mommaduck Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 One thing I absolutely hate about renting is when the owners decide to sell...and they always decide at the beginning of spring! I ASKED this time before leasing if the owner intended to sell during the year, particularly our FIRST year in the place. Nope, no intent. Yep, she showed up with a realtor last week wanting to see the place to put a price on the building (it's a semi-detached rowhouse...two sides). I put them off till tomorrow morning. Seriously, this is the last quarter of our school year, crunch time, seven children, and a husband that works nights and sleeps days. And now they are going to want to traipse strangers through here on a regular basis from now until they sell! :mad: No, no, no! I don't want nor need the disruption! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 That stinks! Find out what your rights are. If I remember correctly, we have to give our tenants 24hrs. notice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 That stinks! Find out what your rights are. If I remember correctly, we have to give our tenants 24hrs. notice. Yes! They cannot just show up unannounced. But it's still a major disruption. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 What are your obligations as a tenant? Do you have to leave while they show the place? Do you have to keep it in show condition? Does your dh have to get up if they're showing during his sleep time? I'd only do the minimum that's required in my lease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in FL Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Sorry your landlord is doing this. You really have two ways to deal with this. You can learn your state laws and read your lease carefully to find out what your rights are. In FL we have to give a renter 24 hour notice before entering the property (each and every time) and you don't need to do anything to make the place look better. You could leave laundry out and have the place looking like a pit. You can be there and have your children in the way of the people showing the house. If you go that route then you should plan on your landlord not renewing your lease and look for other housing when your rental agreement is over. Your other choice is to work with her and be as flexible as possible. You can let your landlord know that you'll keep the house presentable and try your best to help her sell it. You can ask her to put on the listing that the home can only be shown on the weekend, or after a certain hour. You can have them put that the tenant must be called at least xxx amount of time before hand. If you don't have those in the listing you may have people knocking on the door to see it. If you have valuables in the house you can ask her to lease you a small storage space near by for you to keep some of your stuff in (you could also have her get a big enough one for you to de-clutter a bit so the house looks nice). You can ask her to put in the sales agreement a 60 day possession and ask her to let you stay in the house those 60 days rent free so you have time to find a new home. You could also ask her for a rent decrease while it is for sale. You could also ask for a lawn service so that you can concentrate on keeping the inside of the house clean and neat while the service takes care of the outside. I am a landlord and would bend over backwards to have a tenant work with me in selling a property. I would certainly agree to a lot. I probably wouldn't agree for a decrease in the monthly rent, but I would agree to a couple of free months after I had a contract. Sit down and really think how you can help to sell the house and what that's going to be worth to your landlord. Be realistic about what you can and can't do. Be flexible where you can be and hold the line when you just can't. Try to get everything you can from her then type it all up and have her sign a copy of it. The realtor should work in your favor also. They know that the more agreeable a tenant is in keeping the house neat and clean and letting people in to see it the more likely the house is going to go under contract. In selling a house with a tenant in it it is very helpful if the tenant is working for the sale (which only happens if they get something out of it). Try to have what you want to negotiate before your landlord comes with the realtor. Present it as a partnership and let her know how much you hate losing the home, but if you must than you will help her. Good luck, let us know how it turns out. Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 This is the time that houses/apartments go on the market. That said, if you have a lease, it surely is for a set period of time - a year perhaps? Then they can't break your lease without some penalty. Or is it a month-to-month? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 In many states, the lease in enforceable and the new owner has to abide by it. I would definitely find out your rights before you do anything else. Then decide how you want to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I wish you could come and live in one of our rental houses. We have one good family that we hear is looking for something to buy, and the other house has renters that pay late and lie about keeping dogs in the house. I don't think either one is big enough for nine though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 We could use another reformed family around here too, btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 I wish you could come and live in one of our rental houses. We have one good family that we hear is looking for something to buy, and the other house has renters that pay late and lie about keeping dogs in the house. I don't think either one is big enough for nine though. Oh goodness, I wish and if I didn't love the east coast so much. We could use another reformed family around here too, btw. uhm, would you forgive me if I told you that we converted to Eastern Orthodox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 What is it with Reformers and EO??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 (edited) Sorry your landlord is doing this. You really have two ways to deal with this. You can learn your state laws and read your lease carefully to find out what your rights are. In FL we have to give a renter 24 hour notice before entering the property (each and every time) and you don't need to do anything to make the place look better. You could leave laundry out and have the place looking like a pit. You can be there and have your children in the way of the people showing the house. If you go that route then you should plan on your landlord not renewing your lease and look for other housing when your rental agreement is over. Your other choice is to work with her and be as flexible as possible. You can let your landlord know that you'll keep the house presentable and try your best to help her sell it. You can ask her to put on the listing that the home can only be shown on the weekend, or after a certain hour. You can have them put that the tenant must be called at least xxx amount of time before hand. If you don't have those in the listing you may have people knocking on the door to see it. If you have valuables in the house you can ask her to lease you a small storage space near by for you to keep some of your stuff in (you could also have her get a big enough one for you to de-clutter a bit so the house looks nice). You can ask her to put in the sales agreement a 60 day possession and ask her to let you stay in the house those 60 days rent free so you have time to find a new home. You could also ask her for a rent decrease while it is for sale. You could also ask for a lawn service so that you can concentrate on keeping the inside of the house clean and neat while the service takes care of the outside. I am a landlord and would bend over backwards to have a tenant work with me in selling a property. I would certainly agree to a lot. I probably wouldn't agree for a decrease in the monthly rent, but I would agree to a couple of free months after I had a contract. Sit down and really think how you can help to sell the house and what that's going to be worth to your landlord. Be realistic about what you can and can't do. Be flexible where you can be and hold the line when you just can't. Try to get everything you can from her then type it all up and have her sign a copy of it. The realtor should work in your favor also. They know that the more agreeable a tenant is in keeping the house neat and clean and letting people in to see it the more likely the house is going to go under contract. In selling a house with a tenant in it it is very helpful if the tenant is working for the sale (which only happens if they get something out of it). Try to have what you want to negotiate before your landlord comes with the realtor. Present it as a partnership and let her know how much you hate losing the home, but if you must than you will help her. Good luck, let us know how it turns out. Melissa Yeah, we've been through this before. My deal is to give me a couple of days notice, we WILL be here for any and all showings, and I don't ask for release of rent or any of that. It's just a nuisance. I'm a bit obsessive about how my house looks for company, so it's a bit disruptive when I have to be "on call" for showings. The realtors I've known have mostly been good people and work with both where they can. This one HAS to work directly with us as the landlady doesn't speak English, so he's the translator as well. Edited March 17, 2010 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 (edited) What is it with Reformers and EO??? Reformers encourage their congregations to read the Church Fathers and consider history? LOL! Some of the early reformers tried communicating with the eastern church, but due to lingual, political, and cultural issues was a failure at that time. Hubby was leaning this way for a couple of years and I wasn't letting him convert without me :tongue_smilie: Edited March 17, 2010 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 That would drive me crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Yeah, we've been through this before. My deal is to give me a couple of days notice, we WILL be here for any and all showings, and I don't ask for release of rent or any of that. It's just a nuisance. I'm a bit obsessive about how my house looks for company, so it's a bit disruptive when I have to be "on call" for showings. The realtors I've known have mostly been good people and work with both where they can. This one HAS to work directly with us as the landlady doesn't speak English, so he's the translator as well. Do you not have first right of refusal? I don't know if it's NM law or just in our lease, but if our owners decide to sell, I get first bid to buy. If I pass or we cannot come to an agreement, they have to wait till my lease is up and give me 30 days to vacate. They might allow me to stay, but I would have to sign a new month to month lease that says I am responsible for showing the house etc etc, and if it sells, I have to be out according to what the buyer wants. Personally, we had already decided if that happens, we'll move. But, I just talked them into letting us sign an 18 month lease in August!:hurray: Here's praying we can afford to buy in 2012! Sorry you're having to show! Blessings! Dorinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Ugh, I feel your pain. I've lived in a couple different houses that the landlord decided to put up for sale- I'm in one right now, as a matter of fact- and it's a huge hassle. And what's worse, with the places I've lived in, the landlords never seem to be able to give even 24 hours notice. They always just show up at my door, saying, "I've got someone coming to look at the house in ten minutes. It had better be clean." The first time it happened here, my daughter was still a newborn, and she was asleep in my bedroom. And of course, the potential buyers just had to go tromping around the bedroom, and they'd brought their kids to look too, so I had a family of five wandering around my place, yelling to each other across the house about the different features. AAARRRGGGHHHH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 Do you not have first right of refusal? I don't know if it's NM law or just in our lease, but if our owners decide to sell, I get first bid to buy. If I pass or we cannot come to an agreement, they have to wait till my lease is up and give me 30 days to vacate. They might allow me to stay, but I would have to sign a new month to month lease that says I am responsible for showing the house etc etc, and if it sells, I have to be out according to what the buyer wants. Personally, we had already decided if that happens, we'll move. But, I just talked them into letting us sign an 18 month lease in August!:hurray: Here's praying we can afford to buy in 2012! Sorry you're having to show! Blessings! Dorinda I don't know what the laws are here, but I will be speaking with the realtor about a 48 notice before each showing. He will have to explain/translate to the landlady about our family life (we leased through her manager). I will refuse entry regardless otherwise. I did last week and they were understanding (in fact, he wasn't happy when he showed up and found out that she had not given me notice...I don't think he realised at the time that there would be a lingual issue as we are one of the few ppl on this block on that doesn't speak any dialect of Spanish...hubby does, but doesn't let many ppl know that). Our lease is up at the end of next month. Thing is, I don't want to move again, not yet. We aren't sure if we want to buy THIS house. And we don't know what future landlords will do. So we are up in the air right now and I have to have my records, portfolios, testing, and evaluations done and turned in by June 30th. NOT happy. And what about hubby's sleep time? He works nights and sleeps ALL DAY; I can't predict which hours he will be awake. So I'm going to see if they will forgo viewing our room (it's nothing special to look at anyhow...it's the ugliest room in the house; the kids got all the cute rooms ;) ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I do feel your pain. That happened to us once and it was horrible. I didn't even have kids yet and hated it. Definately find out your rights. In our state, we also have the 24 hour notice minimum. The lease must be respected as written if the property is sold. When this happened to us, the landlord gave us a 25% discount on each months rent for as long as it was on the market, and then, she gave us the option of moving out early when it sold with no penalties. Unfortunately for us it sold the first day, and I came home after out patient surgery one day to the buying couple and 20 of their closet friends doing an inspection because the realtor never gave us notice. When I called the landlord to compalin, she apologized and then gave us back a month's rent for the inconvenience. We also then stayed anoter 2 months because we were living in a market wehre rentals were hard to find and we simply could not find another place to live until the schoools let out for summer and families began moving. You will need to make certain that if the house is a MLS listing the realtor adds notes saying the property is rented until the date your lease is up, and that an appt is required. That way no realtor from other comapnies will just appear at the door. You can request that politely when the realtor comes by for the initial inspection. And, yes, be very charming if you can. The realtor may become your next link to another great place you can buy or rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 Well, the realtor came without the landlady. He was very nice and we were very friendly (just our way, no matter how aggravated I get, I can't be mean in person). He's going to let us know the price before he even lists it anywhere and if we are interested will then list it as a sale pending. He said that if someone else buys it and wants to move in, we have every right to expect 2mos notice before we have to be out. He told us what the landlady was looking at selling for vs what he's trying to get her to sell for. Basically, she will never get what she wants for it here, especially in this neighbourhood and in this market. His price was still a little high, but understandable due to two things that he pointed out to us (one of which could be very beneficial to us and a friend if we choose that option). He said that he would give 24hr notice and make sure other realtors are aware that appts must be made before showing. At least I have that. And this forced me to spring clean and declutter, so it was a good thing and will be easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Well, the realtor came without the landlady. He was very nice and we were very friendly (just our way, no matter how aggravated I get, I can't be mean in person). He's going to let us know the price before he even lists it anywhere and if we are interested will then list it as a sale pending. He said that if someone else buys it and wants to move in, we have every right to expect 2mos notice before we have to be out. He told us what the landlady was looking at selling for vs what he's trying to get her to sell for. Basically, she will never get what she wants for it here, especially in this neighbourhood and in this market. His price was still a little high, but understandable due to two things that he pointed out to us (one of which could be very beneficial to us and a friend if we choose that option). He said that he would give 24hr notice and make sure other realtors are aware that appts must be made before showing. At least I have that. And this forced me to spring clean and declutter, so it was a good thing and will be easier. I'm glad you got it worked out. We're going to be in the same boat in 2 years. I am going to save, save, save. I imagine there's going to be a fire sale on rentals in the next two years, and I don't want to be stuck in an apartment. It's crazy! I remember 10 years ago we couldn't find a 2 bedroom house for under $1000! Now, there's one on every corner. . .but not for long! Blessings! Dorinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 I sympathise - we have had 3 real estate agents traipse through the house this past week. The rental agent tells us the owners are just "updating their portfolio" but I'm starting to declutter this weekend, as I assume it will be put on the market soon. Making the appointments really early helps - I can get up early and tidy the house, and the kids haven't had time to mess it up before the agent arrives, plus I don't have to dread it all day. We have the homeschool moderator coming to see us on Monday, and I am pretty sure we are due for another rental inspection (every 3 months here in Australia), so it is feeling more like a hotel lobby than a home right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 I sympathise - we have had 3 real estate agents traipse through the house this past week. The rental agent tells us the owners are just "updating their portfolio" but I'm starting to declutter this weekend, as I assume it will be put on the market soon. Making the appointments really early helps - I can get up early and tidy the house, and the kids haven't had time to mess it up before the agent arrives, plus I don't have to dread it all day. We have the homeschool moderator coming to see us on Monday, and I am pretty sure we are due for another rental inspection (every 3 months here in Australia), so it is feeling more like a hotel lobby than a home right now! We were supposed to have home inspection every 6mos here, but they've fallen down on that. Oh well. I've spring cleaned and decluttered :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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