Buying from landlord - first steps

[OldGreyBoots]

Bit of a WWYD here!

DP and I have been renting a property for just over 3 years. 3 weeks ago, I had an email from the letting agent that the landlord is likely looking to sell, and would offer the place to us as a first option.

We have no kind of timeframe for this, the property hasn't been valued yet, and all the emails have been pretty vague - "may be looking to sell the property in the near future".

This has lit a fire under us, we've spoken with a mortgage advisor and we've decided we'd like to buy a place now, and if it isn't our current rental, then we'd like to start looking elsewhere at buying - but this place would be our first choice.

My question is, what would you do now?
The letting agents have always been pretty ineffectual, but we've never had any direct contact or contact details for the landlord.

We'd like to email her directly to talk about it, and try to get across that we'd love to buy it and she could save herself some money by bypassing much of the estate agent rigmarole.

Would you ask the letting agent for the landlord's contact details - with the risk that they won't bother, or could say she doesn't want to give them?
Or would you ask the neighbors, who definitely have the landlord's number, but risks overstepping boundaries when she hasn't ever had direct contact with us?

Our mortgage advisor recommended trying to get direct contact with the landlord one way or another, but we're total newbies and unsure what's the best approach.

Thanks for reading my essay

You could ask the Lettings agent to pass on your contact details to her as you are interested in buying the house. I mean she knows where you live already so could just have sent a letter with her details on, if you wanted to get in touch!

The thing is to think about is how much discount you could end up getting on the valuation - first of all houses are not often getting agents value and are usually selling for a good 5% less at the moment. Also your in a very strong position if the landlord wants to sell with the Renters Rights Bill about to be implemented. This could work out very well for you - if your smart enough to look at the transaction in the same way as a business person would 😉. Keep your idea of the discount you would like to yourself for now, you can always revise an offer downward in the new year once the bill is in effect - if you choose to make one. Make the right noises but don't rush, it's only a matter of maybe 3 months before implementation and at that point you will hold a stronger hand.

My suggestion is to get an estate agent around to value the property, they won’t check that you are not the owners. Then chat to a lender to see if you are happy with mortgage idea. Then tell agent it’s a yes and ask to progress