the tenant moves out. Not many people will buy with a tenant in situ, those who will buy will want a hefty discount for the inconvenience, and mortgage lenders won’t allow it on a standard mortgage.

You should check the lease for a break clause though, most standard leases have them IME (they work both ways, one scummy landlord gave us notice because he’d decided to sell TWO MONTHS after we’d moved in (and paid a fortune in letting agent fees). I was SO happily to tell him he could fuck off until six months were up. He got no viewings out of us.

“I'm hoping that what the PP above said about entitledto was right about the 26 weeks thing.
I'm going to make an appointment with citizens advice and see what they say. In which case I will definitely wait until the tenant is out before we do anything.”

I’m the PP who shared the info from Entitledto. I work for Citizens Advice. Yes seeing them is a good idea. Take the tenancy agreement with you so they can check for a break clause (although I would hope that your solicitor already checked).

I’ve seen a lot of tenancy agreements and many are 6 month fixed term or 12 months with a 6 month break clause. Your lettings agent should have discussed the options with you.

You will lose thousands and lots of potential buyers with a tenant in situ. You'll lose time too. I'd negotiate a early leaving package personally.
Talk to an estate agent.

You should wait. Photos of a house looking spotless needed for agent, people walking though looking in cupboards, wardrobes etc. It's intrusive and stressful and they are paying you to rent the house and be able to live in it feeling relaxed. Just tell them you are selling they might move out sooner.

We had this years ago and it was a pain to have to keep it tidy all the time. In the end we said we'd allow viewings one day a week only and we didn't want people going in when we weren't there. Landlady got the hump so we said no viewings at all til we moved out! Try not to annoy the tenant as they could make it difficult, you really have no right to force them to allow people into their home for this reason. And they probably won't be bothered about tidiness etc.

Thank you anotherEmma the solicitor didn't look at the contract. I asked him that question in passing when I was there to discuss something else.

Ending the contract early is something I would consider but something that DH really isn't up for at all.

Speak to your tenant first. As a tenant I wouldn’t permit viewers into my (rented) home. I don’t want to have to tidy up constantly in case of a viewing. I don’t want people looking in my wardrobe etc. And it’s not unknown for viewers to pocket things that are left lying around.

As a buyer I wouldn’t even consider a house with a tenant in situ unless I intended to be a LL. If I wanted to be an owner-occupier I wouldn’t want the hassle of getting the tenant out.

In my experience the selling process does not take 8 months, usually 3, but of course there are a number of factors that can impact the timeline.

You’re not coming across as very empathetic towards your tenant OP. You signed over your rights to the house when you allowed her to rent it so you need to suck it up. Could you at least offer a break clause so she can leave and pay her removal costs?

I bought a house with the tenants still living there and it was a nightmare, the estate agents screwed me over by finding them a new house that was Only available 6 weeks after their notice ended, and I nearly lost my buyer. never again no matter how cheap.

“Ending the contract early is something I would consider but something that DH really isn't up for at all.”

Why? Clearly you are selling because you need the money, so the sooner the tenants move out and you can sell, the better.

Renting it out for so long was a mistake in the circumstances, so if it is possible to end the tenancy early that would help.

JustMarried
“Could you at least offer a break clause so she can leave and pay her removal costs?”

No, a break clause is either included in the original tenancy agreement or it isn’t.

But there is the option for the tenant to surrender the tenancy, if both tenant and landlord agree.

You’re not coming across as very empathetic towards your tenant OP.

How so? By repeatedly saying that she is well within her right to say no?
By saying that I wanted her to have plenty of notice to move so she didn't feel under pressure 'last minute' panic? By totally understanding that she wouldn't want people traipsing through her home? By being understanding that she might say no to this? By considering offering her reduced rent if people wanted to view the property? By considering payment if she wanted to move early? By understanding that this might not happen as it might not suit?

Sorry, which bit was not empathetic to the tenant?

AnotherEmma I really value your input, that's been really helpful.

Forgive be, but your DH seems to be calling a lot of the shots here. He wanted to rent it out... he's not keen to give her money to end early...but am I right in saying that YOU inherited it, not him? So it's your house? I'm all for discussing things, but if YOU want to offer her money to leave early just do it!

You sound perfectly empathetic OP, but a couple of your ii

Ginger I'm surprised it's taken someone so long to notice!
The house was left to my husband, it's in his name so whilst he discussed everything with me he didn't listen to a word and went and did what he wanted anyway which resulted in us losing out on money in the beginning and throughout which he now realises.
So yes he called the shots, unfortunately. And still does.

When we buy a place though it will obviously be in both our names and there will be no divvy ill informed decision.

DH heads the opinion of one person and goes full throttle with is as though it's gospel.

I ask around and collect all the facts and make a collaborative decision.

Which is what I'm trying to do now. But if he doesn't want to suggest cutting the contract early then I'm not going to push it, it's not worth a row.

“The house was left to my husband, it's in his name so whilst he discussed everything with me he didn't listen to a word and went and did what he wanted anyway which resulted in us losing out on money in the beginning and throughout which he now realises.
So yes he called the shots, unfortunately. And still does.”

So even though you were right and he should have listened to you, he hasn’t learned from his mistakes and is STILL not listening.

MEN 🙄😡

I know.

It's partly why I saw the solicitor as mentioned upthread.

I planting the seed with regards to asking her to leave the tenancy early. But since it's not until next year anyway, I'm not going to keep pushing it.
When the house is sold as far as I'm concerned we are 'equal' again and I will not be letting ill decisions slide.
We are really paying for it, having done it this way. He realises this now. He can't wait to sell the house.

Well if you do go to Citizens Advice perhaps you could take him with you.

You wouldn’t be the only woman person whose partner didn’t listen until a professional said the same thing!