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?

Bit harsh, why is that greed? Wouldn't you maximise your assets? It's his house to do what he wants with. It's just common sense.

How is it greed?

Someone selling their properly for the highest price they can rather than doing your current tenant “a favour” by letting them buy it for a potentially cheaper price is perfectly understandable.

More fool him. We bought our first house this way. Everyone saved money as the landlord got rent up to the wire, with all the bills ticking over, no work to do on it to sell it; and we didn't have the expense and faff of moving. We got the house valued a couple of times, and they got the house valued a couple of times. We settled on a figure everyone was happy with.

Perhaps your landlord doesn't want a quick sale. Ultimately it's up to him. He wants a clean slate for whatever reason. I'm sorry this is happening for you.

How can you have offered 'more' when it hasnt even been valued yet?

He likely has plans to decorate and refresh, do repairs and stage it which can add significant £££ to the valuation.

He wants to do it up and he wants it empty.

This. I'm a property owner and would definitely opt for this option.

At the end of the day, after all the estate agents and decorating fees plus loss of rental income and potentially months on the market - the landlord will make no extra cash than if he just sold hassle free to the current tenant.

But he can get to fair market price by putting it on the market while the tenant is still there.

He's being greedy because he thinks he can start a bidding war but that's unlikely to happen and he will end up paying estate agents fees and possibly losing the sale if their buy decides to pull out for any reason.

Why are so many assuming it's greed? We have no idea what the house is worth or what OP has offered. For all we know her budget is way off market value.

Sounds to me like it is either:

a) Greed,
b) Wanting to move in family or friends
c) LL wants to turn his house into a HMO and re-let it at a ridiculous rent
d) LL possibly wants to take up the government on their offer of extra ££ for housing immigrants.

Who knows what his reasons are.

I hope you find somewhere soon - or ideally your LL changes his mind and sells to you!

From experience we had a tenant In the house while trying to sell the property. It was a nightmare, tenant kept getting in the way. Once the tenant moved out it sold asap.

We wasn't rich landlords, in face made a huge loss. Don't assume all landlords are loaded and greedy!

Also it will be better for the landlord for you to go through the process of going through the agent and then solicitors.

Surely this is not a problem when you're selling to the actual tenant!

How is it better to have EA involved when the vendor then has to pay them a large fee? Solicitors would be involved in any event

Arguments in your favour...

You have no chain.
He won't need to pay agent's commission
He won't need to re-decorate or re-furbish
You already know the place, so you'll be less freaked out by the surveyor's report (though you'll still get one)
You won't use the surveyor's report to renegotiate the price
You can complete whenever he likes
There'll be no gap where he's getting no rent - which could be months

Get him to add up the risk, hassle, time and cost that'll save him.

Then suggest he gets three valuations and comes to you with a price.

Then subtract from that price the sum you and he did above, and offer him that.

Then split the difference

Agree with this.

Karma will find a way with your greedy landlord - maybe he would not be a good preson to buy from, and he might change his mind just before completion, if someone offers him a couple of thousand more.

Good luck OP and hope you find a nicer home.

OP, stretch all out for as long as you can, he'll soon be begging you to buy it because no one else will pay what he wants for it.

I previously sold a property to my tenants.

Easiest transaction ever.

Got 3 independent valuations and I told them that I would be listing it with the estate agent that gave me the highest estimate.

They basically immediately offered full asking price and we went forward with the sale but it meant I kept getting rent payment whilst they were buying (to be fair though I was nice and gave them a big rental discount for these few months).

But basically it was so easy with them being in the house. I didn't lose rental, it was dead easy for them and big motivation for them to push for a fast purchase so they could stop paying rent!

I'd say to write down all the positive reasons why you should be the buyer like the above examples and give it to the landlord.

The asking price will be the highest an EA can stick on it. The sale price is another matter.

The LL will probably gussy up the place before putting it on the market - new bathroom/s, kitchen upgrade, new carpet and paint, garden spruced up.

None of that would be possible with you in situ.

I would have though the same.

LL gets the house valued, as it's a private rental between them and OPer I wouldn't even bother to mention its rented just yet.

See what the best market value is and go from there, surely he'd save money in the long run with no estate agent fees to pay if he sells to the tenant.

It does seem odd that he thinks he can get what the OP would pay for the house (presumably market value) plus enough to cover estate agents fees and a potentially more complex conveyancing process, plus several months lost rent while he waits for
a sale on an empty house.

If I was him I think I would get a valuation on the basis of it being empty (any agent should be able to tell him that, it’s not hard to imagine the same house but without the OP in it) and if the OP was willing to offer that or very close, I would bite her arm off. The fact that he isn’t, makes me think he has no intention of actually selling the property and wants her to move out for another reason. Which is his prerogative of course but still annoying for the OP.

It's completely understandable that you don't want to move again so soon, and if you're prepared to make the landlord a good offer, then more fool him for not considering it. But I would let this property go. The landlord has made it clear that he has no interest in coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement, so it's likely that you'll get a better deal elsewhere.

Assuming you're in England or Wales, then the tortuous process of buying a property is expensive and time-consuming even when the other party is your average, fairly decent person. But if they're the type to try to screw every last penny out of you, then it can be an utter nightmare. Gazumping, gazundering, removing fixtures and fittings, demanding freebies, stringing the process out until the buyer loses their mortgage offer... there are so many ways that this type of person can make a buyer (or seller's) life a misery. I'm not saying your landlord is this type of person, but there's a hint that he might be and that would be enough to put me off.

Can you get a few estate agent valuations and then offer him the average? Then he’s not losing out and neither are you.

I agree. DH sold 4 rentals to the tenants including a landlords gift deposit. He got 4 easy sales and 4 people now own a home.

The landlord probably wrongly thinks that if he spends of couple of grand and polishes it up he'll be able to add 10+ times that to the sale price.
You might be better off letting him crack on, buy somewhere else and then you can laugh at him as you watch it stay on right move for months and months and months.

The break clause is not just ‘convenient’ for the landlord but you too.
i don’t know why he wouldn’t sell to you. And it’s not true the estate agent will value it lower because the seller can just ask how much it would sell empty. The sale should be quicker and less hassle all around if you could agree on price. I’m a landlord and would have been delighted to sell to a tenant! Unless it’s a red hot market with properties going for over the guide price (which you say it isn’t), then I don’t see how he would be ‘maximising’ the sale price. He’d be losing several months rent for one thing, plus would have to pay council tax and utilities.

Depending on whether he had just this home or multiple…he might be wanting to move there himself for a bit, so that he can claim principal property relief when he sells, which would significantly reduce his taxable gain on sale. Either way, it’s not your business, so move on and find another place to live. It’s unfortunately one of the many downsides of renting, and I do feel your pain.

Because landlords are all evil didn’t you know…!