[bepperoo]

Hi All,

We have signed a four year lease on a house here in North Las Vegas. Our landlord informed us that he is going to put the house on the market and offered it to us first. By the way, we are both active duty military. Anyway, we expect to get transferred either summer of 2011 or summer of 2012 so we really do not want to buy the house. It is a nice house but not our dream house and we don't expect that we would be stationed again here anytime soon.

So here is my question.

1. When he puts the house on the market are the new buyers bound to our lease or does it now become null and void?


I'm thinking that we need to be proactive and rent month to month and find another house to live for the remainder of time we have here in Las Vegas. I do not want to be stuck having no place to live and a week to move.

Any thoughts? I thank you in advance

[jjameson922]

I would suggest that your lease should make some reference to this and if not, it should be discussed with your landlord immediately. Do you realize that sales showings will be scheduled on this house you currently live in? My experience has always been that landlords discuss all this with their tenants beforehand, offer them a month to month at a lower monthly price because of the inconvenience of having a lockbox on their door and buyers coming through at any time. I'm sure your landlord is also expecting you to keep the house in showing condition at all times. It will be interesting to see if he has listed the house stating it is currently rental property and current tenants are under lease for 4 more years for the sum of ____ every month.

[delgadobb]

Originally Posted by bepperoo

So here is my question.

1. When he puts the house on the market are the new buyers bound to our lease or does it now become null and void?

A lease is a legal contract. Unless there's something unique about the laws here I don't know, the new owner has to honor your contract (lease). The new owner may be fine with you as tenants, or may want to take possession him/herself; if that's the case, you can negotiate a 'buy-out' of the lease. Olecapt or one of the real estate gurus here may be able to shed more light.

Now, even though you have a legal contract you'll still have to put up with the headaches of the house being on the market. They may want to schedule the occasional open house & realtors will certainly be trying to schedule showings on short notice. If you can put up with this, then stay.

Keep in mind the lease/contract works both ways. You say you signed a four-year lease, if you get transferred in (say) 2011, then you need to negotiate a buyout or sublet arrangement or something. As a small-time landlord myself, I'd suggest having a conversation with the landlord about expectations during this process both from your end & his end. I know I'd appreciate it & it may save lots of future confusion.

You may want to try to negotiate flexibility in the lease because of the headaches on your end involved with listing/showing the house. Try to understand what your landlord needs & give a little of that in exchange for the things you want/need. His biggest concern might be having the process goes smoothly without you creating headaches for him; tell him you're open to being as flexible as possible (only if you really are) provided he gives you X (which might be more flexible lease terms, reduced rent, or whatever you think might work).

Good luck & let us know how it goes!

[airics]

the landlord has the right to show and sell the house.. you are bound to the lease to the new owners of the house.. your lease stands for the 4yrs so there is no negotiation .

[bepperoo]

thank you for your words of wisdom. Our landlord is an extremely nice and upfront guy and has told us that he intends to keep us in the house whatever we decide but I wasn't sure if a new owner could "kick us out". I agree that being on beck and call of the realtors is going to be an enormous pain. Friends of ours actually had a realtor with potential buyers come into their home while he was getting out of the shower! I am confident that our landlord will be as accommodating as possible but I wasn't able to speak to the legal office so I wasn't sure of our legal rights.

Thanks

[airics]

you may not have much to worry about... if it is a "cheaper" house, investors will swarm and drool over it.. lots of offers since they already have a tenant.. however if it is a more expensive house 200k+, a lot of people wont touch it since they would have to honor the lease and you would then be able to stay.. maybe you can get the landlord to rework the lease....to a 1 year...

[007 license to sell]

Did you tell your landlord that you want notice before an agent shows the home? YOu can do that, you can stipulate to have realtors to call you and set an appointment before they show.

[airics]

i believe it's 24hr notice

[bepperoo]

Originally Posted by airics

i believe it's 24hr notice

I will do that! I don't want anyone just barging in

[Trash Can]

Originally Posted by delgadobb

Keep in mind the lease/contract works both ways. You say you signed a four-year lease, if you get transferred in (say) 2011, then you need to negotiate a buyout or sublet arrangement or something.

He might be able to use his military orders as a "get out of jail free card." This was common many years ago in areas with large military communities. Not sure how things work now.