Need to sell house but have to give 32 weeks notice to tenant

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geri

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I have an investment property which due to a change in personal circumstances, I need to sell. I have had the same tenant in the property for 13 years so need to give 32 weeks notice to vacate. The property is in an area where the market is good, and houses don't hang around for long. As it stands if I give notice today, he doesnt have to leave until mid April 2018. His rent is slightly lower than market rate for the area, and there's not much availability in the area. Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed if I get an offer sooner rather than later but the tenant wants to stay for the full notice period.
 
Offer him / her a dropsie to leave early or seek an elongated closing.

I'd talk to the tenant in the first instance.
 
thanks GG. Yea, I still have to talk with him. He has been a great tenant, loves the house like its his own, and I'm dreading telling him :( I think 32 weeks is a mad amount of time though.....
 
Hi Geri, I had a similar situation with a house I rented out (although in my case I needed it back to live in), I was surprised too to discover I had to give six months' notice, it seemed excessive to me. It ended up a bit messy in the end (I posted about it earlier), dragging on for another few months because the tenants couldn't find anywhere to live within their budget (they were also paying lower than the market rate in my place).

If you can't hold on until April of next year then, as Gordon said, your only option would be to offer the tenant a financial incentive to leave, maybe a contribution towards the difference between what they are paying in rent now and what they would pay in a new place? There's no way around that notice, so have a word with them and see if you can work something out.

Just in case you're unaware of this, make sure this is included in the notice of termination (from citizensinformation.ie):

If the property is being sold: If the landlord intends to sell the property within 3 months of the termination of your tenancy, the notice of termination must state that “The reason for the termination of the tenancy is due to the fact that the landlord intends to sell the dwelling, for full consideration, within 3 months after the termination of the tenancy”. The notice must also include a statutory declaration stating the landlord’s intention to sell.

Best of luck, I hope everything works out - if you can wait until April at least you're likely to get more for your property, so there's that consolation.
 
geri said:
I have had the same tenant in the property for 13 years
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geri said:
He has been a great tenant, loves the house like its his own
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Part of me feels sorry for your tenant but part of me wonders what world he's living in!

If it were me I would offer him his last few months for free as a gesture. You could have had a much different experience if the posts on this site are anything to go by. Karma and all that...
 
Geri - would you think the tenant would be in a position to purchase the house himself, from you?
 
Firefly said:
If it were me I would offer him his last few months for free as a gesture.
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This is part of the amateurish nonsense that has the private rental sector in such a jam. Dunnes Stores have been feeding me for more than 13 years, I have been a good customer, never once spilling milk on the floor or damaging their shelving. Do you think that they should give me free food for a few months.

Because of attitudes like this being common, that the landlord should be some type of parent figure to the tenant, people are put off investing in residential accommodation. Only if it is viewed as a business can it thrive.
 
I think the point is that 32 weeks will inconvenience the landlord; the angle is to offer the tenant a dropsie to leave early rather than waiving the rent (because what would that achieve?!).
 
cremeegg said:
This is part of the amateurish nonsense that has the private rental sector in such a jam. Dunnes Stores have been feeding me for more than 13 years, I have been a good customer, never once spilling milk on the floor or damaging their shelving. Do you think that they should give me free food for a few months.

Because of attitudes like this being common, that the landlord should be some type of parent figure to the tenant, people are put off investing in residential accommodation. Only if it is viewed as a business can it thrive.
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if the tenant decided to plant himself and not leave at all , the OP is looking at two years minimum to shift him, offering a rent discount for the last few months seems quite sensible to me
 
thanks all for the advice.
It would be ideal if he could buy it himself, but I doubt he would be in a position to.
What would people recommend as an incentive?
Also I can't really afford to give him free months.
I'll be talking to him this weekend so we'll see how that goes. One of the downsides of renting I suppose is that you can be asked to move on any time. He had a good run of it..
 
I strongly suggest that initially you just tell him that you are selling the house, maybe explain the reasons why. Leave it with him for a while to see what his reaction is. If he asks when you are selling, say that you need to sell as soon as possible but obviously you will give him time to get sorted. Sometimes things can be resolved mutually without too much difficulty.

He has as good a chance of finding a new place now as he does next April and by then rents may be higher. After a while you could tell him that you will give him back his deposit whenever he needs it, if he wants to put it down for a new place.
 
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