Landlord selling, but won’t sell to me

[Flora73]

After 11 months in the house, my landlord has issued a section 21, my contract rather conveniently contained a break clause so he can do this earlier than the 12 month mark.

I have a mortgage in principle, I’ve been looking for somewhere to buy but he has rejected this and said I still have to leave as they want to maximise the sale price. He has even said that I move out and he will let me know which agent it is on with so I can purchase it that way. It just seems utterly bonkers.

And before anyone lays into me I am fully aware that it is his house and he can do what he likes, and I have no rights, but I can’t work out why he won’t sell to me. We’ve had a good relationship to date with no issues.

Can anyone thing of reasons why this would be?

have you told him this?
...and could your mortgage amount cover it? mortgagers will only lenf what the property is worth on the open market, not a premium price fir your feelings, sorry

If I were you I’d invite an estate agent round and get them to value it (just don’t tell them you are a tenant). Get an idea of value and then put in an offer based on this and what you can afford.

Quite often people renting properties talk about buying them, but aren’t serious. If you have just said to him you would like to buy it, he may be viewing it as a delaying tactic or just a pipe dream. A formal offer of £X may make him think differently.

It’s also an opportunity for you to find somewhere to buy? Since you have the AIP.
Making offers as a chain free buyer, you could find someone keen to sell.
Then you never have to go through this again.

Round my way he'd get a rude awakening as the lower end of the market is doing quite poorly just now.

I'd offer a good amount, slightly above the market value if you can, with a deadline for him to accept of your move-out day (or otherwise before it hits the market, so your offer isn't used as leverage).

Must be profit-maximising and wants to test the market.

I've just sold to a sitting tenant (at a massive discount) as it's way easier.

He might want to do it up and try to get top dollar but it's a risk as he'll have to cover void costs and conveyancing can take an age.

What sort of condition is it in? Mine wasn't in good nick but that's because the tenant had been there a long time, it was very "lived in " and it's hard to do upgrades if there's a tenant in situ. Best for all parties to sell to her.

I really don't think my tenant appreciated the discount she was getting but it suited me.

What sort of condition is the property in? Maybe he wants you out so that he can give it a lick of paint and "stage" the property to maximise price.

Once you've taken into account the cost of agent's fees and a rental void while it sells as well as any work needed prior to marketing it the landlord would need to be confident of selling for a good amount above what the OP might offer. Crazy if the market is not great where OP is imo. Unless, as other have said, there is another buyer already lined up or something similar.

This. The same happened to us over 20 years ago and the landlord wouldn’t sell to us despite us having a mortgage in principle. I’m so glad, as we ended up buying a house which was larger and in a nicer location for a similar price. We’d have been buying the house we were living in for convenience, as much as we liked it.

Hes mad, the housing market is collapsing and going to crash soon!

But it is theit house they have the right to sell to who they want, it is logical in itself that they dont have to sell to you

Some years ago I was buying my first flat, tennant of the flat out the offer in and landlord accepted. But nothing was happening. Landlord got few up after 6 months and put it back on the market. He later found out why, the family living in the flat was from another country and they had planned return date, they had zero intention to buy the flat, they just didn't want to move out and look for a new place 6 months before they were ready to go so they lied to the landlord.
I know this is not what you are doing OP but perhaps this is the sort of situation your landlord is trying to avoid.

He obviously thinks the house is worth more than you can afford, which is a shame for you but if you can't afford it you can't afford it. On what basis did you make your offer? A valuation, or just went off what your budget it?

At first I thought it sounded a bit mean but actually it does sound like a sensible decision for him to protect his property.

If he agreed a price with you that he he was happy with. You could potentially just be making the offer and saying all this to stay in the house and then pull out later on. He would then still have to get you to move out and still have to sell the house. Maybe you haven't thought of this as it actually isn't your intention, but from his point of view.

By ensuring it is empty, he would be more certain if you wanted to buy it that you were serious and not just saying that to stay longer. Plus as everyone has said people are wary about purchasing with tenants in a house and he might get a better offer with more options. Although it would need to be significantly better as he will have to pay estate agents fees! I appreciate from your point of view it sounds really frustrating to have to rent somewhere else to just move back if you did get to buy it.

Look around at local properties, you are in a strong position, first time buyer, mortgage in place, need to move quickly. Lots of sellers will be happy to see you!

Perhaps he’s only told you he wants to sell it; he just needs you out for other reasons, perhaps needing to move a relative or friend in instead.

Is it in a popular area? He might be doing closed bids, he might want to put it on for more than the estate agent value, he will get more and easier sale with no tenant. He might want a cash buyer.
Loads of reasons.
Sorry, its shit but I can think of a dozen reasons why he will be doing it this way.

Why don't you research what similar properties in the area have sold for and then offer him a good price based on this? if you can afford to go a bit above similar properties that sold recently s/he may be willing to consider it.

Since when were landlords charities?

I am a landlord and wouldn’t sell to my incumbent tenants either (their tenancy is ending and they’re moving out). Principally because they have run the inside of the house down horribly (every wall stained and drawn on, filthy bathrooms and kitchen, sticky floors, burns in the carpet etc) and the valuation we got (with them in situ) was much lower than what two agents have said we can target if we clear the property and thoroughly clean and redecorate (plus sort out the garden that they have turned into a junkyard). I’m not suggesting that is what’s going on for you but, yeah, it will be about money I would guess.

Okay. Try to find out from the LL what that valuation was as a 'matter of interest'. Then offer him that price (or that plus the amount of general house inflation since it was done).

If he doesn't accept that offer, ask him why not?
He may just want you out, possibly to sell or rent to a friend or a neighbour, or think that with some extra work the house will command a higher selling price (or less likely a better rental price).

Regardless all you can do is control the controllables I.e get a reasonable valuation as above, or other way I.e. similar sales print off or just pay an estate agent to value it) and assuming you can afford it, offer him that price, without the hassle for him of having to tidy or do it up, Estate agent fees, etc etc. You could even sweeten the deal for both of you by offering some cash for furniture if you like it. (Otherwise he'll just be caught with the cost & hassle of dumping it).
My advice, appeal to his better nature, ask him around for a nice cuppa & a biscuit and explain that you'd like this as your home and this is is what you'll do to secure it.

(Also lost the pros for him i.e of no doing up the house, no vacant period, no intermittant bills & maintenance, a quicker sale to a willing buyer, some cash for old furniture & white goods, etc , and .some nice sex on the side to sweeten the deal. ;)

Good luck OP.

P.s. maybe don't try the sex part ;)

@Flora73 I find this strange

I missed out on a property that shouldn't really have been on the market. The buyer had a plan of who he wanted to sell it to. He put it on with an agent I think just in case he got a better offer. I put in an offer. He then tried to get me to increase it.

Then he said a friend of his was going to be renting it for six months and he wanted to know if I would exchange contracts and then complete six months later. I said no!

Basically, I find it very odd that your landlord doesn't want to just ask you for the best price. He thinks he can get it and then have the convenience of selling to you.

So something else is going on here.

And yes, of course the estate agent can give an estimate with it empty. He should know what the best price is that he can achieve. The market isn't so brilliant that he will achieve much more. Unless it's a really big house?

I also have two people in my block of flats who have put their property on the market "just to see what happens". I can't really get my head around that either. One has already had an offer and he is now ignoring the estate agents calls! So there is some poor buyer who actually keen and he's just being mucked around.

you need to forget about buying this one sadly. In the end, he might just do it up and put it on for much higher rent.

further thought – if you're a first time buyer, it may be that he doesn't want to deal with that.

If you're still in the property you, hoping to buy it, you could sabotage anyone else who views the property.
If it falls through with you, he will have to wait ages for you to move out.
If you are a tenant in situ, even if you are supposed to be moving out, it will put many people off buying - incase you don't leave.
So many reasons!

Greed?? Trying to earn money from your investment isn’t greed. That’s ridiculous. You have no idea what the landlords circumstances are, wanting a fair market price is not at all unreasonable.

Exactly and no loss or rent.
@Flora73 op to be fair most contracts have a break clause in them amd it doesn't mean you get any less notice then if he had issued the notice at 12 months you get the same amount of notice to leave

Yes he is mad.

We sold to our tenant and it was so much easier because we knew that they wanted it and they would not pull out.

He's just being greedy and hopefully he will pay the price.