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Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

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Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Property/DIY

on completion date, have you moved in without completing?

27 replies

poocatcherchampion · 27/06/2013 16:11

I'm thinking ahead to a hypothetical situation where we can't complete on our new property next week.

I think we will be moving out as we won't want to let down out buyers and we have paid a hefty deposit for removals. so the question is - where might we go!

we do have places we could stay for a few days or even weeks and I think our removals can store our stuff, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever had this happen and either moved their stuff in anyway ( but not unpacked) or even stayed there too.

the house is unoccupied so that's not an issue but I can see risks to leaving our stuff there or risks of us moving in.

has anyone had v kind vendors or even a hastily drawn up rental agreement?

thanks in advance!

OP posts:

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AnnoyingOrange · 27/06/2013 16:12

I would say it was very unlikely that you would be allowed to move in before the legalities are completed

SuperiorCat · 27/06/2013 16:13

We kind of did this - the previous vendors had moved out and left the key for us - only for complicated reasons the completion didn't go through, but as the sale of our old house had, all our stuff was on the removal lorry waiting outside the new house, so we just moved in anyway.

No comeback from anyone

Floralnomad · 27/06/2013 16:14

Surely they won't give you the keys before you complete . I know Kirsty Allsop covered this on one of her programmes and said it was a definite no no .

Trazzletoes · 27/06/2013 16:14

They would have to be very kind vendors!

I've known this happen to a couple of people, though with occupied houses so a bit different. The removals company will usually store your belongings and they have just had to stay with friends or family for a few days.

Sucks but that's what happens when stupid people are too tight to pay with an electronic transfer and think that cheques will be cashed same day.

AnnoyingOrange · 27/06/2013 16:15

I'm surprised that you had a key, superiorcat.

But lucky for you

BerthaTheBogCleaner · 27/06/2013 16:20

Unlikely you'll be allowed - cos you could decide not to pay, and just be squatters. Or damage the house before it is yours and demand they pay, stuff like that. Tricky with your insurance too, I should think.

We did do it - the estate agent gave us the key before the money was through. And then there was a hitch (banks, solicitors, can't remember, somebody messed up!) and we didn't complete for 3 days. He shouldn't have done it, really. It was our first house and we didn't know any better though.

You could do a rental agreement I suppose.

eurozammo · 27/06/2013 16:21

It could end up as a legal nightmare.

I considered it once (as the mover in) when the money got held up somewhere and the estate agent wouldn't release the key. I proposed a short term rental arrangement whereby the rent we would pay would cover the extra interest they would have to pay on both mortgages until completion took place. In the end, the money made it through very late in the day, so we got the keys and got in

Bumbez · 27/06/2013 17:48

Yes it happened to us last September as the house we were buying was empty we rented it by the day until the money came through. I think it was £45 day worked out on a percentage of the outstanding balance. We paid a deposit at exchange. It took a month before the funds came through and stopped us losing our buyer. Hth

MrsSalvoMontalbano · 27/06/2013 17:59

We did this, the agent gave us a key, and the owner came by to find me gardening. No issue though.

HipHopHooray · 27/06/2013 18:06

We did. Nightmare move with one terrible solicitor (our buyers). He took so long on the move day that our solicitor only just managed to get the money moved in time - it had left our account but not reached our sellers. We had to draw up a quick legal document to sign to say we wouldn't retract the payment and moved in on the Friday night - money didn't get to them until the Monday.

poocatcherchampion · 27/06/2013 19:13

very reassuring, this is what I want to hear! I hope it won't come to it of course but it might be a point of negotiation if it all goes belly up next week.. will help me sleep easier anyway

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BeanoNoir · 27/06/2013 19:23

Yes, we've done it. Very nice vendor who we had direct contact with from getting her phone number when she conducted our viewing and we made an offer. She had been renting the property out, gave her tenants notice and allowed us to move in. We pay her a month's rent in advance and if we complete before that month is up then she'll pay us back. There's nothing legally drawn up about this arrangement, our solicitors said it wasn't possible to draw up anything, so it's just done with a lot of trust on each side. Think we had a good feeling about her and good rapport and that's what this is based on. Hoping to complete next week but been here for over a month now. When surveyor came he said that as we're in and have paid a rent we have tenants rights and she would find it difficult to get us out if we decided not to buy - we would never ever do that to her but that's probably part of the reason why no solicitor would probably advise it. She could probably do us over in some way too but again we trust her not to. She lives just round the corner and we keep in phone contact a lot to keep abreast of what's going on so feel like we know her better than typical buyer/seller relationship iyswim would never have trusted buyers of our previous house to this extent

Bowlersarm · 27/06/2013 19:26

It is very rare. Don't get your hopes up that you will be able to do this!

poocatcherchampion · 27/06/2013 20:22

maybe so. we have got options, its just good to know that we might be able to put this forward, and I'm impressed by the number of people who have said they've done it on this thread, so it cant be too rare!

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Bowlersarm · 27/06/2013 20:27

6 people have said they did!!! That is not a lot. It is very rare. It is not impossible, but doesn't happen a lot. The vendors solicitors will be screaming at their clients not to do it, and most people would take heed of their solicitor.

poocatcherchampion · 27/06/2013 20:39

Its ok- don't worry unduly on my behalf..

I'm not saying this is something I am keen to do, but 6 people replying positively on a forum in 4 hours makes it seem that this does happen. And that is all I need to know at this stage.

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Ragusa · 27/06/2013 20:39

Why do yyou think you mightn't complete on the agreedd day?

poocatcherchampion · 27/06/2013 20:54

because we are trying to do it in less than 4 weeks and there are still some smallish queries outstanding with just over a week to go. we pretty much have to move now so it is a question of where to! our solicitor has warned it will be a stressful week next week so I am just thinking things over..

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Blu · 27/06/2013 21:51

Have you exchanged?

poocatcherchampion · 27/06/2013 22:43

doing both on the same day

OP posts:

Turnipinatutu · 27/06/2013 23:24

We did it too!
Had a key beforehand to do some decorating, so on moving we just got on and moved in, then went to the EA to formally collect key only to be told there was a hold up!
So we sat there for what felt like hours waiting to be given the go ahead to move into a house that was already full of our stuff!

Anifrangapani · 27/06/2013 23:30

There is no risk on your side. Would be suprised if the vendor would allow it.

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steppemum · 27/06/2013 23:34

Unlikely - and if it was the other way round I would be saying do not let them move in.

If you do, you may be uninsured, make sure your insurance is valid on your stuff form exchange

StrokeOfBadLuck · 28/06/2013 11:52

When we bought our house, the solicitor made a mistake, which came to light when we were selling. The house was empty. I felt so bad, because it really delayed the sale, and our buyers were stressed about it. They were worried they would lose their buyer and really liked our house.

We had been thinking of renting the house out anyway, so we did say they could move in and live there. We drew up a rental agreement, and said they could have the rental money back when they bought it. Our solicitor did advise against it, for reasons mentioned above, as we did want to sell eventually.

In fact, before that happened, the legal issue was resolved.

Supersesame · 28/06/2013 11:55

Yes we did this, was about a month from completion.
Both solicitors didn't mind and added something to the contracts to cover it. I'm not sure what that was but it seemed to be a common enough occurence from their point of view. Was in London.

When we moved in, we didn't immediately start painting or change the interior in any way until completion just in case.

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