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Original poster

Bought a new house and the old owners didn't think they had to move out!

491 replies

thumb3lina · 26/02/2016 21:24

So today we went to complete on our new house, very excited and all packed ready to go. We got a call from our solicitor to say it was completed and we left to go to our new home, with all of our things. Stopped off at the estate agents, got the keys, everything fine.

We get there, go to the front door, put the key in and have a massive shock to find the previous owners sitting in the lounge. We asked who they were and they introduced themselves as the previous owners. They hadn't even packed one box!! DH asks them why they are still in OUR house and they inform us that they decided not to move out until Sunday!? We pointed out that we had all of our things in a van outside with our 2 month old baby and DH politely asked them to leave to which they replied it would be too inconvenient for them to leave today!

We ended up threatening to call the police as we legally owned the house and now had nowhere to go, so they said they would leave in an hour but acted as if we were being very unreasonable. We had to get all of our helpers to help them pack and they ended up leaving 5 hours later.

I'm also quite pissed off with the agent as surely they should make sure these situations don't happen.

OP posts:
Ahrightsoted · 29/02/2016 18:12

Oh god you are making me sweat now! This is/was our first house of 18 years so 18 years of crap and we now have 2 kids, a cat and a dog Confused
We are seeing the solicitor on wed to sign the contracts and our plan was once we exchange we will book the removal company. Yes my plan is to chuck most stuff, no way do I want pay a company to move tut.
I work from home and will have to drastically down scale my work now

DustOffYourHighestHopes · 29/02/2016 18:26

Having paid packers, I'd say you do still need to start early. Throwing stuff out or giving to charity (especially clothes, and the dry food cupboard!), using up freezer food, and packing important documents, expensive stuff and clothes.

Our packers were great but threw all our clothes into big boxes, completely mixed up, no eg newspaper between layers of different drawer contents. Total nightmare to unpack.

MarvinKMooney · 29/02/2016 18:30

I agree with Dust. We paid for professional packers (I had a tiny baby at the time) but we still had to declutter. I'm not a hoarder at all but dh is terrible (over 150 air fix kits in their boxes Confused ).

Our packers were brilliantly quick, but I'm glad I packed our glassware myself!

GardeningWithDynamite · 29/02/2016 18:32

When we moved I was surprised just how much stuff was from the kitchen. We didn't even have that big a kitchen, but somehow it seemed to generate a lot of boxes - perhaps because we wrapped things like plates/glasses individually.

We packed but used professional movers to actually load and transport stuff. They had a special rack for clothes. Also, don't bother emptying drawers if they come out because they can just be transported as they are.

They didn't take liquids so we had to deal with a lot of that stuff ourselves (wasn't entirely sure we were moving until 3 days before we did - pita vendor!)

BicycleGasoline · 29/02/2016 18:38

Ahrightsoted best thing we did when we moved was book the cat into a cattery for the 2 nights before and one after the move. Meant she wasn't completely stressed by the packers the day before moving, she couldn't do a runner and refuse to move house with us, and we could unpack a bit before we collected her the day after the move. Honestly it was easier to deal with a toddler than a high maintenance cat!

redhat · 29/02/2016 19:01

Marvin no not to you, to anyone who has decided to move house using one small van/car to do multiple vans. If you move in this way you will always be holding up the other party. The aim should that you are packed and ready to be out at the point of completion.

UnderTheGreenwoodTree · 29/02/2016 19:05

If we moved again, we'd have to do something similar with the cats I think - we didn't have them when we last moved, but one is a right roamer, who will do disappearing acts live next door for days.

The packing service is brilliant - it didn't add too much to the removal costs at all (I think £160). But you need to be organised and de-cluttered before they come. They don't faff around - they just go into a room and pack it all up into boxes, and mark it 'lounge' or whatever. Whereas, when I pack, I faff around, thinking oh should that be in that box etc.

I also felt the need to clean and organise manically before having the packers in - always a good thing - but I just couldn't bear the thought of them thinking I was a slattern because there was a layer of dust on everything! It pays off in the long-run - because then you only have to do a quick vacuum once they've packed up and the house is all ready for the new people (who I also don't want thinking I'm a slattern!)

We were nice movers - we were out on time, left the place clean (I even cleaned out the frozen peas from the bottom of the freezer Grin ) loos were bleached etc, and we left all the instructions for the boiler etc for the new people.

In return, we moved into a filth-bucket of a house, where the vendors couldn't even be out on time - no instructions left, nothing. And rats. Oh yes - rats. Hey ho.

PrimalLass · 29/02/2016 19:09

I was a nightmare last time. I thought I had done loads, but we were nowwhere like ready. Thank goodness the removal company came the day before completion.

1hamwich4 · 29/02/2016 19:19

My top tip is: don't dick about collecting old boxes from here there and everywhere.

Just buy a load online to be delivered flat packed to your door. Saves loads of time and you get nice clean boxes of a sensible size. You don't get them mixed up with what you've already packed either.

Also buy a shit load of decent quality packing tape (make sure you get loads, it is a false economy to think you can always nip out and get another roll) and at least three solvent-rich, THICK black permanent marker pens. The wishy washy Eco friendly ones are no good, the ink runs in the rain and makes a massive mess on your clothes.

HoneyDragon · 29/02/2016 19:27

Agree in regards to pets. The dog had two day mini break at grandmas so packing could be completed without stressing her further.

marshmallowpies · 29/02/2016 20:33

GardeningWithDynamite packing kitchens is definitely the worst! We had to pack up the kitchen in the current house to prepare for builders coming in - had given ourselves a weekend to do it before the building work started, but it turned out to be horrifically hot and I was about 10 weeks pregnant - I had to go and lie down and DH threw everything into boxes in a big hurry. Months later we unpacked to move into our new kitchen and found loads of out of date food.

emwithme · 29/02/2016 22:15

Absolutely agree re pets. We moved a fortnight ago (I am hoping to be totally unpacked by August Grin ) and the little furry asshats kittens went to the cat hotel for a week. We took them Monday lunchtime, moved Wednesday, and picked them up Friday lunchtime. They've more or less forgiven us now.

PrimalLass · 29/02/2016 23:29

I totally agree about just paying for boxes.

Bogeyface · 29/02/2016 23:36

I agree with buying boxes but a I got a great tip from my uncle when I moved here, if you have a lot of books. Collect banana/apple/fruit boxes from anywhere that will let you have them. Books go in them perfectly, spines up, but they stack really well so you can lift 2 or 3 on your own without needing a sack truck to lift a full "proper" box full. I had a standing order with my local shop and they really were useful. Gave them away after we had moved to someone else who was moving.

Bogeyface · 29/02/2016 23:37

They're also good if you have ten minutes or so free at a time, you just fill one box full, stack it and then the next time you have a free few minutes you do the next one.

enterthedragon · 01/03/2016 00:51

When we moved the removal company came round 3 weeks prior to the planned moving date and looked around the house, estimated how many boxes we would need, how many rolls of tape and paper and what size lorry we needed, the next day they dropped off boxes, tape and paper. On the day of the move they arrived and loaded everything that was packed then helped with everything that still needed packing, then they disappeared for a long lunch before driving the 1.2 miles to our new house (a 5 minute drive through one way streets) completion was at 2:30, removal men were finished unloading the lorry by 4 pm, and someone from the company came round 2 weeks later to collect the boxes, cost £400. money well spent IMO and I wouldn't do any other way, they put all the furniture where we wanted it, put all the boxes in the correct rooms, put all the tools, ladders etc in the garage, and the garden furniture in the garden.

I have heard other disastrous house moves.

Moving house is extremely stressful even when it goes to plan.

nevertakeyouriphoneinthebath · 01/03/2016 03:07

Having packers does cost an awful lot more, and although it makes life easier if you are very disorganised/lazy/busy with work, I would still recommend that you start to sort and declutter your drawers, cupboards, garage and loft weeks or even months beforehand.

Do you really want to pay packers to pack and remove a ton of old crap you don't even need any more, and then have to spend time unpacking it all only to realise you should have just chucked it, at the other end?

Get organised, people!

nevertakeyouriphoneinthebath · 01/03/2016 03:11

They don't faff around - they just go into a room and pack it all up into boxes, and mark it 'lounge' or whatever. Whereas, when I pack, I faff around, thinking oh should that be in that box etc.

Exactly, but as I said upthread somewhere, it's less hassle for you at the front end, but it takes ages to get organised again once you unpack, because they don't group things logically like you might. I hated that, I am a control freak Grin but horses for courses.

Buckinbronco · 01/03/2016 08:08

I know of a couple of people whose packers packed the contents of their bins. Unless you specifically tell them not to they do the lot

SocksRock · 01/03/2016 08:10

I'v had packers before, cost about £200. I put my energy before the move into proper decluttering, they packed it, and I had another declutter as we moved in. I had a skip at both ends...

suzannecaravaggio · 01/03/2016 08:35

I last had packers 10 years ago, cost £300

DrDreReturns · 01/03/2016 08:45

When we moved (selling and buying a house on the same day) DW thought we could make several journeys to move our stuff - i.e. go back and forth from our old house to our new house throughout the day. She didn't realise that we had to get all our stuff out in one go! If you haven't bought a house before you may not be familiar with how the process works.

murmuration · 01/03/2016 09:16

When we moved to the UK, the packers wouldn't pack any candles because they were 'flammable'. I'm not sure how inert wax was particularly flammable, especially as we had to stop them from packing alcohol and cleaning products that I thought would have been much more dangerous.

GardeningWithDynamite · 01/03/2016 09:20

I've heard that packers pack everything too. Can't remember exactly how much ours cost 5 years ago (just moving, not packing) but it was less than £1000 to move a 4 bed house.

We used a local firm, rather than the national one that most people think of first (mentioning no names) because it was a lot cheaper - less than half.

OurBlanche · 01/03/2016 09:22

We had packers last time. It was well worth the money, not all that much more.

I decluttered a bit before hand. But, to be honest, it was much easier decluttering as I opened each box, in the new house.

Open a box and deal with every item as you take it out. It was great. Clothes, crockery, even books! And it made doing the yearly 'is it still in date?' check of the food cupboards really easy too Smile