Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We were considering a house that is tenant-occupied, but the seller's agent (actually the broker) would not give our agent a copy of the lease. Without that, it is not worth our time to drive up to look at the house (3 hours).
Earlier, I had emailed the selling agent with questions about the house and received prompt and complete answers. (They did not know I had an agent). But they are not cooperating with our agent.
It could mean the people residing in the house are abusing the system and getting a free ride. I went to view a townhouse with my agent earlier this year in which was tenant occupied. They wouldn't let us in. We knew they were in there. Their cars were parked right out front. The people inside hid and kept the doors closed even for a scheduled appointment. The agent handling the listing didn't seem to care either. Just a month or two ago the same property showed up as an REO so the people there must have been booted out. The selling agent is probably more willing to work with you directly because they'll take both halves of the commission.
We were considering a house that is tenant-occupied, but the seller's agent (actually the broker) would not give our agent a copy of the lease. Without that, it is not worth our time to drive up to look at the house (3 hours).
Earlier, I had emailed the selling agent with questions about the house and received prompt and complete answers. (They did not know I had an agent). But they are not cooperating with our agent.
Why would this be?
Out here leases and such are given after an accepted offer and not before. Maybe they do it that way there too?
Out here leases and such are given after an accepted offer and not before. Maybe they do it that way there too?
Doesn't a buyer need to know how long the current lease is valid? I would think that would affect the value and therefore factor in to the purchase price. To a lesser extent, the terms would be needed to know the value as well. As an example, what if there is a 2 year lease at $100/month that was just signed. I sure would want to know that before I made an offer.
The lease should be available for review during the inspection period. To get to that point you would need to be incontract (a formal offer has been excepted).
At this point you are in the "looking" stage only. Neither the agent nor the seller should be handing out copies of the lease. The tenant has a right to expect his privacy to be protected. That said the agent should be able to tell your agent (verbally) the basics - the amount of the monthly rent, the term of the lease (how long the lease will be inforce). But at this stage, that's about it.
In our MLS it's common to find this information is in the listing, displayed in the MLS and is available to all selling agents.
The lease should be available for review during the inspection period. To get to that point you would need to be incontract (a formal offer has been excepted).
At this point you are in the "looking" stage only. Neither the agent nor the seller should be handing out copies of the lease. The tenant has a right to expect his privacy to be protected. That said the agent should be able to tell your agent (verbally) the basics - the amount of the monthly rent, the term of the lease (how long the lease will be inforce). But at this stage, that's about it.
In our MLS it's common to find this information is in the listing, displayed in the MLS and is available to all selling agents.
Thanks for clearing that up. If I were told the basics and made an offer based on that, I would be OK with it. I understand the privacy issues and would have no interest in any personal data when making an offer, just the terms..
We were considering a house that is tenant-occupied, but the seller's agent (actually the broker) would not give our agent a copy of the lease. Without that, it is not worth our time to drive up to look at the house (3 hours).
Earlier, I had emailed the selling agent with questions about the house and received prompt and complete answers. (They did not know I had an agent). But they are not cooperating with our agent.
Why would this be?
Why are you wanting a copy of the lease? If you are wanting to know how much the house rents for, and what the rental occpuancy has been, then you would ask for the books or at the very least the income tax return for the property. The lease contains confidential information about the lessee. It may show his social security number or other personal information. The Lessor may not feel comfortable divulging this information. You need to figure out what you want to know and have your realtor ask for the correct information in a professional way and accepted way.
The lease should be available for review during the inspection period. To get to that point you would need to be incontract (a formal offer has been excepted).
At this point you are in the "looking" stage only. Neither the agent nor the seller should be handing out copies of the lease. The tenant has a right to expect his privacy to be protected. That said the agent should be able to tell your agent (verbally) the basics - the amount of the monthly rent, the term of the lease (how long the lease will be inforce). But at this stage, that's about it.
In our MLS it's common to find this information is in the listing, displayed in the MLS and is available to all selling agents.
This is how we do it as well. We prepare an APOD that has all that information in order to evaluate the property on a preliminary basis. Then we give the stuff that has confidential information over after an accepted offer.
Thanks, everyone. We do know the length of the lease and what the rent is, but our agent expected to be able to show us the lease. We considered a different tenant-occupied house several weeks ago, and we were given a copy of the lease.
Our agent may be mistaken about what is expected, or else it is different in other areas.
Do some leases have a social security number? Why?
Yes, if I were the tenant, and a copy of my lease was being given out to everyone who asked for it, without my permission, I would have a serious problem with that.
You should make any offers contingent on approval of any current lease terms, same as you would be contingent on financing or inspection, and review the lease after getting an accepted contract.
And yes, the lease we use does have all tenant's social security numbers on the information page, but that could easily be omitted from what was provided.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
