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Original poster

Key handover - shouldn't the agent bring them?

27 replies

Rhubarbgarden · 18/09/2012 20:05

Those who've bought a house recently: when you completed, did your estate agent meet you at the house with the keys or did you have to collect them yourself from the estate agent's office?

We are completing on Thursday (thank god) so we can finally move from our uncomfortable temporary accommodation into our new house. Spoke to the estate agent this morning to ask what time he would meet us at the house with the keys, and he told us we'd have to collect them from the office. I am enraged. Probably an extreme reaction, but I can't believe he can't be arsed to bring them down there himself. The office is in a town some miles away, and on moving day we will have enough on our plate dealing with removals, a toddler and a baby without having to make an extra journey. The agent is earning tens of thousands from this house sale, I am irked he can't do this small thing. Is this normal? It's Hamptons, in case anyone is wondering.

Angry
OP posts:
MirandaWest · 18/09/2012 20:06

When I moved house I had to go to the estate agents to get the keys. I assumed that was what always happened,

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 18/09/2012 20:07

We've always had to go to the EA's, also assumed that's what happened.

PogoBob · 18/09/2012 20:08

we had to collect keys when we bought and drop them off at the office when we sold - a pain both times but think it is normal, sorry.

Beanbagz · 18/09/2012 20:11

I've always collected from the estate agents. Thought it was normal practice.

EverybodysDoeEyed · 18/09/2012 20:11

Foxtons made me go their office which was a 45 min walk. The guy didn't even get off the phone and almost threw them at me. He blanked me in the street he following week

The last time te estate agent came to the house and made sure we were happy with everything

Depends on the agent

Original poster
Rhubarbgarden · 18/09/2012 20:15

Ah. Ok. Good job I checked - I shall stop being enraged and just accept this as normal EA behaviour. Clearly the agent we sold through was a one-off.

{dismounts from high horse}

Blush
OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 18/09/2012 20:16

Always have had to go to the ea office.

Which is a right pita when you spend the morning filling the removal van. Then I have to drive into town and do the key swap. Which means the removal van beats me to the new house and are sat there looking bored.

You're right, you would think for the amount of money they earned the estate agent could help. But then if they meet you at the new house, they then have to drive to the old house with your old key and with a big chain it could be tea time before the last person gets a key. I think legally keys are meant to be handed in at midday as the money changes over.

MisForMumNotMaid · 18/09/2012 20:22

I've given and been given keys post exchange several times. It is a trust thing between buyers and sellers though. official sets of keys still need to be collected. With last sale I gave a back door key which I kept bolted inside until moving out. It meant on moving day buyers could let themselves and three young DC in and open front door not have to traipse into town in first instance.

Do you have a relationship with the seller that you may be able to get a key in advance?

Original poster
Rhubarbgarden · 18/09/2012 20:30

MisFor the vendor is lovely but very 'proper' - there's no way she'd do something like that, unfortunately.

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 18/09/2012 20:48

I have always collected keys from the estate agent and only after solicitors have confirmed funds have been successfully transferred so the estate agent may not be able to give you a time yet to collect. When we have been at the bottom of the chain it has been about 11am at the top of the chain 4.55pm. This has been the case with agents and solicitors all over the country.
Yes estate agents get paid a lot the other side is a big agency might be completing 20 sales in a single day so they can't be everywhere.

nipersvest · 18/09/2012 20:51

we've always had to pick up and drop off keys at the ea's office, only exception was 2 moves ago as i was in hospital, agent came to the house to collect them from dh. think she felt guilty as our buyers were friends of hers and they had really messed us about.

Blu · 18/09/2012 20:58

I've always collected them, but can't ever remember dropping off the keys to the house I was selling - I think the agents have given the buyer the keys that i had left fr the EA viewings, and then I have just left all the spare keys in the house and put mine through the letterbox.

mysteryfairy · 18/09/2012 21:10

On our last house move I even forgot to put a parking ticket on the car when I went in to collect the keys and got fined Sad

TirednessKills · 18/09/2012 21:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MousyMouse · 18/09/2012 21:29

we went to the ea office, had to sign about a thousand forms

GreenEggsAndNichts · 18/09/2012 22:31

Just another coming to say: for the amount of money they make, yes, you'd think they'd come deliver the keys. I'd be annoyed, as well.

PigletJohn · 18/09/2012 23:22

they've made the sale and got their money, they don't care any more.

JellyBelly10 · 18/09/2012 23:37

Bear in mind that the actual point of completion doesn't always go according to plan, so the moment at which you can actually be given the keys can't necessarily be scheduled into the EA's diary. So it makes more sense for the buyer to go to the EA than for the EA to fit your key hand-over in to his/her diary when it is fundamentally not something that can have a definite time on it. So in other words, it's totally normal for you to go to EAs office to pick up the keys.

Flossiechops · 19/09/2012 06:57

You collect the keys from the sellers estate agent though don't you? Not your own agent. We have bought and sold 6 times and have always had to collect the keys from the agent.

needahandtohold · 19/09/2012 07:07

We collected the keys from our solicitor. We had to drop our old keys off at the pub for our buyers because their pizza had just arrived and they couldn't walk 500yards to get them from us.

Original poster
Rhubarbgarden · 19/09/2012 07:28

I hope they gave you a slice of their pizza!

Shock
OP posts:
needahandtohold · 19/09/2012 07:56

No! The fuckers. They turned up at our soon to be their house at 10am asking for keys. Removals men were still doing their thing and we hadn't even completed at that point. Told them I would ring them when completed,rang them 1.5 hours later and that is when they said they needed to eat their pizza Angry had to stop at traffic lights, on double yellow lines to run into pub with their keys. Looking back I wish I hadn't but I was so stressed at the time I just wanted it done and dusted.

golemmings · 19/09/2012 08:29

We have always gone to the ea. The first time we did it we completed on Friday and went to get the keys on Saturday. Solicitor had confirmed completion on Friday but the agent hadn't filed the confirmation so refused to give us the keys.
I had a bit of a melt down in his office, asked whether he would be paying our removal costs since we had a large lorry full of stuff to be delivered (absolutely untrue, we had a boot full of stuff and the lorry was booked for the following week) and then asked if I should get the vendor down (he was moving next door) because the house belonged to one of us and if he wouldn't give us the keys he should return them to the vendor.
The appropriate paper work magically appeared at that point...

Fizzylemonade · 19/09/2012 12:28

We used an on-line EA so the keys were waiting for us at our solicitors which was fine.

We handed our keys over to our buyers as we knew the money had been paid about 10 minutes before I finished cleaning, the van was already packed and gone (our stuff went into storage)

We drove round the corner to where our buyer was renting, and handed the keys over with the alarm code.

Edmatheson · 03/10/2023 20:00

… I read your post … same feelings … wasn’t surprised it was Hamptons … wasn’t their Henley office was it?

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