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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:
ChangeIsHard · 22/06/2018 12:12

completion usually takes place after lunch in my area, you can't really expect removals to be there at 9am and instantly move out. patience!!!

cjt110 · 22/06/2018 12:12

Look whether there is a delay clause in your contract. Usually there is and it is a percentage per day. No use now but it might give some compensation for your lack in getting in... the delayer usually pays a percentage per day when they have delayed post completion IIRC

MamaMiapartytime · 22/06/2018 12:14

Their solicitor should not have completed so early, it is unusual and really not the vendors fault. It is not realistic to expect anyone to vacate at 9.30 am.

You need to chill out. Just give them reasonable time to vacate. I say this as someone who twice has been unable to a access a house, Once because they were all still crying at 6pm and once because they were so disorganised- we got the keys at midnight.

Aprilshouldhavebeenmyname · 22/06/2018 12:17

Offer to help?!

OliviaStabler · 22/06/2018 12:18

Are your removal guys waiting?

Loandbeholdagain · 22/06/2018 12:18

Never heard of anyone moving at 9am in my area. People usually seem to complete at 2pm or 3pm for the obvious reason that they need physically remove all their things, tidy, clean anything beng left etc.

I don't think you should be concerned until 4pmish.

Rocinante1 · 22/06/2018 12:19

Can't you just go chap the door and ask how long they will be. Remind them that the money has gone through, so it is your house now.

15star · 22/06/2018 12:19

If your not in yet I would go round and see what's happening. I know someone that moved recently but on the day the previous owner wouldn't leave and hadn't even started packing!

steppemum · 22/06/2018 12:19

Ok, two issues here, the legal one and the 'neighbourly' one.

So, despite all the comments above about Oh they need til lunchtime, there is a time in your contract. Money has gone, house is yours, you are entitled to the keys NOW. They don't have any right to hold on, and the estate agents must hand over the keys. So legally, to be clear, they are late and the house is yours

On the 'neighbourly' front, you could knock on the door and say - hi, just wondering where you are as the keys should have been handed over/house is ours?
They you can find out if they are just slack and don't understand that they should have gone, or if they have had a problem, eg removal van late.

I am betting that they don't realise that they should have left already. You can put polite pressure on, or you can bring out the big guns and threaten to send them your removers bill, as you are paying by the hour etc

WhatchaMaCalllit · 22/06/2018 12:20

@Changeishard - that is hardly a helpful post. The OP has said that the money has changed hands, the vendor has been moving out for the past week and you're suggesting that they have more patience???

OP - I hope you're in your new house now. If not, keep phoning and phoning your solicitor and the estate agent. If they are still not out by 2pm today, perhaps suggest that you will consider if it is time to contact the police to evict them from what is now your property. They have had sufficient time to move (over the past week or so) so there really shouldn't be any delay to you moving in.

Ketzele · 22/06/2018 12:20

Very common, though annoying. We moved out of our place by midday, and got to new house by 2pm. Vendors were there till 7pm, screaming at each other in the kitchen while their daughter sobbed in my arms. They left half their stuff behind, and the house was filthy. The oven and dishwasher they had sold us were completely non-functioning.

Moving is hell.

Lookingforspace · 22/06/2018 12:21

But if people had to pay per hour I’d still bring in someone else’s house then they wouldn’t be so slack. There is no excuse to leave it all to the last minute.

DolorestheNewt · 22/06/2018 12:22

Good luck, OP. Make sure you get the beds made up early! Enjoy your new home

WhatchaMaCalllit · 22/06/2018 12:23

In my earlier post I made a reference to you considering to contact the police but I'm not suggesting that you actually do that, more the suggestion that you might is all. Might be enough to give them a rocket up the arse to get a move on. I wouldn't suggest wasting police time on what could be sorted between vendor and buyer.

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 12:23

Did you agree about a time in advance?

I think for all my house moves, the agreed time was midday. We were lucky if we ever got the keys before 5pm!

People usually only have a week between exchange and completion, some people are very disorganised, the worst are the ones who believe they can do the move themselves with a van.A wardrobe get stuck in the stairs, they underestimated something, they are frantically cleaning.

I wouldn't get too bothered about it, it must be quite rare for everything to happen on the clock.

You know the money has gone through, they are moving out, just go for a nice lunch and enjoy the peace before you get your keys! Hope they have left a nice clean house for you.

sockunicorn · 22/06/2018 12:23

we were out (as agreed though) by 4pm on moving day. so give them time. however this should have been agreed before now and is rude.

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 12:24

If they are still in the middle of moving out, how is kicking a fuss helping anyone? Do you want a filthy house with rubbish left behind?
Just call the EA to ensure they put pressure on them, and let them get on with it.

usernotfound0000 · 22/06/2018 12:25

We moved last week, we were as quick as we could be, but it was still 1pm before we were out. We couldn't physically move our stuff before completion day as we couldn't gain access to the new property. Of course, I could have left it a complete tip, maybe that would have been better?! I think until 1pm is a realistic expectation.

theunsure · 22/06/2018 12:25

Its usually 2pm that they have to be out by, thats what ours says anyway and was the same last time. We are waiting on exchange so that’ll be us soon.

PeppermintPasty · 22/06/2018 12:27

The contract you signed has a time in it, either 1 or 2pm, that is the official time for completion to take place. Often the money goes over earlier, solicitors send it as early as possible as sometimes it can take ages for the banking system to get it to where it needs to be.

Check with your solicitor for the precise time given in the contract and you will have to wait until then. They are not trespassing or anything like that.

Rachie1973 · 22/06/2018 12:27

When we bought our house we weren't moving in fortunately, so slightly less stress, but of course we were excited, and we did have a removal van of stuff to go in as we were going to use it over the summer and rent it out.

We left our home on Friday and started driving in the van on a really bad weather day, less than 4 miles into the 150 mile journey we hit traffic. So many accidents, because of the weather. We were due to complete at midday. Their solicitor started ringing ours at 11am, to hurry us along. By 2pm I was in tears, we'd been on the road hours, traffic was manic, and in the van we couldn't risk trying an unknown alternative route. We were exchanging keys ourselves, as it was an online estate agent.

Finally arrived at 4pm, feeling terribly guilty to keep vendor hanging on all day.

As we arrived all the doors were open, there was straw swirling through the house in the gale force winds, half the furniture was still in the house, the van outside was jam packed and you wouldn't get a teaspoon in it, and he was moving all the stuff left into our garage!

At that point he told us he'd be back on Sunday to get it all! Somehow we ended up in a conveyor belt type line helping him put it in the garage!

I think we were too shocked to register anything but surprise! The house that had looked gorgeous in Feb, was a tip!

Found out afterwards from the neighbour (we got talking when she asked if the motorbike in her garden was ours, it wasn't but he'd run out of space in the garage!) and the straw and animal smell was because they had 12 rabbits. House rabbits. They lived IN the house, running free. Along with 4 cats. I have no idea how there was never a bunny massacre quite honestly. It was flea ridden!

Love51 · 22/06/2018 12:28

Our vendor underestimated how long it would take to pack, plus the people she was buying from did the same. She didn't want to let us in til onward sale had been completed. In the end we phoned our solicitor who phoned her solicitor who explained to her that she was trespassing on our property. We agreed to let her put her stuff in our new garage to clear it out the way while our team moved the stuff into the actual house. Pissed me right off, I'd labelled every box which room it needed to go in, and should have had the kids beds made up by the time they got home. I had inlaws milling around waiting to be put to cleaning tasks, but we basically had to fill the house higgledy piggledy - initially we could only get into the lounge so our removal men put everything in there.
She didn't leave until gone 5.
So, kick up a fuss now, and you might see some action.

QuinquiremeOfNineveh · 22/06/2018 12:31

Presumably the vendors are no longer insured to be there. Their insurance will have ceased on completion, and op's insurance probably doesn't cover them. If they were to cause any damage now, up to and including burning the place down, op could be stuck with the bill. You can't afford to be neighbourly.

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 22/06/2018 12:32

It's a shame that EA and solicitors don't advise their clients that it's pretty naive to expect to get your keys at 1pm. They probably want to avoid any unnecessary moans in advance, but even on a straight purchase and no chain, things always get delay.
If you are stuck in a long chain, it will take even longer.

You have to make sure to pester the EA and you get the keys in the afternoon, but you shouldn't really expect miracles. After such a long process, who cares about a few hours. Removal companies are very aware they will waste time between the 2 properties.

LisaSimpsonsbff · 22/06/2018 12:33

I'm sort of surprised that your solicitor told you you'd get the keys at 9.30. I've only bought one house, so am no expert, but we were told not to expect before 2 or 3pm. If there's a chain then they won't get their keys until today either, so where would they have put the stuff overnight if they'd completely moved out yesterday? It seems obvious that everyone involved will spend half the day moving out and then half moving in?