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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think this is cheeky? (Property related)

226 replies

opinionatedfreak · 17/01/2021 22:18

We are due to complete on the sale of a family home tomorrow.

The person died so the house is empty.

I’ve just gone round to read the meters and discovered a pile of garden furniture in the back garden.

I’m assuming it belongs to the buyers.

AIBU to think it is cheeky to do this without asking?

YANBU = they are cheeky
YABU = what’s the problem the house will be theirs tomorrow.

OP posts:
Original poster
opinionatedfreak · 17/01/2021 22:36

My DBro & I have just debated whether to remove the fizz we bought for them from the fridge!!

OP posts:
Iknowwhatudidlastsummer · 17/01/2021 22:38

That kind of people would also be a nightmare should anything happen to their furniture. CF tend to be pretty unreasonable!

Dopo · 17/01/2021 22:39

@opinionatedfreak

My DBro & I have just debated whether to remove the fizz we bought for them from the fridge!!
Definately do this. Those garden chair Bastards deserve nothing but contempt.
Iknowwhatudidlastsummer · 17/01/2021 22:46

OP, just remember, it could be worst, they could be your neighbours instead of buyers! Fingers crossed the sale DOES go through, the money is received and you can give the keys and never hear from them again.

They are now in a very bad position to complain about anything if they have accessed the property illegally already and any problem could be down to them.

whenwillthemadnessend · 17/01/2021 22:46

Yep def remove!!

HannaYeah · 17/01/2021 22:47

Sit in the chairs. Drink the fizz. Get rid of chairs. Leave behind a picture of you drinking it.

Grilledaubergines · 17/01/2021 22:48

@opinionatedfreak

My DBro & I have just debated whether to remove the fizz we bought for them from the fridge!!
Yes, remove it. Put it away for yourselves to drink in happier times.
GarlicSoup · 17/01/2021 22:52

@opinionatedfreak

But it’s not their fucking house!! They shouldn’t have been in the bloody garden this weekend.
You seem very impassioned about this OP. Was it not your choice to sell the house? It can be a very emotive process.
Original poster
opinionatedfreak · 17/01/2021 22:53

@GarlicSoup I’m just not very keen on people accessing my property without permission!

OP posts:
AndAPartridgeInABearTree · 17/01/2021 22:53

I would be tempted to remove the fizz AND the garden furniture. MN puzzles me. Of course it's not OK to have your stuff in the gsrden of a house you don't own!

If the buyer had asked I imagine you would have said yes but it's the not asking and just assuming that's cheeky.

Knittedfairies · 17/01/2021 22:54

@mineofuselessinformation

Contact your solicitor tomorrow and tell them to contact buyer's solicitors. Make them aware that garden furniture has appeared and you are assuming it's theirs. If not, they are free to dispose of it, as it's not yours. That way all bases are covered.
Or tell them that someone has been fly tipping in your garden, but it's all clear for them now as you've removed it.

I wouldn't do it, but would be very tempted. Let it go OP, but drink that fizz yourselves.

minniemoll · 17/01/2021 22:56

On the off chance that the stuff isn't theirs and has been dumped, I'd ignore it and if asked, deny all knowledge - after all, it might have been dumped after you completed, right?

Melroses · 17/01/2021 22:56

Yes - drink it.

We had the same when a load of garden plants appeared a week before completion. This was in spite of them holding up the process with quibbles about lintels. They seemed to think that because we didn't live there it was fair game.

Little did they realise that half the family live in the same street Grin

Hugoslavia · 17/01/2021 22:57

So tempting to remove it as you had a duty to clear the property before they moved in and some cheeky person had dumped it there.

Original poster
opinionatedfreak · 17/01/2021 22:57

@AndAPartridgeInABearTree you’ve nailed it.

We almost certainly would have said yes.
But not being asked has just left a nasty taste.

It was also obvious someone was going to visit today to do meter readings etc.
M

OP posts:
Stovetopespresso · 17/01/2021 22:59

not the most elegant of behaviour, bit pushy imo, I wouldn't do it, it's presumptuous or if I had to I'd leave a note on the furniture saying "hope you don't mind etc".

Onjnmoeiejducwoapy · 17/01/2021 22:59

How could anybody get worked up about this? I’d say there is a very good chance they asked the estate agents and got laughed at, told why would anyone care of course go for it.

It makes absolutely zero difference to you. But really sorry for your loss and what sounds like an all round stressful situation.

pinbinpin · 17/01/2021 22:59

This reminds me of what happened to a friend of mine, Elderly Mother died, house passed to my friend. Her mother had lived closer to the town centre than her, same town, so she often parked on her mum's drive when getting the train to work. After she died, she continued to do this now and again. She put the house on the market and it eventually sold. About a week after she accepted an offer, the purchasers put a note on her car saying "don't park her, we own this property" property and complained to the estate agents! This was long before Exchange.

Original poster
opinionatedfreak · 17/01/2021 23:00

@Hugoslavia I think if I’d had the big car with me his might have been an option... sadly it wasn’t going to fit in the small hatchback.

We have however asked our solicitor to check it was theirs as are very mindful of our legal obligation to leave the property empty.

OP posts:
Original poster
opinionatedfreak · 17/01/2021 23:02

@pinbinpin that’s classic.

And so presumptive of the buyers.

OP posts:
gettingshitstraight · 17/01/2021 23:04

@HannaYeah

Sit in the chairs. Drink the fizz. Get rid of chairs. Leave behind a picture of you drinking it.
😄
Stovetopespresso · 17/01/2021 23:05

@Onjnmoeiejducwoapy

How could anybody get worked up about this? I’d say there is a very good chance they asked the estate agents and got laughed at, told why would anyone care of course go for it.

It makes absolutely zero difference to you. But really sorry for your loss and what sounds like an all round stressful situation.

Good manners cost nothing though.... I guess you have to rise above it and be the better person. I'd leave the fizz and enjoy the moral high ground
Tootiredtogotobed · 17/01/2021 23:06

It is rude and inconsiderate in any house sale but especially when it is a sale due to bereavement. I once sold a house and the buyers had parcels delivered to our home in the week before we exchanged contracts. We were still living there! They didn't ask us or mention it to our solicitors and had been giving our address as theirs. I had framed photos of the house more than a hundred years earlier and would have left them as they admired them on viewing but their cheeky behaviour meant I gave them to a lovely neighbour as their house was on the photos too. Definitely tell your solicitor tomorrow in case of any issues

Hugoslavia · 17/01/2021 23:07

People can be so cheeky. Our buyer ordered furniture which arrived before we moved out and she had a trampoline delivered the night before. She also started moving in with her friends and family at 10am in the morning, whilst we were still packing up and moving out. Then, she demanded that we guard her furniture lest our removal men accidentally take it. Even more annoying was the fact that she only lived down the street and rented, so didn't need to be out of her property for another month. It was horrendous. I never had the opportunity to walk around the house and see the empty rooms to give it a final farewell.

Uhhuhoyaye · 17/01/2021 23:08

If it really annoys you pull out of the sale. If not, forget it.