Property currently let - can we sell?

[xmyboys]

Just thinking out loud (thinking of our options).
We have a property which we let out through an agent. We are 2 months into a 12 month lease.
We are thinking of now selling this property.
Can we do this?
or do we need to wait until the lease has finished?

I don't know but I hope not.

No if you are in a 12 month contract you can't sell until the end of the contract, that's the point of the contract for both sides. (I think!)

You could sell with a tenant in place-so you would be looking for someone who wants to a buy to let property. Lots of investors like this so it might be an easy thing to sell. But you can't sell to someone who wants to live in the property.

If you're desperate to sell you could offer the tenant an incentive to break the contract.

If I'd just moved somewhere two months ago I'd be pretty annoyed to move again though so it might have to be a pretty big incentive.

Sell as a buy-to-let. Is there a break clause in the 12 month temamcy contract e.g at 6 mths? Otherwise, I would wait & market when you give your tenants notice that you won't be renewing the tenancy in another 8 mths' time. I marketed a property as soon as I gave my tenants 2 mths' notice to terminate a rolling periodic tenancy (month-by-month).

Depends where you are, too. If you are in an area where property is not moving, it would not be a great idea to piss your tenants off by having viewings without any end date in sight (especially if selling as a BTL with sitting tenants). If you don't sell, you could be shafted by their leaving as soon as their lease is up (or break clause can be activated), because they are fed up living like that.

I second other posters' reminder that you are bound by a contract, too.

Thanks for the info, I think I would have to talk to the agent if we decide to do this. Otherwise sit and wait til next year, lucky we only signed a 12mth lease.

How mean to the tenants! You must have known you really wanted to sell if only two months in to the tenancy. I have experience of this with my daughter. She moved in to a flat, we spent lots of money buying furniture etc and then the landlord after 3 months said he was selling. Fortunately he had to wait an other 3 months to get to the 6 month break in tenancy. She moved on as why trust him again and the flat still hadn't sold months later. Served him right.