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Hello! I haven't been around for a while, busy with school and work, but I am in a new situation and could really use some advice please.
My husband and I live in a carriage house apartment above the garage of our landlord's home. We've lived here for a little over a year and a half and have about 9 months left on our current lease (we renewed a few months ago). We recently found out that our landlord's wife is being relocated out of state, so they are putting the house on the market. I am sad to lose our landlord who we really like, but moreso I am really nervous about this new situation. I would never intentionally rent a place if I knew was going to be for sale, and I feel like I can think of about a million things that could very badly for us, both during and after the sale of the home. I know that our lease becomes grandfathered into the sale of the home but I am still afraid of:
-Totally disruptive showings. Both my husband and I are graduate students, have internships, and work (I have two jobs), so we're not really around much during the day. On the other hand, that makes our weekends kind of sacred (and the time when I catch up on sleep), and I know weekends are important times for showings. I am also kind of nervous about people being there when we're not. I think I could handle it if I knew any viewings would be supervised by a realtor, but I had a friend who lived in a home that was for sale who often had buyers drop in unannounced and unaccompanied who were given the key or the code to the lock box. This seems really not cool to me. (Our key is different than the house key. I'm planning on finding out how access will work as soon as that info is available!)
-That whoever buys that house won't want us there. Sure, our lease stays, but our lease also states the landlord can give 30 days notice and ask us to leave. We're busy and we're picky renters. I could do 60 days, but 30 days is pushing it to find and move into something else. More than that, I am worried the person who buys the house won't have any knowledge of rental laws and will want us gone NOW. Just because the law is on my side doesn't mean they can't make my life hell.
-I'm just generally nervous about having a landlord that I didn't get to vet. Even if they're happy to have tenants, what if they're nuts? Or total flakes? I am a little terrified that I have no control over who will have the keys to my property. They also didn't see the property when we starting renting, and I'm worried they'll try to charge us for the "wear and tear" of things they shouldn't when we move out. I always fill out a pretty darn extensive initial walk-through, and I took a thorough set of pictures, but this still worries me. I don't want to end up with someone who has dollar signs in their eyes and sees us as a way to finance some updates to the place. I don't want my information to be given to some ******* collection agency over bogus charges (I've already had to deal with this once in my life), and I don't want to deal with the inconvenience of court.
Some information about the property itself for context: We live an a historic neighborhood close to downtown. The property we live on is newer, and I would guess worth $400,000 to 500,000, which is less than our immediate neighbors, homes are worth, two of which are $1,000,000+ historical homes (plaques and all). That said, it is an urban environment in a city that used to be considered "scary" and still has absolutely abysmal schools, so the inhabitants of our neighborhood are mostly the well-to-do childless and young people renting houses that have been split into condos or carriage house units (which are common). The pay a premium in rent for location and quality.
We are considering trying to negotiate out of our lease, but I'm not sure how amenable our landlord will be because the existence of well-established tenants in the rental unit will be considered a pretty major plus for the listing (instant income!). The other caveat to moving (other than that it would be a considerable headache with our schedules) is that we graduate in May, and will then likely move out of the area, so I don't really want to sign a new year lease right now (if I can help it), which greatly cuts down the the quality of what is available to us. Plus I like where we live now. It is quiet, private, and close to work and school, which is important when you are as busy as we are.
I know my landlord/tenant law well, and I am tying to talk my husband into speaking to a lawyer about the situation. I am simply asking: what would you, experienced landlords and tenants, do in our situation? Would you stay or try to go? Do you think I am being overly paranoid (or not paranoid enough)? Thank you for any advice you can give me.
I think you may be over-reacting a bit, but there's no reason not to chat with the current owner and the listing agent about your concerns. I would expect that having tenants in a guest house would be a happy bonus for the new owner, based on your description of the property - it doesn't sound like a classic multi-family, so you could get a novice landlord - that isn't always bad.
As for showing your part of the property, in my area the MLS has a field for "tenants rights" - and it's both normal and accepted for a tenant to be called at least 24 hours in advance of a showing. Our lockboxes can be programmed to require a separate code for entry (which a real-estate agent might have to get from you), or even blocking out access entirely on certain days and times. For some investment properties, no showings are allowed without a signed offer. In the situation you've described, your part of the property probably isn't expected to be "dazzling" - just functional, clean & in good repair - a potential buyer is unlikely to care much about finishes or colors - so they could probably make a decision based on viewing the main house, and make an offer contingent upon a walk-through of the guest house.
It's less hassle for everyone except you if the unit is vacant, so you might not have much trouble breaking the lease if that's what you really want to do.
Under no circumstances would I allow showings "willy nilly", or without an agent present- the law in every state requires at least some notice of a showing & it's only reasonable for the agent to show up & supervise a showing of a tenanted property. In my area, giving out your "e-key" will get an agent fined and blocked from using the service.
I recently sold some commercial property that was rented so here is what I did. My tenants were on a month-to-month lease and the leases they originally signed clearly said that I had the right to sell the property at the end of any month's lease. Also, each of my tenants were clearly told prior to their leasing the property that I planned to sell the property. My ability to get any renters in such conditions was only based on the fact that the property was in a very small town where real estate sales move at a snail's pace.
Just before I sold the property, I got a new renter who wanted to do some renovations for me in exchange for several months of free rent. Not knowing about the buyer then, I agreed to the needed work. Then came a buyer so, when I was negotiating the sale, I required that the buyer agree to abide by my agreement with the tenant. The buyer and I locked our agreement in the wording of the final sale contract. Eventually, the buyer only lost a month of rent but gained some great renovations.
In talking to the tenants months later, I learned that the buyer did keep my agreement with him. However, the new owner had very quickly raised the rents on everyone. I had at the time of the sale two different tenants. All tenants vacated the new owner.
"-That whoever buys that house won't want us there. Sure, our lease stays, but our lease also states the landlord can give 30 days notice and ask us to leave. We're busy and we're picky renters. I could do 60 days, but 30 days is pushing it to find and move into something else."
How can you have a term lease which contains a clause which says the LL can give you 30 days notice to leave? That makes no sense.
As far as the rest goes, I too think you're overreacting a bit. The showings I'm sure can easily be sorted out to everyone's satisfaction; the property may not even sell for a long time, maybe not even by the time your current lease is up; and, if it does, the new owners could just as well be absolutely wonderful people rather than the "nuts" and "total flakes" you're worrying about.
How can you have a term lease which contains a clause which says the LL can give you 30 days notice to leave? That makes no sense.
Actually, looking, it isn't stated in our newer version of the lease; however, it had been in every previous lease I have had in this state, and could technically still apply. As much as it does not make sense, it comes from an ambiguity in the state's rental law (that property managers appear to be seizing upon) that could be interpreted to imply a landlord can make any change to a lease agreement as long as a tenant is given 30 days notice. (In and of itself it contracts the clause that states changes must but agreed upon by the landlord and the tenant, but is supported by yet and additional clause elsewhere that states a tenant must comply with amendments to the lease made by the landlord.) Unless it is some sort of special circumstance, the only exception to the rule stated is evictions, which must be made with cause. On the other hand, an eviction is technically different saying "I amended your lease and now it ends earlier." There are other things that law specifically states cannot be changed elsewhere, but the term of the lease is not specifically addressed unless the term of the lease is exactly 12 months, which ours is not. While I am sure that wasn't the intent of the law, Indiana courts have a history of ruling for the business interest in landlord/tenant disputes, even with fairly flimsy evidence, so the legal precedence is kind of messed up. Unless I wanted to pay for my rent in crops. That is actually fairly clear. (So this is why I kind of want to talk to a lawyer.)
I very much appreciate the information people have posted. I am fully aware that the situation could turn out fine, but I'm kind of nervous about it because I have no control over the situation. I know things could go wrong, but it seems impossible to gauge how likely that scenario is. In that way, it seems there is no easy "right" answer, so just getting peoples' opinions is helpful. Also, Zippyman in the "e-key" situation, it sounds like that is something I could technically complain about? That is good to know. We are going to sit down with the landlord in a few days (I think the place goes on the market Monday?) to talk about expectations and whatnot, and I am trying to get all my thoughts together and make sure I am covering all my bases.
The 30 day notice only applies AFTER your 9 month lease is over. The landlord cannot ask you to move until the lease is over unless they evict you for non-payment of rent or similar.
Once the 9 months is over, the new landlord might give you notice to move or might let the lease roll-over into month-to-month or they might want you to sign a new lease at that time.
check your state law about landlord's notice to enter. Many states have different rules such as "reasonable notice" being 24 hours prior to each showing. They just have to inform you...they don't need your approval in most states.
Many states have standard hours when landlord can enter/have realtors show...such as 8Am-7PM. Some states allow weekends and others don't.
Keep in mind if you agree to them showing without notice, then you choose to do this but you can stand your ground and require notice of each showing and only within alloted timeframes if you know your state law.
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