Completed on house this morning but previous owner still hasn’t left!!

[BlueFireSmokey]

Got the message from the solicitor to say we had completed at around 11am this morning. Told the house was now ours and we could pick up the keys from the estate agents. Phoned estate agents and arranged to pick keys up at 3pm. We were very excited as it’s our first home!

Got to estate agents no sign of keys no one seemed to know where they were. They phoned the vendor who said she wasn’t done packing!! And would be gone in a couple of hours. Estate agents told us they shut at 5:30 so to get the keys we would need to go to the house and get them direct from the vendor.

We then left it a couple hours before going to our lovely new home. Fortunately, we have several weeks left on our tenancy so we aren’t actually moving all our furniture in today (vendor doesn’t know this). Anyway they are still there! They said they will be another twenty minutes.

We are gonna find some dinner somewhere then head back and see if they are gone. They gave us a key but they still have keys they said they will put through letter box. This isn’t how I imagined today would go!

[Mulhollandmagoo]

Some people are beyond cheeky! Have you said anything to her? Get yourself round there, you can it's your home!

[MaggieFS]

So annoying! Good luck.

Backs up what I was once told about never completing on a Friday because if something goes wrong, EA and solicitor won't be around again until Monday and removal men charge more on a Saturday.

I hope you're in YOUR new home soon.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

All the people saying just go and sit in the house, get a pizza etc......without the keys how is she supposed to do that?

[TakeMe2Insanity]

@harriethoyle

Get deliveroo to YOUR new house (not theirs, cfs!) and eat pizza in YOUR lounge whilst waiting for them to leave!

Totally!

I’d email them and tell them you’ll be charging rent per hour of delay. Not on!

[Mumoftwo1990]

@BlueFireSmokey

Got the message from the solicitor to say we had completed at around 11am this morning. Told the house was now ours and we could pick up the keys from the estate agents. Phoned estate agents and arranged to pick keys up at 3pm. We were very excited as it’s our first home!

Got to estate agents no sign of keys no one seemed to know where they were. They phoned the vendor who said she wasn’t done packing!! And would be gone in a couple of hours. Estate agents told us they shut at 5:30 so to get the keys we would need to go to the house and get them direct from the vendor.

We then left it a couple hours before going to our lovely new home. Fortunately, we have several weeks left on our tenancy so we aren’t actually moving all our furniture in today (vendor doesn’t know this). Anyway they are still there! They said they will be another twenty minutes.

We are gonna find some dinner somewhere then head back and see if they are gone. They gave us a key but they still have keys they said they will put through letter box. This isn’t how I imagined today would go!

I work in an estate agents and it's not the norm but sometimes it does happen. It's not ideal for anyone but as long as they're gone by the end of the day that's the main thing.

You could complain to your solicitor but it honestly won't do all that much apart from cause you hassle.

[Staryflight445]

Did you get sorted op?

[LubaLuca]

How are they moving all their stuff at this time of night?! I'm guessing they're moving themselves and there aren't irate removals men outside, but even so - how are they now going to move in to their new home at this hour?!

[5zeds]

They have a key, and anyway people are moving out, you just walk in (to your house). Phone all your friends and get them to come and sit too. Stare the fuckers out.

[Wombat96]

Last house, it was my DHs birthday & we eventually got the keys off them at 11.30pm. They had totally underestimated how long it would take to pack & move.

[KerningBurnHole]

@RoseRedRoseBlue

All the people saying just go and sit in the house, get a pizza etc......without the keys how is she supposed to do that?

They do have a key - OP said so on her very first post.

OP I hope you get rid of your trespassers v soon!

[BronwenFrideswide]

@Clymene

There was a thread on here a while ago by someone who was pissed off that her buyers had showed up because she was still having lunch

They're trespassing. The house doesn't belong to them, it belongs to you. I hope they're gone.

That thread was a classic of absolute entitlement and the OP's failure to see it.

[Clymene]

@RoseRedRoseBlue

All the people saying just go and sit in the house, get a pizza etc......without the keys how is she supposed to do that?

They gave her a key.

[HambletonSquare]

Friend of mine had similar, except had arrived at their new house with their removals company and a wagon full of furniture.

Said removals company had to go to their next job too....so the rather burley guys, went into the house, removed all of the ex owners furniture and dumped it on the front lawn, emptied their van of my friends furniture, into their new house and left.

[MuslinsRLife]

Same happened to us when buying our first house. Absolute morons, we had a 6 month old baby! I’m still annoyed 5 years later!

[listsandbudgets]

@TheGriffle

We had the same OP, picked the keys up to it first house, got there to find them still moving out and their mil hoovering upstairs!

I'd have LOVED to find someone hoovering in the last house we bought... I don't think it had been done for months or maybe a year!!

OP they'd better be gone when you get back - vacant possession is just that. Imagine if you'd just moved out of your house, all your things were in a removal van and you couldn't get in - you're lucky you've still got the tenancy running (and very sensible to have some overlap)

[YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp]

Just as well you don’t have a removal lorry sitting outside waiting to unload 😳😡

[Calmdown14]

It's wrong and clearly not ideal but some people just underestimate the time needed to pack up a house.
Just be thankful it has happened now and not in your next house when you are sat on the drive with your stuff in a van.
Personally I think your approach is the right one. You could kick up a fuss but equally they could accidentally walk through mud in the garden and over the carpets or accidentally throw away the instructions for the boiler in their panic to leave.
It's not right but getting irate and into a tit for tat situation isn't in your interests either.
Hopefully they will leave you a bottle of wine for your inconvenience

[Mangosmoothiesprinkles]

Make sure you change the locks once you have the keys!

[Loudestcat14]

I'd be bloody furious. What would've happened if you'd turned up with all your stuff in a van, kids, pets and plants in tow, etc? Have you told them they are now trespassing in your property? Definitely make a complaint in the morning – especially as they can't be doing any cleaning if they're still packing.

[IsabellesMissingSock]

@Mangosmoothiesprinkles

Make sure you change the locks once you have the keys!

She's already got a key!

[AperolWhore]

@BlueFireSmokey this exact thing happened to us! Collected keys at 4:30pm, arrived at house at 5pm and they were still packing. We gave them an hour and came back, they still weren’t done plus they were rude so I told them they had 30 minutes and I wanted them out and they could collect the rest of their things the next day.

They agreed, gave me all the keys and we arranged for them to come back at 8am the next day as I had cleaners booked in at 9am. They arrived at 10am, let themselves in with another set of keys and told the children to go say bye to their rooms!

Luckily I’d already put the last of their stuff in the garage so I promptly ushered them out and requested the other set of keys. Locks changed the next day at great expense and they we’re definitely CF’ers!

Can’t wait to hear how you get on xx

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

@KerningBurnHole and @Clymene thank you.

[tillytoodles1]

When we bought our first home we arrived to find that they'd packed up and taken a lot of plants from the garden, then left the keys with a neighbour who was at work all day so we couldnt get in.

[ineedaholidayandwine]

Christ they are taking the piss! I hope you get sorted

[Mumteedum]

Happened to me too. Collected keys from the agents. Took my little boy to see his new home but luckily had an overlap from rental because we arrived to find a house full of people. They were dismantling a wardrobe and bashing it down the stairs in pieces, the parents were cleaning.. they also had a low loader in the next door neighbour's drive without asking. It was chaos. I was rather pissed off as a lone parent who had gone through a lot to get her own home again...not how I wanted to show our home to my little boy.