Selling – I really don’t want to evict good tenants?
When I met my wife I owned my own home in a North Yorkshire town. When we decided to move in together, rather than sell my house, I rented it and became an “accidental landlord”.
Fast forward 8 years and my now wife and I have started a family and want a bit more space in our home, the money I have tied up in my rental property would be really useful. What is the best way to approach selling in this situation?
The property is an ex local authority house worth about £130k, the tenants have been in about 5 years and have been model tenants apart from one small hiccup that was to do with them moving jobs and was fully resolved at the time. I feel extremely grateful to the tenants for taking good care of my house etc. I don’t really want to just evict them, but I do want to achieve a decent sale price for this property, is it possible to have it both ways? What would you do?
Thanks in advance,
Jonathan
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Member Since December 2014 - Comments: 3
9:44 AM, 29th April 2019, About 7 years ago
Have you thought of selling the property with the tenants in situ? I sold a tenanted flat and the buyers made a condition of the sale a new AST for all the tenants before it was sold.
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 8
9:45 AM, 29th April 2019, About 7 years ago
Is there enough equity in your rental house to re-mortgage it and pull out the funds that you need without selling? Tenants like that are worth hanging on to if at all possible.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 1121
9:49 AM, 29th April 2019, About 7 years ago
Jonathan you have a few options:
1. Use Section 21
( while you still can) evict the tenant, and put on the market. The house is then empty and not earning any rent;
2. Put on the market with a “sitting tenant” although you will restrict the sale to an investor and you may not get the full price, you will still be getting rent as long as the potential sale does not spook the tenants;
3. Refinance the property if possible if the figures work through as a deal to pull some capital out.
Member Since September 2014 - Comments: 166
10:27 AM, 29th April 2019, About 7 years ago
This suggestion is a bit left field. Ask the local authority if they want to buy the house back. Councils are desperate for housing stock and some have capital funds available to purchase properties, and they would have to buy at the market price. Your tenants would continue to have their home. If this happened I’d be curious to know if the council will charge the existing PRS rent, or a social rent. Your tenants will want to know of course.
Member Since March 2016 - Comments: 163 - Articles: 1
12:44 PM, 29th April 2019, About 7 years ago
Could the tenants be in a position to buy it? You could look at Exchange with Delayed Completion to get some money up front and give them time to gather the rest of the funds (if you’re not in a desperate rush).