Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this buyer is being totally and utterly unreasonable?

164 replies

stillpinching · 12/03/2018 18:49

I am so stressed about this I don't know what to do - and I now feel powerless until tomorrow at least.

We are selling a house having already moved over 100 miles away. That's been a nightmare in itself, but we are/were finally due to complete tomorrow. Just a couple of hours ago I had a phone call from the agent to say the buyer has been round today and seen 'a load of rubbish' in the garden. This is bollocks anyway - there's a table and chairs, which, while not new, are not rubbish and are perfectly usable, and a few pots. Nothing has been said before about them wanting it cleared but now they're saying they won't complete while it's there.

Me and dh have work tomorrow and can't take leave at this notice and there's no one else to ask. We are absolutely on the bones of our arse at the moment and desperately need the money from this sale. I can't stand for it to all fall through now. Can they do this? I'm not UR am I - if they had said a couple of months ago when they put the offer in they wanted it cleared we would easily have got it done by now, but we haven't got a magic wand to sort it now.

OP posts:
ColourfulOrangex · 12/03/2018 20:51

I'm glad your partner is going to sort it Smile

BringMeTea · 12/03/2018 20:51

Yeah, I think the OP has got the message... Poor DH. Mind you it is better to know it is done and get the photographic evidence. Hope it all goes through smoothly. Flowers

PeppermintPasty · 12/03/2018 21:25

Yes, some of the posts on here are totally OTT. I'm a conveyancing solicitor, if this happened to my buyers, I would pick up the phone to the other solicitor and try and sort it politely with the least hassle to either side. I will already have advised my buyers to do a final inspection of the property prior to them instructing me to exchange. That's not a hard rule, just common sense. Most buyers don't bother tbh. More fool them for a start.

Yes, I would point out to the sellers (via their solicitor) that they are responsible for clearing unwanted items, but unless I had unstable buyers prone to ridiculous outbursts, I would not be encouraging talk of refusing to complete. The buyers in that scenario would potentially be in big trouble, it would be unlikely to be seen as a material breach of contract enabling them to walk away from the whole thing without completing. Leaving a table and chairs in the garden, and some pots, is not serious. Inconvenient, thoughtless possibly, but not serious enough to risk being sued by the seller.

If I was acting for you I would not advise you to drive 100 miles. Speak to your solicitor if you can, in the morning, and/or the agent. Let them sort it for you. The agent is your best bet really.

NewImprovedNinja · 12/03/2018 21:28

The legal test for ‘Vacant possession’ Is whether the items left behind substantially interfere with or prevent the enjoyment of the right of possession for a substantial part of the property.
A table and chairs in the garden plus some plant pots isn’t likely to fail the test!
I’d tell the buyers to effectively put up and shut up if they don’t want to lose their deposit.

LeighaJ · 12/03/2018 21:42

It's standard in property sales for you to have been asked to agree to clear out the property completely or if not to list what items come with it and the buyer to agree those are fine.

It most likely would have just been a box you checked on a long multi sheet form usually then signed at the end. Your solicitor should have the original or copies of the forms on file.

Personally I think the buyer is being a bit ridiculous; but if they are willing to halt the sale over it then you may have to go down to your property even if it's inconvenient and means a day off work to clear it. It's better then having to start the process over again.

While not ideal I'd hope an employer would understand this is a rare case where short notice of needing time off not related to illness is needed.

LeighaJ · 12/03/2018 21:45

Actually the advice of PeppermintPasty sounds better. Grin

Kestant · 12/03/2018 21:48

I was waiting for some sense to come along. Peppermint send your bill to the OP. After all, you have done their solicitor's work for them!

Bluelady · 12/03/2018 21:50

It's the most sensible thing on the thread.

Hippee · 12/03/2018 22:09

We discovered on removal day that the garden table wouldn't fit through the gate (we had constructed it in the garden) - no problem from our buyers that we had to leave it behind. Seems we were lucky.

PeppermintPasty · 12/03/2018 22:12

Ah, OP can have that advice for free Wink

GabsAlot · 12/03/2018 22:14

if youve exchanged they cant pul out anyway

i woldnt worry too much about it

PeppermintPasty · 12/03/2018 22:21

Well, they can pull out, but not without financial consequences as they have already exchanged contracts. They would be quite mad to pull out over a few things left in the garden.

MaggieFS · 12/03/2018 22:45

Would the buyer also be at fault/ subject to penalties if they delayed (rather than pull out completely)? Just wondering generally what recourse there is for a buyer who has already exchanged if the seller doesn't leave the property as expected?

m0therofdragons · 12/03/2018 22:51

I was seriously pissed off our sellers left loads of old crappy pots and garden furniture. I had my own and it just meant extra trips to the tip getting rid of someone else's crap. YABU

PeppermintPasty · 12/03/2018 22:57

Maggie, both sides are now committed to complete on the date agreed on and written into the contract when they exchanged. They are both subject to the similar sort of penalties/remedies if they pull out. The non-defaulting party would serve on the defaulting party something called a Notice to Complete which puts the whole thing up a gear. Long story short (and depending on the particular facts), but if they then fail to complete after a given time there will be financial penalties etc.

Second point-if the seller leaves the property in a terrible state a buyer would have remedies through the civil courts. But to be honest, it would have to be pretty bad to warrant court action later on. Usually, people grumble about things like mess in the garden, but it really is not worth litigating for anything but the most serious breaches/problems imo (I was a litigator for 15 years before becoming a conveyancer and spent most of my time advising people not to litigate...!).

GabsAlot · 12/03/2018 23:03

sorry patsy thats what i meant

GoldenHefalump · 12/03/2018 23:21

If they're in good condition it's totally unnecessary to go down there...post it on all your local fb selling pages and the fb marketplace as free to collect and it will be gone in a couple of hours, either by an individual or a company looking for freebies to sell on.

Stefoscope · 13/03/2018 00:12

Good luck, hope tomorrow goes smoothly. I think they ABU to refuse to complete over a table and chairs. I'll be happy if the next house I buy just has a garden table, chairs and a few planters left behind. We got left with wardrobes in 3 rooms (of which only one room's worth was agreed in the fixtures and fittings), a single bed and two outbuildings full of crap including a broken fridge freezer. Not to mention the garden 'decor' which included 200+ ancient garden gnomes, 6 toilet planters and 6 washbasin planters!

YouCantGetHereFromThere · 13/03/2018 00:54

When I bought my house it not only still had a basement full of stuff that the seller was in the process of clearing, but it had a boat parked on the drive, and the seller was living in it.

He eventually cleared everything, including selling us a lot of very useful stuff that would have cost us a fortune otherwise.

It's probably a good thing we're not like the OP's buyer...

cambodianfoxhound · 13/03/2018 01:28

I get where you are coming from. Why are people so over the top and aggressive about this stuff. I can totally see why you would overlook clearing the garden furniture. If I saw clearly worn and established furniture in the garden, I would probably assume it was staying to be honest. I can't see that I would get excited about it either way.

But then reading a lot of these posts, you see where this massive angst and self righteousness comes from don't you. They are all posting here. Sure they are technically in the 'right' but for god sake chill out a bit. If you are going to froth at the mouth over a picnic bench you really need to get some perspective in life.

Best of luck with the move Op. Try not to dwell, this is temporary and will soon be over.

BarbaraofSevillle · 13/03/2018 02:15

I know, it's only a bit of garden furniture. Some of the responses on here seem to come from people who think that the OP has left nuclear waste in the garden.

Bolokov · 13/03/2018 02:21

Disagree with majority here. Buyer should get over it. Sell unwonted item on e bay or use it for firewood.Their complaint is frivolous and they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Bolokov · 13/03/2018 02:46

Buyers complaint is frivolous. Call their bluff.

WilyMinx · 13/03/2018 03:34

Could you ask your agent to find some one local to get rid of it? You can make an immediate Paypal payment to them. Our agent got rid of an old sofa for us that the buyer didn't want but he didn't charge us anything.

Oliversmumsarmy · 13/03/2018 06:54

Maybe I am missing something but the buyer hadn't completed yesterday and you were perfectly entitled to have your table in your garden.
In normal circumstances you would probably be living in the house the night before completion along with all your furniture.

I can see if at some point today they completed and found the stuff in the garden they might be justified in making demands but to make these demands after they had exchanged contracts and before they had completed I think is totally unreasonable.