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IStock / City Presse
Do you want to get rid of your rental investment to buy your main residence or invest your money elsewhere?
Here's how to do it.
The tenant lowers the prices
It is quite possible to sell an occupied property without the tenant having a say or even being informed of this transaction.
As long as you do not give him leave, he has no priority over the purchase of this accommodation and continues his lease normally.
In order to facilitate the transfer, the rental contract may also require him to let the lessor visit the property with the candidate for acquisition, within the limit of two hours maximum during working days.
While there is no particular difficulty here, the real downside lies in fixing the price.
And for good reason, since a house or an apartment sold while it is occupied suffers a discount depending on the duration of the lease remaining to run, the amount of the rent, the type of property and the age of the tenant.
The longer the buyer will have to wait to be able to take possession of the premises, the more the selling price will fall.
At the top of the list of the worst cases, we can cite the presence of an occupant over 65 years of age with low incomes, since the law then imposes to rehouse him, as well as the dwellings governed by the law of 1948 which show a discount ranging from 40 to 50%.
Conversely, a furnished studio does not lose its value since, as the lease is only for one year, the new owner will not have to wait long to recover the property if he wishes.
In general, the discount never exceeds 10% for small surfaces, which are of particular interest to rental investors.
The formalism of empty sales
To sell at the best price, many lessors prefer to leave their tenant.
But we must not miss the boat.
You must send this notification to your occupant at least six months before the end of the lease, otherwise the contract will be automatically renewed for the same period, namely three years for an empty rental.
In addition, your tenant has a right of first refusal here, in other words a priority to buy his home.
Therefore, the letter of leave for sale must specify the price of the property and describe what the transfer includes (housing and annexes).
An information notice on the lessor's obligations and the lessee's remedies has been added since January 1, 2018.
The occupant has two months to purchase.
On the other hand, if he refuses this purchase option, the sale continues normally and he will have to vacate the premises at the end of the lease.
But be careful: if the lessor comes to lower the sale price, the tenant regains his right of first refusal for one month, even if he has already left.
Better that the sale be successful, otherwise the former occupant could sue the owner for fraudulent leave.
It will then be up to the latter to prove that he still tried to sell his property before re-renting it to another.
Note that in the case of a furnished property, the notice of leave for sale is only three months and the tenant does not have a right of first refusal.
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Transmission of the lease
With a reduced purchase price, a rented sold accommodation is a godsend if one is in no hurry to enter the premises.
However, this rental transfer implies adjustments:
The security deposit: paid by the tenant when signing the lease, it must be returned to him on his departure by the new lessor if the property has changed hands during the rental.
The purchaser must therefore claim it from the seller during the transfer.
The joint surety: if a surety guarantees the payment of the rent, it is transmitted with the lease, unless the contract specifies that it is only valid for the owner on the date of signature of the contract.
In all cases, the new lessor cannot demand any other guarantee since the rental continues under the same conditions.
Immovable
Legislation
Sale
Rental