Vendor is refusing us a second viewing

[Elasticatedwaist]

Nearly ready to exchange on a house that is being sold by a man on behalf of his elderly mother who is now in a care home, so has been empty the whole time.
We initially asked him if we could go in a few days before moving day to clean it as there’s mould due to being empty for ages but he refused.
We’ve asked to view again before the exchange of contracts and the estate agent has said that he won’t allow any more viewings. We’ve been in it once for 10 minutes . Wtf ?

Our solicitor has now suggested contacting the vendors solicitor and highlighting that we are committed to the sale and that they have advised us to have a pre exchange viewing. They are asking for a reason why not she said as without one it sounds suss. ‘It stinks like a three day old fish’ were her words to me 😀
Just to make matters worse dh has had an accident at work today, spent all morning in a&e and now can’t work for probably a couple of months. Fabulous !

Bad grammar there. Apologies.

We just want to go in and measure up. A quick visit and check before we pay up !
I cannot see any logical reason why he’s say no.

Can you walk away? Are there other properties?

No we can’t walk away. First time in years we’ve found one for sale that we can afford in the right area and ticking all the boxes. The sacrifice is that it is rundown / a doer upper just about doable for us.

So sorry about your husband’s accident @Elasticatedwaist. You’re not having a great time. Given your solicitor’s misinformation about this being a legal requirement I’d take her comment with a pinch of salt. Can you go round and peer through the windows?

I'd do what others are suggesting, and drive past the house at different hours of the day.

If the property is a doer-upper anyway, you're already prepared to do some work, and don't want to lose the house, so I'd just go ahead with the purchase.

So, our solicitor has spoken to his and he has agreed to us viewing. Our Estate agent is letting us view tomorrow. Apparently the vendor has said we may view it but must not move any furniture as his mother has left some personal possessions. The house is full to the brim with possessions which he was intending to leave us to clear out originally so, I am very suspicious now. I don’t think I believe that’s the reason at all. The plot thickens !

I think your solicitor needs to be crystal clear with his about what’s staying, what’s going, and the expectation of a clean house. You don’t want any surprises on moving day.

'Pre-exchange visits' are normal, if not common, esp if the sale has taken a while since your initial visit. You will insure from exchange- so if the property has developed any problems in the time you haven't seen it, they won't be insured for. We had problems with one of the sellers of our place being obstructive to the point of threats, so our solicitor insisted we had such a visit immediately pre-exchange in case they had done any wilful damage (they hadn't, but who knows what might have happened if we hadn't had the check?). There can be lots of good reasons for a pre-exchange check visit.