sitting tenant wanting to buy off landlord

A question about : sitting tenant wanting to buy off landlord

I have been renting my house since 1990 and have been told that I am a sitting tenant.
My landlord has recently passed away and his family, who have inherited the house,have kindly given me first refusal to buy it.
They have not mentioned any figures and have asked me instead to get quotes from 3 local estate agents to value the property as they are not living in the area.
My rent is low at the moment and I am worried that if I try and take up their generous offer I may not be able to afford mortgage repayments.
I have trawled the internet to try and find information but have not yet managed to find anything with relevance to my particular case.
A family friend has told me that if I do buy I should pay less than the marketable value as the house would be harder to sell for them with me in it.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Best answers:

• Ask the estate agents to value it taking into account there is a sitting tennant - that should get you a more realisitic price.
• Hi,
  I think your friend is correct in that properties with sitting tenants do usually go for less than the market value but with the buy to let market you may find investors eager to buy. And your rent might go up.
  If you don't already know I think your first step should be to investigate what similar properties sell and/or rent for in your area.
  Call into your local estate agents to get a feel for prices and have a chat with them.
  Obviously any valuer would take into account the condition of the property and how well it has been maintained. EG: Do you need rewiring, new kitchen, bathroom etc.
  If these things have not been replaced since 1990 then you could factor the cost of upgrading into any offer you might make.
  If you decide to buy make your offer subject to survey and have a proper survey done.
  Goodluck.
• Thanks for that.
  I suppose that was obvious really but I would never have thought of it! Sometimes its hard to see the wood for the trees in a situation your not used to being in.
  I was wondering about what I should say to the estate agents.
  Can I openly tell them that I am the sitting tenant or am I supposed to be acting on the landlords familys behalf to try and sell the house or both?
  What is in it for the estate agents for them to come and value it if I am going to buy it from my landlords family? Are the estate agents obliged to value a property even if you arent going to sell your house through them?
  Sorry for asking so many questions but I have never been even close to buying a house before and am at this point it would seem a bit greener than the average.Thanks again.
• Thank you "Iwaswondering" very little has been done in the house since I moved in in 1990 and it is in a bit of a run down state and needs rewiring and new windows the kitchen is really,really old and the driveway is so old and uneven that it is dangerous and I have been told by next door who have seen my roof that that too needs repair.
  My old landlord was a good bloke but very old and I think financially unable to do much and I didnt like to feel I was hassling him about it!
  The rent has been fixed at the "fair rent" level so I dont think a landlord could charge more than that, but maybe a new landlord can,Im not sure!
• Roughly speaking, any property that has a sitting tenant in it is worth about half what it is on the open market.
  Obviously that figure depends on how old/infirm the sitting tenant is perceived to be by everybody, the property, the area, etc etc.
• There are lots of property price finding websites to find out what your neighbouring houses have sold for so that could give you an idea.
  Push the estate agents in your favour saying things like "wanting a quick sale" needs "serious modenisation" and "sitting tenant".
  You have already paid your landloard 18 years of money when a mortgage would be 25 years so you don't really want to get the best market price for your home.
• I thought you couldn't up the rent on a sitting tenant?
  Someone was selling a property under your circumstances in my area last year - it was up for about 60% of what it would otherwise have been worth and still struggling to sell... the rent was way below market as well but with no option to increase it or get the tenant out.
  People considering buying it would ask questions like "How old is the tenant? Are they in good health?". If you're a very suspicious person, this could actually be quite a dangerous position to be in...
  However, if the family will sell to you at that sort of price (60% of normal market value), which the estate agents should agree with, I'd say you're doing very nicely out of the whole deal!
• I think you need to establish whether you are a 'sitting tenant' or not. You've said ''you've been told'' - who by ? your landlord's family ?
  What most people refer to as sitting tenants are long-term tenants who come under statutory protection - ie they have security of tenure for life if they stay put. These "Rent Act" tenants will have a tenancy dating back to pre 15 January 1989.There was another period of time up to 28 February 1997 when tenancies could default to a Rent Act tenancy (or something similar - Assured Tenancy) if the relevant paerwork was not in order.
  After this time the default tenancy is the AST.
  So when exactly did yor tenancy start ? You said 1990. Do you have the paperwork ie a proper tenancy agreement ? The answers to these questions will determine if you have a protected tenancy.
  If you have - you would expect a discount on sale price. If your landlord were selling he might get between 50%-70% of the property's value. It sounds like his family just want shot of the place so you might get a good deal. But I'm interested whether you got the 'sitting tenant' information from the landlord's family or somewhere else. If the latter, it could be that the family don't regard you as a 'sitting tenant' and they are expecting full market valuations from you.
• Somerset is spot on here. The terms of your current tenancy agreement will mean a great deal on the valuation of the property.
  There are three possible tenancies in place.
  1977 - Rent Act
  1988 Assured Tenancy
  1996 Assured Shorthold Tenancy
  As far as valuations are concerned if you hold a rent act tenancy then this will reduce the value of the property by upto 50%, the other two tenancies won't have that much of a bearing on the value.
  Other conciderations will be the condidtion of the property, e.g. if the roof is that bad, then a buyer may not be able to sucure a mortgage on it.
• Thanks for that "somerset".
  Yes I have got an tenancy agreement and no it wasnt the landlords family who told me I am a sitting tenant.
  I took legal advice years ago and I am in the category you mentioned,defaulted to rent act -assured tenacy.
  Am I an assured tenant or have I been given wrong advice?
  I am 47 .
• Information on the different types of tenancy can be found here:
  https://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/..._tenancies.htm
• just ask estate agents to come and value it - dont tell them you are the tenant. at least then you will have some idea of the market value. when you have that, - then you can find out how much a Lender would lend and therefore how much your mortgage interest payments might be. Also find out what local letting agents would assess the market rent at - then come back with soem figures and we may be able to help.
  bw
• I'm a bit confused................some of you here have posted on other threads saying it's CRAZY to buy property now; that the market is going to crash big time; that property is bound to fall and we'll all be out of pocket..........our homes will be worth peanuts in 10/20 years time.............and that renting is far better than paying a mortgage...........
  and here you are advising her on how to get a good deal and wishing her luck!!!
  Ooooops!!!!!
• What’s stopping the new Landlord upping the rent to make the house unaffordable for noseymum to live in as a way of getting rid of them? Or is she somehow protected against this?
• i may be missing something here but given but the rent is effectivly fixed at inflation and there is little prospect of captital growth (unless the op moves/dies) doesnt this mean the value of the property is basicly what their rent is.
  i would use one of the mortgage calculators to work out what the rent would equate to in terms of an interest only mortgage.
• Thanks Somerset,( and eveyone else replying to this thread)
  yes I have spoken to the family on the phone and they are aware that I am a sitting tenant.
  I was surprised that they have asked me to get valuations but they live about 200 miles away so it maybe inconvenient for them to do so.
  To "chris1000" the property has a "fair rent" fixed on it and I think a new landlord would have to substancially renovate the property before it would make much of a difference to the amount that fixed rent would be.
• While I was cutting back the dogwood i had another thought ( I really should switch off )
  Yes, your comment about being 47 - makes a big difference in the price to any other buyer. Means you're going to be there for donkey's years plus succession rights. Use it to negotiate the price down.