The short answer to this question is yes, but with caveats.
Selling a property to another landlord, like any situation, has pros and cons. Before making your decision on whether this is the right sale option for you and your circumstances, it is important to understand these.
The biggest single benefit of selling your rental property to another landlord is that you can sell with your tenant in situ, meaning you earn rent, right to the day of completion of the sale.
Other benefits include not having to pay mortgage payments, council tax or standing utilities on an empty property, or worrying about asset theft or damage while the property is unoccupied.
Bearing in mind that the typical UK property sale can take approx 6 months, selling to another landlord means that, if you have a mortgage on the property, you won’t end up paying that out while not receiving any rent.
Most tenancy agreements are based on giving tenants 2 months’ notice, so selling to another landlord potentially avoids 4+ months of a vacant property with no rent coming in while waiting for the sale to go through.
It also creates a “win” for your tenants, as they can remain in their home and the tenancy can simply be transferred to the new landlord owner.
The disadvantages of selling to another landlord are that you will reduce the number of potential buyers, and a landlord looking to buy with a tenant in situ will likely want a discount from the market value of the property.
Property offered for sale with “vacant possession” attracts the widest potential pool of buyers and also achieve the highest prices, but you have to weigh up the costs of leaving a property empty while waiting to achieve a “vacant possession” sale.
Bearing in mind that no property transaction is guaranteed until exchange of contracts, serving notice on the tenant and hoping for full market value, could be considered a risky strategy, especially bearing in mind that, at the time of writing, the market is stagnating and many people are holding back from property transactions while waiting for the impact of Brexit to become clear.
This is most prominent in London and the South East.
Property portal, Zoopla says "38 per cent of properties on sale have had their asking prices significantly reduced"
That’s a five per cent rise since the portal’s last assessment made in April.
The average cut is 8.5%, and this could increase further due to uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Additionally, with a surplus of stock on the market, its a buyer’s market, and many people will view multiple properties before putting in an offer. With a tenant living in your property, viewings might be tricky in terms of gaining access, not to mention that the property may not show very well if the tenant is not keeping it clean and tidy.
Bearing this in mind, selling direct to another landlord starts to look more attractive. BTL mortgage rates are at an all time low, which means landlords have access to competitive mortgage products, and, even better, many are cash buyers.
Sell a house to a professional Landlord
If you are going to sell direct to a landlord, then selling to a professional cash buyer landlords like ourselves can often turn out to be the most favourable options.
Firstly, we are genuine cash buyers, so no lender is involved and there is no threat of a mortgage offer falling through or a property being down-valued, giving the buyer cold feet.
Secondly, there are no estate agent fees, which bite into your net profit, particularly if you are forced to sell at a discount through market conditions and/or selling with a tenant in situ.
Having us buy your tenanted property is a swift and easy solution.
Get a cash offer for your property
Get in touch with us for a no-obligation offer, which we will give you within 48 hours of you making contact with us.
This will be a cash offer and we can agree the date of completion to suit you.
We have no issue with tenants in arrears, tenants not looking after the property, or any kind of issue arising from the tenancy and we will consider any property throughout England and Wales.
With more and more landlords selling up due to onerous taxation and increasing legislation and regulation, our proposition should be viewed as very attractive for anyone looking to sell a rental property without the hassle of evicting tenants or waiting a long time for a sale.
If you are in mortgage arrears and facing repossession, we may even be able to advance you a sum of money to stop the repossession and then complete on the sale, meaning that you do not end up with the property repossessed, sold by the lender at a fire-sale rate, leaving you with any shortfall as an unsecured debt which the lender can come after you for.
Working with us is very simple. Just visit our website, fill in your property details, and we’ll come back to you with an offer.
Speak to local estate agents about how the market is moving in your area, look on the property portals to see how comparable properties are selling, and crunch the numbers to see the true financial cost of any option.
If selling your rental property quickly, without losing your tenant and rental income works out the best option for you, then please allow us the chance to make an offer.
You have nothing to lose and potentially could gain peace of mind and certainty that your property is sold with the added bonus that your tenant has not lost their home. This is particularly important to a landlord who has enjoyed a good relationship with their tenant, and we speak to many that have.