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Original poster

Completed this morning but vendors still in!

349 replies

NotAnotherUserName5 · 22/06/2018 11:45

Aargh, I could cry.

Completed and money wasn't received by the vendors solicitors at 9:30am.
We are all ready and waiting, it the eatat agents say they need a few more hours. No chain, and they have somewhere to go, so no idea why.
Is this common? When do we start kicking up a fuss about wanting to go to our house?

OP posts:
ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 16:57

They are in breach. they have not provided vacant possession.

It's very likely they are, but if you haven't seen the contract, how do you know? The contract could state 5pm.

Again, unlikely, but I would take your advice with a bit of caution...

BakerBear · 22/06/2018 16:58

What a nightmare. Hope the house is not a mess

Lookingforspace · 22/06/2018 17:02

Caroian, that’s why fining is a good idea. Nobody would expect to get a job if they turned up 2hours late for the interview yet people are CFs when moving as they know there’s no real loss to them. Big financial fines would make a difference and stop the nonsense of people thinking they can move out of a 4 bed house with a transit van too.

Granted, there are a few real excuses such as death, illness or severe weather but most of these people are just stupid. Stupid and lazy. Op, hope you’re in now!

Loonoon · 22/06/2018 17:02

We had this once. They knew we weren’t moving in right away so had thought they could move out over a few days The EAs and my mate the conveyancing solicitor were useless. In the end I had to push past their sons when the Mum and Dad weren’t looking and park myself on the living room floor. My dad arrived an hour later and changed all the locks. There was still a lot of stuff in the house which we shifted out to the garage and they collected over the weekend. Hopefully it won’t come to that for you OP.

LavenderDoll · 22/06/2018 17:06

Start moving your stuff in OP
They are taking the piss
Fine to have a couple of extra hours
To still be messing about at 5 is a joke

OliviaStabler · 22/06/2018 17:07

How cheeky of someone who's just paid a wodge of cash for a property, that's now lodged in the sellers' account, to secure their property by changing the locks! What nastiness!

Nastiness? Rubbish. It is not like moving out was a heck of a shock for them! Come on. Changing the locks is probably what CF's like this will respond to. They know then that you won't be pushed around and if they leave they ain't getting back in.

JuicySwan · 22/06/2018 17:09

Are you in??

Itchyknees · 22/06/2018 17:10

A long time ago, me and the ex bought off a couple who did t really want to sell but finances had forced them to. They dragged their heels on moving day, and clearly resented that we were buying it, and said that they would be “holding on to the stable” (at the end of our field) for storage because we wouldn’t need it.
Ex, for all his faults, gently but very very firmly, explained in simple terms why that wouldn’t be happening. The word “bonfire” was used.

WerkSupp · 22/06/2018 17:15

Olivia, I think you misread my post. I was being sarcastic. We had to start moving in whilst the vendors were moving out because they weren't shifting, we had a van full of stuff and needed to turn in the van by close of play or get charged, we had moved out of a flat so had no place to go, I think a person is within reason to start moving in by 3 or 4pm after completion if the contract states noon or 1pm. We didn't have the money or capacity to make nicey-nice, we had just spent every penny to buy the house and had no place to go.

What a nightmare. Hope the house is not a mess

It will be. You can count on it with vendors like this. Ours left loads of dog mess in the garden and the house was a tip. But hey, we cleaned it up.

ChuffingNorah · 22/06/2018 17:19

I'm hopeful the reason the OP hasn't posted for a while is because she's busy moving in. Let us know if you're in OP! I can't relax and enjoy Friday evening until this is resolved!

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 17:21

The OP starting panicking before 12pm, that's a bit too early to over-react, why giving yourself more stress?

Of course, it's annoying and getting your new keys at 5pm is not ideal. It's hardly a big deal. If the seller is in the middle of moving, there's nothing you can do apart from getting in the way and delay things even further!

If they are having a barbecue or chilling in their pool, you have more rights to complain.

What's the worst that could happen? You've paid so you are all good on your side. The removal company has to put things in storage for the weekend, you check yourself into a semi-decent hotel and all the cost will have to be paid by the seller. It's far from ideal, but is it worth anyone giving themselves a panic attack? You won't lose any money, you just lose a few days. And that's the very very worst that could possibly happen (apart from the house exploding obviously).

I would be a lot more worried about hidden damage a pissed off and rude seller could do frankly.

I do hope the OP had long got her keys now, and will enjoy settling in their new home this weekend, but some of the advice are just so unreasonable! It's ridiculous.

Melamin · 22/06/2018 17:25

Watched our neighbours do this. They used a big open truck, that did not arrive until 9am. Nothing looked like it had been packed previously - just as it was from the rooms. It was gone 11.30 before the first truckload went. The new neighbours arrived after 12. They went off for some lunch and came back, then went and parked the vans.

At six, the old neighbours were moving stuff into the garage and the new ones were moving in. Next morning they came back for the garage stuff.

They were CF neighbours - was glad to see the back of them (eventually). They could well have afforded a removal service and were moving into a (5 bed) new build so not waiting for anyone to move out Hmm If everyone is supposed to be out by 12, then it is clear that it is not going to go to plan if someone requires a day's worth of multiple trips back and forth.

I hope these CFs do not leave too much mess for you.

KittyHawke80 · 22/06/2018 17:26

I’ve never bought or sold a house, so I know nothing of this (and haven’t even rtwft properly) but this does rather seem like the equivalent, writ large, of standing gormlessly next to your shopping while the checkout girl scans it, and only when she chirps “£43.80, please” starting to wonder if your purse isn’t in fact in your other handbag and if you even know the pin of the emergency credit card you keep in the inner pocket of this one. Surely the vendors knew they were moving out today? Why do you leave hours worth of stuff to do on the day you complete? Surely you’d be sat by the packing crates waiting for the call to scramble? Sure, OP’s husband and parents are slightly twattish to park up and pointedly tap their imaginary watches, but they’re not actually in the wrong, are they? It is moving day.

Giggorata · 22/06/2018 17:27

One of our moves, pre email, we were waiting for the keys to our new property, which, as it turned out, had been posted to the empty new property, along with all the info about contacts being exchanged and dates, etc.
The buyer's solicitor turned up on the doorstep, asking why we were still there.... embarrassing, but luckily, we had packed most things up and were basically camping, so we got out of it asap..

GameFrame · 22/06/2018 17:29

You can buy new locks in Screwfix for around £8 a piece. Takes 10 mins to install yourself.

MarklahMarklah · 22/06/2018 17:30

My neighbours moved recently. They chatted to us for a good few hours once they'd sold their house, about where they were moving to (local) and the pros and cons of using a removal service (with packers if needed). We told them about our experience, as we moved here a few years ago, how manic it was to be out on time, and that our buyer, having specified a completion date, then seemed quite surprised that we were completing "so soon."
Over the next month they spent a lot of time sorting things out, taking things to the tip, charity shop and so on.
On moving day it transpired that they'd opted to move themselves - with one small removal van which they'd hired for the morning, and two cars.
They started moving their things at around 8am. By 10pm, they were still moving things out of their garage and into our garden (We'd taken pity on them by 6pm and were helping them load up their cars, and generally get things out of the house).
New owners' removal van arrived at 2.30pm and they had to sit around until 4pm, by which time the owners had turned up and were understandably quite twitchy. When we spoke to them a few days later they said they'd been told that the property would be vacated by 12 noon.
When we bumped into the old owners they said that they wished they'd been better organised!

mothie · 22/06/2018 17:38

Why didn't you send the kids somewhere with the inlaws instead of sitting outside the house with them?

getupdressandshowup · 22/06/2018 17:38

Standard Conditions of Sale Fifth Edition states the completion time is 2pm or as otherwise specified in the contract. If the OP is not aware of another 'specified time' then the time for completion was almost certainly 2pm. Once the money arrives in the Seller's Solicitors Client Account the Buyer has 'completed'. The seller should have already been making active movement to vacate as he/she agreed to do when the Sale Contract was exchanged on their behalf. I agree that if the Seller is doing their damnedest to move everything out and is being genuine and is apologetic then fair enough but if the seller isn't.....
OP - what have the sellers said to you this afternoon? Are they frantically pile stuff up on the front driveway in every effort to get out? the house legally belongs to you. You are responsible for it, you're insuring it, you're paying the mortgage on it. You have completed. Take possession/occupation. It is legally yours. good luck. I'm invested and hope you've got a cold bottle of wine/bubbles ready to drink/nearby off licence.

Melamin · 22/06/2018 17:40

When we moved last (a really long time ago Hmm) the Estate agents cost nearly £5K, the solicitors about £800 and the removal van was £100 +VAT. This was for one the day costs - we did the boxes in the 2 weeks before, and they got their van MOT'd after they packed us as we weren't moving far. It took them 3/4 to unpack us and we had the rest of the afternoon to sort it out. They were really good value for money.

They also removed everything including every little bit of spare timber from around the back of the shed and the clothes prop.

Lookingforspace · 22/06/2018 17:42

Shock at £100+vat!
We moved 10yrs ago and it was £1600.

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 17:44

Why do you leave hours worth of stuff to do on the day you complete?
you are making very good points, but many people completely underestimate the time it takes to do everything. They genuinely think they are packed, but

they haven't dismantled the bed/ empty and defrosted fridge freezer/ completely empty and clean the kitchen
they haven't got professional movers (who can pack an entire house in a day or 2!)
they don't realise how long lugging and arranging boxes in a van can take
Someone had let them down - mover not turning up for example

People wait for the own purchase to be ready before they give up their current keys

Add any bank delay in the chain, and it's painful!

Melamin · 22/06/2018 17:46

Actually, now I come to think about it, it was £99+VAT. The other quote that we didn't use was £100+VAT. Grin

KittyHawke80 · 22/06/2018 17:48

I do accept that, but it surely still makes the fault theirs? Flipping the OP’s husband the bird isn’t tremendously helpful when they’re in the wrong. God - all this is making me feel sick if mum and I ever sell up. It’d take me eons to get everything sorted. I’d probably just have to take a Swan Vestas to the garage contents :(

Bluntness100 · 22/06/2018 17:52

I think a lot of people either don't understand or don't care but after the time Stated in the contract, you're no longer insured and you're actually in someone else's house. It's vacant and keys handed over by the time stated.

Some friends of ours just moved, they had a penalty in the removal company's contract to be completed by a certain time, because effectively due to distance it meant the removals guys couldn't get home again at a reasonable time.

They were due to take possession at noon and at 3pm the previous owners were still farting about, so they had no option but to start unloading their stuffand moving in. The previous owners eventually fucked off by about 7.

Fortunately for us, as every time we have moved it's involved some distance we have always vacated one house one day and not moved into the next house until the next day. So we always just collected keys at 5pm in the day we took possession, checked it out then stayed in a hotel. I've never had any clue in five moves if the previous owners handed rhe keys over five mins before we arrived or five hours.

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 17:54

KittyHawke80
usually people go through a huge decluttering when they put their property on the market.
When the purchase is looking strong, they start packing a few things (emptying garage, loft, packing ski clothes if it's summer.)

On my last move, it took me exactly a week to pack a 4 bed house, because I had a week between exchange to completion, with kids in the way. It sounds worst than it is, but it the last final things that people underestimate.

One of my sellers only released the keys early evening. It turn out the cleaning company they had employed had been very late, and the place was immaculate.
We also had the keys on time of a property which was flooded because the seller didn't even bother putting a bucket under a leaking pipe.