Ask landlord to sell us the house

[WasherWoman25]

Has anyone done this? Pro’s / Con’s etc? How did it all work out?

Landlords - would you consider it?

Roughly how much would you expect to save in fees etc on a c £250k house?

I did this with my then partner about 20 years ago. We rented the flat for a few years, the LL lived overseas and had no plans to come back to the UK, and we loved the flat so we just asked them if they wanted to sell. We were incredibly lucky to have a very decent LL who was happy to sell, obtained 3 valuations and offered it to us at the lowest one, as we had been exemplary tenants.

It all worked very smoothly thereafter, and everyone was happy. I guess they were happy to not have to evict tenants in order to sell (and thereby lose out on rent for potentially many months), they didn’t have to pay EA fees and we got the flat at a very fair price. There’s no harm in asking! Good luck!

He may only sell it if it's not a solid, long term passive income for him. But it sounds like it is that, given you've been there 9 yrs.

If you say you'd love to buy it, or you'll be buying somewhere else and will let him know re: notice, he might be more inclined as its easier than finding a new tenant.

On the other hand, it may be an opportunity to repaint and re-list it at a considerably higher rent than he's getting.

Nothing to lose in asking. I don't think you'll necessarily get a "deal" though, because that is also what he'll be looking for.

They’d save on moving costs

I would love for my tenants to offer to buy the house they rent from me! I only keep it so they have a secure home.

I personally would be happy for them to have it 10% under asking price.

Yes we’ve been here 9 years, but the tenants in before us were a nightmare. Didn’t pay rent for a long time, stole some of the contents, made a lot of damage etc.

We did. Got the house for less. Also knew what the neighbourhood and issues were with the house. Landlord didn’t need to redecorate, list with agents, or pay EA fees. We used surveyors and solicitors. Was all done in 3 months and stress free for everyone. The landlord could have made more but we’d have moved out and they would have had a vacant property or had to find short term tenants.

You could ask. The landlord may be keen to sell with the upcoming renters' rights bill.

The landlord would save estate agency fees, void period loss, and the hassle of marketing a property. You might get a small discount based on this, but it all depends if he wants to sell.