What Are The Issues Of Buying A House That Has Tenants In It?

[frye]

Afternoon

So I saw a house that looked interesting and thought why not view it (and see how the owners came to the ludicrous asking price considering the average is a lot lower on the street).

Anyway the EA (who was rude during the call) mentioned that it has tenants in it. I thought to myself interesting.

But I'm sure I've read here that mortgage companies can be funny if you opt to purchase a home with tenants in it. Is that true?

Many thanks as always fellow HPC'ers!

[long time lurking]

Afternoon

So I saw a house that looked interesting and thought why not view it (and see how the owners came to the ludicrous asking price considering the average is a lot lower on the street).

Anyway the EA (who was rude during the call) mentioned that it has tenants in it. I thought to myself interesting.

But I'm sure I've read here that mortgage companies can be funny if you opt to purchase a home with tenants in it. Is that true?

Many thanks as always fellow HPC'ers!

Yes it is much harder (maybe not even possible) to get a an owner occupier mortgage with sitting tenants

Are you alluding to your chances of obtaining finance for the place or questioning how the owner has ?

[frye]

Yes it is much harder (maybe not even possible) to get a an owner occupier mortgage with sitting tenants

Are you alluding to your chances of obtaining finance for the place or questioning how the owner has ?

Hello

Yeah I was thinking about how say I would be able to obtain finances.

I'm thinking that more and more of these BTL properties will appear on the market soon enough so just need to know why mortgage companies can be problematic with such houses.

many thanks!

[The Knimbies who say No]

Hello

Yeah I was thinking about how say I would be able to obtain finances.

I'm thinking that more and more of these BTL properties will appear on the market soon enough so just need to know why mortgage companies can be problematic with such houses.

many thanks!

BTL is in the firing line. Don't become a landlord if you are not interested in being a landlord. I see quite a few of these in my search areas (Merseyside) and have been heartened that auction sales seem to have stalled since the stamp duty surcharge came in in April. Although in principle I would happily take an empty HMO or other vacant BTL property and revert it to residential if/as/when I buy a house, I am most definitely against buying one which is tenanted and then slinging people out of their home(s) onto the street or landlording it until they wish to leave themselves.

The prices of these things are rarely attractive when considering the extra risks, and in many cases the cost of bringing them up to a decent standard commonly looks prohibitive. For now at least....

[long time lurking]

Hello

Yeah I was thinking about how say I would be able to obtain finances.

I'm thinking that more and more of these BTL properties will appear on the market soon enough so just need to know why mortgage companies can be problematic with such houses.

many thanks!

I `m guessing on this but i would have thought it would be issues with affordability ...i.e you would be paying a mortgage and rent until the tenancy runs out then there would also be issues with the T&C`s of the mortgage which i would guess at being an even bigger problem

I think the only option would be bridging fiance /cash purchase or BTL mortgage and then change to OO mortgage (expensive two lots of arrangement fees )

The above is more of a guess than fact it could be worth talking to your bank to discus the possibilities

[frye]

I `m guessing on this but i would have thought it would be issues with affordability ...i.e you would be paying a mortgage and rent until the tenancy runs out then there would also be issues with the T&C`s of the mortgage which i would guess at being an even bigger problem

I think the only option would be bridging fiance /cash purchase or BTL mortgage and then change to OO mortgage (expensive two lots of arrangement fees )

The above is more of a guess than fact it could be worth talking to your bank to discus the possibilities

Ah yes some good points made there.

It's going to be very interesting when these houses get pushed onto the market.

[pricesmad]

It's not a problem at all in my experience.

As soon as the sale goes through the tenants are given notice and you then have another look round the house once the tenant have gone to make sure you're happy before proceeding to exchange.

Just bear in mind that the notice period is probably going to be 2 months, so you'll want to move pretty quickly after that because a lot of mortgages have a 3 month offer life.

I guess the downside could be if there's an armchair solicitor tenant and they play the eviction game, but in that case yes the house could fall through or you may have to get the mortgage offer extended, but it's not the end of the world.

[long time lurking]

It's not a problem at all in my experience.

As soon as the sale goes through the tenants are given notice and you then have another look round the house once the tenant have gone to make sure you're happy before proceeding to exchange.

Just bear in mind that the notice period is probably going to be 2 months, so you'll want to move pretty quickly after that because a lot of mortgages have a 3 month offer life.

I guess the downside could be if there's an armchair solicitor tenant and they play the eviction game, but in that case yes the house could fall through or you may have to get the mortgage offer extended, but it's not the end of the world.

You are describing buying a un tenanted house not tenanted when it comes to exchange which would be no different to buying from an OO

Buying with tenants still in place is a totally different matter ,in your experience how did you manage to serve notice if you were not the owner/landlord at the time ?

If someone has 11 months left on a contract it will be a minimum of 13 months until the place is empty if the tenant don`t voluntarily agree to leave prio

I would not even look to get into a deal with a tenanted property unless the seller was going to guarantee my expenses if they failed to have the place unoccupied by an agreed date prior to exchange

Edited April 25, 2016 by long time lurking

[The Knimbies who say No]

It's not a problem at all in my experience.

As soon as the sale goes through the tenants are given notice and you then have another look round the house once the tenant have gone to make sure you're happy before proceeding to exchange.

Just bear in mind that the notice period is probably going to be 2 months, so you'll want to move pretty quickly after that because a lot of mortgages have a 3 month offer life.

I guess the downside could be if there's an armchair solicitor tenant and they play the eviction game, but in that case yes the house could fall through or you may have to get the mortgage offer extended, but it's not the end of the world.

You mean someone who wishes to exercise their legal rights, I think. in the same way an armchair solicitor customer of any other goods/services may exercise their legal rights under, eg, the Sale of Goods Act.

If you are going to voluntarily put yourself into a position from which you plan to deliberately make people homeless, you can hardly expect those affected to like it.

[Flopsy]

We were evicted from our rented home when it was sold. Given notice to vacate by 28th December and the new owners moved in 11th January. The sale was at least partly BOMAD and I don't know if they needed any finance

That may be the difference. If they had needed a mortgage it may have been harder to get finance without a longer gap.

[pricesmad]

You mean someone who wishes to exercise their legal rights, I think. in the same way an armchair solicitor customer of any other goods/services may exercise their legal rights under, eg, the Sale of Goods Act.

If you are going to voluntarily put yourself into a position from which you plan to deliberately make people homeless, you can hardly expect those affected to like it.

Yes deliberately making people homeless was my core intention, the fact that I had to buy a house in order to make it happen was almost hypothetical adn I must say proved to be a bit of a hassle.

[sleepwello'nights]

We were evicted from our rented home when it was sold. Given notice to vacate by 28th December and the new owners moved in 11th January. The sale was at least partly BOMAD and I don't know if they needed any finance

That may be the difference. If they had needed a mortgage it may have been harder to get finance without a longer gap.

There is, I believe, a potential issue that that the buyer is subject to the terms of an existing tenancy. If the occupant at the time of purchase was the owner then there are further complications that may limit the mortgagees right of possession. I don't know how strong they are but it is sufficient to deter a lender to allow a mortgage to be granted. I heard of someone who wanted to purchase a house from the owner and then let them rent it from him, he couldn't find a lender willing to lend on a mortgage. He could only purchase it with vacant possession.