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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

if you were trying to sell your property would you find the following incredibly insulting?

22 replies

therenter · 27/05/2014 14:26

Dh and I have been renting for 12 years now- in the last 6 years we have had to move 4 times and it looks as tho a move is on the cards again.
We have had enough of having to move so much- with 4 children it is just a nightmare.
We have seen a property for sale that wr love! But we are just not in a position to buy at the moment.This property has been on the market several times in the last few years and not sold. The couple are quite an elderly couple (late 70's I'd say) and the house is huge!. It's also cheap for the price prob because of the postage stamp garden and I think that is what has put people off.
However we all feel that the house is perfect and the garden issue has not dissuaded us.

So if this was you how would you feel about receiving a letter of interest regarding a rent to buy proposal? Would you think the sender rude? Or off their rocker?
I don't know the vendor's financial situation of their plans but it has to be worth a go doesn't it? Nothing ventured nothing gained?
I have already written said letter just haven't posted it yet.
be honest and tell me what you think.
Thanku

OP posts:

wonderingsoul · 27/05/2014 14:28

If you don't ask you don't.get.

The worse they.can.do is not reply :)

wheresthelight · 27/05/2014 14:29

I guess it would depend on the time frame to be able to fully buy the property with a mortgage.

How long would you anticipate it being? If you were talking 6-12 months then potentially it's reasonable if longer I would say not.

However it's always worth asking

Runesigil · 27/05/2014 14:31

Go for it, that's becoming much more popular now.

Fakebook · 27/05/2014 14:33

I'm not an expert in these things, but they can either yes or no. I'd give it a go incase they say yes.

Unexpected · 27/05/2014 14:34

Give it a go. However, I suspect the vendors will not be interested in rent to buy as this presumably means that they would have to wait for some years to get the capital from the house. Meanwhile, they will presumably have to rent themselves. If they are elderly, one move is probably daunting enough without the uncertainty of renting as well. If they are to entertain the idea, I think you would have to show very clearly when and how you were planning to buy i.e. waiting for savings to mature, rather than some vague intention to one day have enough money to buy.

If the property is currently for sale, speak to the agents and find out why it hasn't sold previously. It may be that the cheap price has nothing to do with the garden and everything to do with the state of the house - is it structurally sound or does it require vast sums spending to make it habitable for a family?

hackneylady · 27/05/2014 14:34

If you phrase it properly (i.e. not presumptuously, and very diplomatically etc) then go for it. The worst they can do is put it in the bin. I leafletted a whole apartment block we wanted to buy in recently, and have heard from an estate agent that it's actually quite common and can sometimes lead to good results.

I think it helps to put in some detail about yourself, why you love the house, can imagine they do too...so that you've sounded as though you're connecting with in on an emotional level, rather than just being a property hound!

diddl · 27/05/2014 14:43

I suppose it's worth asking.

But more than likely they need to sell to buy, of course.

And can you guarantee being able to buy within a certain timeframe?

thebodylovesspring · 27/05/2014 14:50

Go for it and good luck.

It's fairly commen around our area for people to post 'would you like to sell' notes through doors.

They can say no can't they.

LynetteScavo · 27/05/2014 15:01

Posting on phone so might not make sense!
We rented, knowing the owners were going to sell in 12 months, on the condition they sold the house to us.... Anyway we moved in - also large house with tiny garden- and discovered it was he'll to live in. DH had wanted a contract saying the would definitely sell and we would definitely buy but the owner wanted to avoid any possible legal battle if either of us changed our mind. We moved out after a year and bought somewhere else.
What I'm trying to say is that if you rent there is no guarantee they will sell it to you if a higher bidder comes along, and no guarantee for them you will get a mortgage.

But having said that I would go for it. I'd first ask for a vowing through the agents and take it from there.

Littledidsheknow · 27/05/2014 15:13

I think it's a really good idea; especially as it seems to have been off and on the market. The vendor may be quite keen or even desperate to have interest like this.
Yes, worst that can happen is that they don't reply, or say no.

HolidayCriminal · 27/05/2014 15:31

Not insulting at all. The worst they can do is say no.

ChatEnOeuf · 27/05/2014 15:50

You can but ask I guess. Having said that, there's a whole lot of stuff that goes with becoming a landlord (we're just going through the process), and an elderly couple may not fancy all that hassle.

BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted · 27/05/2014 15:58

How would this "rent-to-buy proposal" work? Or are you fantasising about renting it and then buying once you've saved enough?

To be honest, if I was looking to sell a property I wouldn't be interested in letting it instead no matter how long it had been on the market.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that but expect a knock-back.

DeWee · 27/05/2014 16:19

I would have thought a low offer would be more likely to be accepted than that.
I've never heard of someone trying that one. Worth asking their estate agents, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope. If they were happy to rent it, presumably they'd have thought of that.

I'm assuming your thought is you pay rent, but it goes into capital for the house until the capital left is low enough for you to get a morgage?
I don't think that's very attractive offer for the sellers. The house price may well go up and yuo find it's further away than it was, they don't get the capital out, which presumably they want. If they're wanting to avoid care home costs etc. then they still own it and will be treated as such, and even if you're in a position to buy, it isn't going to be in the near future, which when you're in your 70s, probably is where you're thinking, you're not going to hold back now thinking in 20 years you should have a good offer.

The house I'm now in was on the market on and off for about 3 years. We asked at one point if a low offer was worth putting in, and estate agents told us that they'd refused offers (in the last week even!) well above what we were in a position to offer. End of 3 years it came off the market-and reappeared as repossessed. We got it for considerably less than we would have considered a low offer.

wobblyweebles · 27/05/2014 16:51

It depends why you're not currently in a position to buy, and how long it will be till you are.

We did a rent to buy and it worked out very well, but the only thing holding us back from buying was waiting for the sale of our house to go through. It fell through a couple of times but we were confident it would sell within a few months.

In the end we only rented for three months.

CurlyBlueberry · 27/05/2014 18:08

We are trying to sell our property and certainly wouldn't be insulted. In fact it might suit us quite well assuming the timeframe was 6-12 months! But would require some careful consideration, I wouldn't know how it all worked and (massive ageist assumption here) I'd be easily able to Google it, talk to estate agents etc and find out more, but perhaps an older retired couple might feel it was too out-there and be very wary. Would they have to rent somewhere too... that might be difficult for them to deal with.

StarGazeyPond · 27/05/2014 18:31

If you can't get a mortgage outright, why should they trust you to pay up every month once you've moved in? Just a thought.

But you could try (shrug).

parentalunit · 27/05/2014 19:45

Go for it, they might be very happy to take rent for a while to top up their pension.

bronya · 27/05/2014 19:50

How will they buy anywhere to live, if they have rented out their house to you? They will need the capital from the sale.

diddl · 27/05/2014 20:29

I guess they'd have to rent themselves!

londonrach · 27/05/2014 20:56

Don't understand but I'm in London. Why would a landlord let you rent you buy? (Wonders if missing a trick as love flat we renting at mo)

wheresthelight · 27/05/2014 21:08

Is the op coming back to clarify??

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