Los Gatos, CA · Member since 2017 · 131 posts · 17 votes
This is a long shot but thought I would ask anyway. I just bought a leasehold property in Hawaii. Only 13 years left on the lease. The monthly lease payments are huge. The cost to buy the lease is huge. Does anyone here have any insights to how or if it’s even possible to negotiate the lease buyout down?
Los Gatos, CA · Member since 2017 · 131 posts · 17 votes
5y
Asking about how to purchase the fee and if there is any possible way to negotiate the price down. The asking price was more than the property is worth last time they offered the previous owner. No one wanted to buy this property because the lease payment is so high. The previous owners practically had to give the property away. Seems odd that they can devalue a property by asking so much.
I'm not an expert in this, but I think you would need to try and negotiate with the 'Fee' owner what the price of purchasing the fee would be - like a normal transaction. I didn't quite get the second part of your question; however, I assume you were talking about the previous lessee, who held the lease prior to yourself, and 'giving away the property' at a discount (my assumption).
I do know that as the Lease gets closer to its expiration, then the value of it (the lease) drops significantly. This is highly probable especially when the lease terms do not explicitly address renegotiating terms, lease extensions, and fee purchase. So, a long story short, it might not turn out well for the lease-holder when the lease terminates.