To change my moving date, even though it will (badly) put out the next people to move in?

[ErnestTheBavarian]

Sorry, long and complicated & also a bit AIBU/WWYD.
We are currently in rented house, and have bought a new build. New house supposed to be ready beginning of September, we gave notice from 30th September to give us basically a month as a buffer in case of delays, so we could move slowly & less stress etc.

Estate agent found new people to move in. They were desperate to get in asap as their lease was laready up on their old place. We agreed to bring our move forward by almost 2 weeks so they could get in earlier.

That means this thursday, 16th. It's a real pain, as 2 of our kids are due to start brand new schools on 14th, 2 days earlier. Anyway, all seemed to be on track with the house, so we agreed.

We got the keys to our house on Saturday, and we thought we had 3 days to sort out house before move, still fine, no probs. Anyway, we got the keys and it is a bit of a disaster. The kitchen is literally only half finished. No hob, most doors missing, no extractor hood, all of which are boxed up and taking up 80% of the dining room/ living room floor.

Apart from the kitchen, the phone won't be connected till the end of September, and The kitchen won't be finished also till end September.

And apart from that I noted 16 other problems with the house. Some of them biggish (2 rooms without a light or any electricity?!) most of them minor.

So do I kill myself to get as much done as possible in the next 3 days (bearing in mind half of Tuesday written off taking kids to new schools, could take up to 2 hours) and put up with unfinished kitchen and no phone etc etc.

Or it occured to me, we could get it all fixed stress free and move out at the original planned time, after all this buffer was to protect us from exactly this.

BUT I do feel guilty about new family moving in, and this week Oktoberfest starts, so Munich will be heaving and they might have problems finding hotel and rearranging their move.?

AIBU to say too many problems with house, we're staying until our contract ends, or even 1 week later (half way compromise? Or would it be terrible to go back on agreement (they were awfully pushy though :( )

Regarding cost, am 90% sure their bills/fees/moving/hotel costs etc paid for by his company, as it's an international move do would be astonished if his relocation package wasn't footing the whole bill. So it would be a hassle but only a couple if weeks delay( and the actual official start of their contract, and the date from which the house was advertised as available. But am sure no financial burden fir them).

But I hear you all, it's sort of what I thought anyway. If I can get kitchen people out and kitchen sorted tomorrow it's not an issue anyway. See what they say in the morning. Anyone got any good tips on getting crap companies to pull their fingers out if they bone back to me and say they can't come and sort it till 3 weeks next Tuesday?

As they are in the hotel already, I think you should stick to the 30th and make sure your house is sorted before you move in. You gave yourself this buffer period and were talked into letting them have the house sooner - it's now not convenient and it may make getting the contractors to finish properly much harder (esp if you have a contract you have to sign off before moving in). Yes it's a hassle for them, but it's a bigger hassle for you.

If they're in a hotel with children how could much more of a hassle could it possibly be?

What if the hotel boots them out to honour a prior booking for the Oktoberfest?

Well I wouldn't see them homeless and would then go ahead and move, but if they could just stay on at their hotel for a week I might avert a nervous breakdown.

Can you contact them? They might be able and willing to stay on at the hotel. But th en, it might be their company doesn't pay that extra cost, which I'd imagine might be costly during Oktoberfest.

does the landlord/estate agent know you are moving our early or have you made this arrangement privately? if they move in 2 weeks before your lease ends and they trash the house you might be liable?

estate agent knows and will do the official hand over with us before they move in (whenever that might be) she has also said to just take it as we need it, they know the contract is from 1st and it will be nice for them to have it earlier but at the end of the day it's ours till 30th.

Their company almost certainly will be paying full costs, and likely even their rent indefinitely.

The fact that you didn't make a house sale based on this agreement and that their company is covering their costs does put a different spin on it. I wonder what they would have done if you had refused at the time to move out earlier. You were trying to help them but it does inconvenience you big time now, so i can see why you want to change your mind

Maybe you could split the difference & ask if they could give you a week's grace on your agreement. you could move to your place on say, Sept 23rd & they could move in to your place on that date? They've then only got another week in a hotel - you've got extra time to sort out the issues with your new house.

I agree that morally you should stand my your original agreement, but I do see your predicament & in these situations there's always some negotiation to be done to get a reasonable deal for everyone.

YANBU

You were doing them a favour-now you cant.

ETB how are things going??

Hurrah, kitchen just finished, so we will move as planned, and the new people can move in as planned.

Great news :) Are all the other bits getting seen to?

only 1 of the gazillion things, but the house will be thoroughly cleaned again tomorrow, so I guess I can make do. It's all mega stressful though as I'm nowhere near finished packing as all of the house problems have required my time and presence in the new house, and not had any time to sort out old house.. Think I'll be up late tonight. Hmm why did I agree to let them have it earl (dreaming of how wonderful it would be to have 2 stress free weeks to do it all in, instead of 2 nights!)