Evening all,

The situation I’ve got is that I want to buy the house that I’m currently renting and I’m in direct communication with the landlord, rather than through an agent.

I’ve been here for six years and the landlord initially said in conversation a long time ago that he would never, ever sell the house to anyone but since then, he’s been through a messy divorce and has to either re-mortgage or sell the house by the end of this year and has asked my intentions, buy this property or buy one elsewhere – he knows I’m keen on owning my own home.

The problem is, the figure he wants is unrealistically high compared to the others recently sold in the street, plus, it needs a hell of a lot of work done to it.

I have a strong suspicion that he’s either in the shit financially, or is about to be. Reason for this is the divorce, plus he owns a business that is known to be failing big time.

He’s a genuinely nice guy and I can’t tell if he’s naïve or greedy.

I do want to buy the house as I think it’s got a lot of potential and am thinking of putting an offer in about 10% lower than the asking price.

As I said, he knows I want to buy my own home, I’ve been very cool and cagey when he’s asked me over the years if enjoy living here/like the place etc. and have always given neutral answers.

I’m getting a home buyers report soon which comes with a valuation and I expect it to be valued at much, much lower than he thinks it’s worth.

My question is: How should I best approach the situation after I receive the home buyer’s report, bearing it in mind that I think they'll be in shock/disbelief with what the report says.

Thanks all!