Things that put you off from buying a house?

[announced]

I have a friend of a friend who needs some suggestions. His landlord wants to sell the house that he currently rents in. The problem is my friend has bought some very nice equipment for his business and if he has to move his equipment it would cost around $70,000. My friend doesn't want to move, but he doesn't know what to do in order to delay the sale of the house. The interested buyers might be coming by in a few days to have a look at the place, and my friend was wondering if anyone has any advice on what has turned you off from buying a house?

Just for some background info he lives in BC, Canada

So does anyone have any thoughts on what stopped them from buying a house? or any things that might have happened that would cause them to change their mind?

[Deleted]

So your friend basically wants to ruin a (potential) deal for the landlord, just so that he can stay better?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

How can it cost 70 grand to move some equipment?

As a tenant, there is fuck all he can do to delay the sale, unless there are terms in the rental contract (in the UK and Germany there would be, don't know about the US) detailing what happens if the property is sold (for example that the landlord has to give notice in advance).

[Tychus]

i've heard that it could be lawsuit-worthy if a tenant intentionally sandbags potential sales of property through dishonest means (ie not simply presenting an opinion), though it's probably hard to prove and win such a case (and i could be wrong, of course).

maybe next time he won't invest so heavily into housing property he doesn't own.

[the game]

Maybe he should rent an office instead of putting all that equipment in his apartment.

[Celista]

Instead of being an ass, maybe he should try to work out a deal with his landlord himself? Rent to own isn't very common anymore but isn't unheard of, if he doesn't want to go through a bank. Would probably have to cover attorney's fees for the contract writing.

There isn't (usually) anything inherently illegal in telling prospective buyers all the things that are wrong with a property (if true), making a bunch of stuff up to dissuade a sale is not a good idea. For one, it's typically illegal; two, depending on the nature of the rental agreement it can be in breach of contract; three, it ruins your rental history.

Bottom line is that no matter what your friend might tell a prospective buyer, most things can be checked up on before sale. So he's just delaying the inevitable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortious_interference

[TrumpIsPresident]

He could buy a bunch of "Vote Hillary" and "Vote Trump" yard signs and get all the neighbors to put them up.

He could get a POC to pretend to be a roommate and then threaten to sue the landlord over discrimination.

He could go all section 8 on the property because who wants to invest another $50k to clean up a house they just bought.

[Asiwassaying]

If he has enough "equipment" that it costs 70k just to move, he should probably have gotten his own house or office space.

Personally, lack of money is why I don't have a house, but that is besides the point. Tell your friend to look for a new place and don't get himself sued. Anything he can do to turn off potential buyers will open him up to get all his shit taken by the landlord after a court case.

[Deleted]

He could go all section 8 on the property because who wants to invest another $50k to clean up a house they just bought.

I can't believe that anyone would even jokingly suggest doing that.
You'd have to be a really disgusting person to even consider doing something of the like. If you rent a house/apartment, you have to expect having to move out again later on - simple as that.

[Independent voter]

Sounds like something you could get sued over.

[Celista]

It's hard to sue someone for interfering with the sale of a property. Usually it's very difficult to prove, unless the tenant was stupid enough to put a bunch of stuff in writing, and then you'd have to have the prospective buyer actually disclose the fact that the tenant said something to them, which isn't likely to happen if they feel like they narrowly avoided purchasing a lemon.

Intentionally destroying the property/lowering its value would indeed likely lead to a lawsuit, however.

[Piglord]

Make the house look haunted by gay vampires.

[Ayla]

You can't be evicted just because they want to sell. Once the house is sold you needo to be given proper notice that the new owners are moving in, or a member of their direct family. In other words, since I assume he pays rent on the first, the soonest he'd have to be out is the end of November. Since it's so close to the end of the month, odds are he will have until the end of December.

[Kapadons]

Get some black people to act they live next door(if they don't already). Nothing will turn would-be home buyers away faster.

[Selastan]

[TrumpIsPresident]

I can't believe that anyone would even jokingly suggest doing that.
You'd have to be a really disgusting person to even consider doing something of the like.

Worlds filled with vermin.
Everyone here knows I'd get rid of them.
Problem is their ways are the new world order.
S8 standard is to trash destroy and then cry racist when they get booted.
If thats going to be the new standard then the only option is to find a way to turn it to an advantage.

[analmoose]

He's growin dope huh?

[Deleted]

Problem is their ways are the new world order.

Speaking as a landlady myself: I wouldn't go as far, most people still seem to have some basic decency when it comes to such things.
That said: Risks like those are the reason why less and less people are actually renting out their spare apartments to others nowadays, when it is much easier/safe to just leave them empty - unless you really need the rent.

[Ayla]

Speaking as a landlady myself: I wouldn't go as far, most people still seem to have some basic decency when it comes to such things.
That said: Risks like those are the reason why less and less people are actually renting out their spare apartments to others nowadays, when it is much easier/safe to just leave them empty - unless you really need the rent.

This is a very bad problem in Vancouver. It's a place where you can be asked to pay $1400 in rent, while demanding your tenant not cook much and work 12+ hours a day. No pets, no friends while enjoying the sound of a 3year old running around. No laundry or parking, because 0.6% vacancy.

[I Push Buttons]

You can't be evicted just because they want to sell. Once the house is sold you needo to be given proper notice that the new owners are moving in, or a member of their direct family. In other words, since I assume he pays rent on the first, the soonest he'd have to be out is the end of November. Since it's so close to the end of the month, odds are he will have until the end of December.

He's not being forced out right now, he's saying he never wants to be forced out because it will cost him $70,000 to move his stuff.

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On topic I am pretty sure the landlord can sue your friend for damages if he does something like that. I think sabotage is even against the law in a lot of places, so he could potentially face criminal charges for doing it as well depending on where you live.