To want to cry re new house?

[meow1989]

Or more like, wibu to expect seller to be a decent human being?

Completed on our dream forever home end of August. We left our house spotless, left flowers and advice re local area plus my number in case new people needed anything. Our seller however left us with the following issues:

• tonnes of rubbish including a double garage door, building materials and granite slabs behind outbuilding. His response was (not true) that most of it had been there when he moved in so it wasn't his problem to sort.
• missing plants dug up and taken
• rubbish in house - so far I'm up to 7 different types of tiles in boxes plus skirting boards, flooring, insulation etc
• Windows that don't lock from the outside and don't close properly (costing 4k to replace, we did know they were misted and would need doing equally but not straight away)
• bodge job building bits (he is a builder!) Like fist sized holes where blinds had been installed, a broken TV bracket installed into the wall rather than on to, paint on floor and windows
• broken blinds, broken bathroom cabinets
• a boiler that I've just found out has been leaking for quite some time (noted by plumber who is fixing leak in ceiling which also seems to have been bodged and covered up from previous leaks)

Aibu or is this par for the course? We hadn't budgeted for a fixer Upper!

We moved on a snowy day and the removers trampled in dirt and salt. Not my fault and there just wasn’t time to clean up. As to stuff left behind, refuse to exchange until you’ve seen the property is my advice. I don’t really get this trend of leaving flowers, wine etc.

Why did your survey not pick this up?

Speak to your solicitor about what remedies they suggest

We bought a house from a couple who left an old caravan in the garden. Our solicitor contacted them to either come and collect it or reimburse us the costs of doing it ourselves. They chose to remove it themselves. You need to contact your solicitor before more time lapses.

@Stormsy

Homebuyers surveys aren't worth the bother. I would never buy a house without getting a full survey.

Nor me, especially if you are buying a property more than 10 years old (ie, not covered by a new-build guarantee). However, these full surveys can miss things. I had a full survey moving into the current house but missed the fact that there was still some junk in the loft and garage. Also the survey failed to note that wood filler had been used on a couple of window frames.

Did you not have a survey??

All sounds relatively normal from my various house moves, and much worse, although maybe because I have always bought old not new. I always take favourite plants with me - I’m not going to leave treasured nurtured plants to be trashed and neglected by a non-gardener. I regard the plants in my garden very much as my personal possessions, and would, not leave them behind. Unless you have an inventory of everything in there, how would you know that some plants have gone?

Your not being unreasonable to be pissed but there's little you can do about it my parents moved in there house and discovered only after turning on the heating that the tanks was missing from the boiler system. Houses are hard things to buy there's always going to be surprises that have been covered up and not much you can do about it at houses are kinda sold as seen.
Regarding the windows why do they need to lock on outside I've always had windows that lock on the inside. We had faulty ones in are rented house the landlord put these locks things on until they could afford to fix properly maybe get some of them for now xx

@Viviennemary

The rubbish can be challenged. Also digging up plants is usually not allowed.

Agreed, as plants in the ground are regarded as being 'fixed' so they should stay there. Also agree about the rubbish that should be addressed, but I wouldn't have thought there was recourse for much else. If I was buying an older house and the windows and the boiler were more than 10 years old, I would expect to have to replace those items with 2 to 3 years anyway. Also I would regard cupboards etc and other fittings to be 'sold as seen'. Overall I understand if it's a let down though, it does take the shine off moving into a new home😑

I don't really understand, it sounds like you've moved into a totally different house than the "dream house" you viewed?
I would suggest getting a higher level of survey in future.
And regarding rubbish and dust - I don't see this as a big deal, sure it's not great, but just remove it and dust/clean yourself. Not everyone will leave flowers and notes.

As a solicitor I would say YANBU to be annoyed at all but from a legal perspective there’s not much you can do. There is a poncy legal saying “caveat emptor” which means buyer beware. Essentially it is up to you to identify issues pre purchase. If he’s outright lied to enquiries though , you would have a course of action x

I really hate the expression ‘our bad’ when did it start? Awful.
Yes - pretty standard shit-show Imo.

We moved in 18 months ago.

The sellers lied to us initially, saying they were going into rented accommodation, so one reason we offered was that we wouldn't be in a long chain (we had first time buyers buying ours). Spoiler alert: they weren't going into rented accommodation and we only found out after four months of near silence that they were planning to buy somewhere and hadn't even made any offers. Thankfully our buyers were happy to wait as there was little else on the market at that point.

On the day, they were meant to move out at 1pm. They actually moved out at 4pm, whilst we sat outside waiting with the removals lorry.

Since then we discovered:

Leaking upstairs toilet.
Leaking soil pipe.
Massive hole in roof.
Dodgy wiring that stunned the electrician with its level of danger.
Faulty boiler that eventually failed.
All the windows blown.

None of which was picked up on the survey

Honestly, it sounds normal.

Quite often boxes of tiles and spare skirtings will have been left in case you need them for breakages - I’ve done this before! So don’t bung out until you’ve made sure!

The rest just get a skip and get rid. For 200 it’s easier than arguing with twats.

Boilers are always an unknown.

@jynxxed - we could tell by the gaping holes in the raised beds

@lauradaisymay what I mean is they could be opened from the outside even with the inside handle lock engaged - this could have been easily replaced were it not for the window being off the track which was bent from I presume previous attempts to secure.

Had the leak sorted today and it looks like actually ita a new reoccurrence of a bodged fix, but none the less they must have thought it fixed so I'll let that one go

Solicitors have been rubbish now we've completed, lots of bum covering.

YANBU - contact the solicitor.

Similar thing happened to me a few years back. Take lots and lots of photos of absolutely everything. By law they have to leave it vacant. We took them to small claims court and won costs for cleaning, house clearance etc including court costs. Very very stressful time and he had a threatening manner about him but it was so worth it.

That lovely but poorly house needs you. You make it what it should be over time and love it...

We had a homebuyers survey and they missed huge problems such as leaks, bay windows falling out and no damp proof course. First thing I did was contact them and the boss came round to check. I hoped this would be an amicable solution but of course, he could clearly see the issues but refuted them. I had to go down the ombudsman route which was very involved but they made the surveyors cough up in the end to the tune of £24k and put a mark against them.
Take loads of photos, dates, details of phonecalls, emails etc, basically any evidence you can and hit the surveyor where it hurts.

@ddot I may have hugged the wall yesterday and told the house we know its not it's fault and we still love it

We had 14 pages of details. Nothing was actually broken in the house itself but they’d left 17 bags of rubbish in yard, broken laundry baskets, tatty old Holly hobby horses that they thought my kids would like they said!! Bits of shelves, boxes, kitchen stuff, lampshades, a disgusting dirty broken cabinet, torn curtains etc It took 2 van loads to clear. Fight it. Don’t let them get away with it!!

@PinkFootstool

Have you been back to your solicitor to discuss sueing him?

get back in touch with your solicitor and instruct him to get the previous owner to collect his items and return anything he has took as the sale included those items being left! if he fails to collect by a certain date or return the missing items then take him to the small claims court, it doesnt cost much to do that

I had to go down the ombudsman route which was very involved but they made the surveyors cough up in the end to the tune of £24k and put a mark against them.

Holy crow I didn't even know about this option - great advice, thank you @starlight13 !

Honestly, it sounds normal.
Quite often boxes of tiles and spare skirtings will have been left in case you need them for breakages - I’ve done this before! So don’t bung out until you’ve made sure!
The rest just get a skip and get rid. For 200 it’s easier than arguing with twats.
Boilers are always an unknown.

Totally agree with all of this @backoffice, from experience....

My dad had a tenant who left him with mountains of rubbish. He weighed up the cost of removal and arranged for it to be moved to her new front garden. She just stood there speechless.

@meow1989

Or more like, wibu to expect seller to be a decent human being?

Completed on our dream forever home end of August. We left our house spotless, left flowers and advice re local area plus my number in case new people needed anything. Our seller however left us with the following issues:

• tonnes of rubbish including a double garage door, building materials and granite slabs behind outbuilding. His response was (not true) that most of it had been there when he moved in so it wasn't his problem to sort.
• missing plants dug up and taken
• rubbish in house - so far I'm up to 7 different types of tiles in boxes plus skirting boards, flooring, insulation etc
• Windows that don't lock from the outside and don't close properly (costing 4k to replace, we did know they were misted and would need doing equally but not straight away)
• bodge job building bits (he is a builder!) Like fist sized holes where blinds had been installed, a broken TV bracket installed into the wall rather than on to, paint on floor and windows
• broken blinds, broken bathroom cabinets
• a boiler that I've just found out has been leaking for quite some time (noted by plumber who is fixing leak in ceiling which also seems to have been bodged and covered up from previous leaks)

Aibu or is this par for the course? We hadn't budgeted for a fixer Upper!

surely your surveyors report would have said about the windows/boiler? anyway document and photos of everything sent via you solicitor, and he will advise of what to do about the rest of the issues as you may have a case with regards the surveyor because if i had seen all those things listed then i either would have lowered my offer for the house or backed out altogether

@Ihaveattached

My dad had a tenant who left him with mountains of rubbish. He weighed up the cost of removal and arranged for it to be moved to her new front garden. She just stood there speechless.

ooooooooooo i do like the sound of that one!