Would you be pissed off with this?

[Startuplife]

We had an offer accepted on a house way over asking price a few weeks back. We were told at the viewing that it was an older lady seller who was moving in with her daughter and therefore went with us as first time buyers.

We were happy to pay over the odds thinking it would be a quick sale/no chain etc.

It now transpires through paperwork our solicitor has sent us that actually she doesn’t live in the house at all but there are two tenants. I assume these are family members as one has the same last name as the seller. I’ve also done some digging on Facebook and it seems that the seller is the daughter and the tenants are her mum and her mum’s partner.

I’m waiting on the estate agent to clarify the situation but are we now in a precarious position buying a house with tenants in it even if they are all family?

Surely they've vacate the premises when you complete the sale, like any other house occupiers?
Why are you assuming they're sitting tenants?

Well, if the reason the house is for sale is that mum/tenant is moving in with daughter/seller, you don't have a problem.

Well yes they’ve said they will vacate but what happens if they don’t? And why has the estate agent deliberately misled us?

They’ve ignored my email requesting clarification and sent another email where they’ve named the daughter and her mum’s partner as the sellers which is even stranger.

It's a very long time since I sold or bought, and I'm in Scotland, but don't your solicitor's searches mention the name(s) of the owner(s)?

Yes that’s what’s led us to discover this. We’d seen the name of the owner previously and assumed she was the lady we were told was selling to move in with her daughter. Now it turns out she is the daughter who doesn’t live in the property at all.

The estate agent has clarified that the two people living in the property are relatives of the seller and therefore not tenants. Slightly confused on that as surely living in a house you don’t own makes you a tenant?!

tenants out before exchange, otherwise don;t exchange.

evicting tenants, even if they are not sitting tenants is a nightmare and can atke months.
I would be telling them that the offer was accepted under false pretences and that is only stands if completion is within xxx weeks which is what you were led to believe.

Agree the house being empty of tenants and their goods and chattels at exchange, but I don't think it's necessary to mention false pretences. There may simply have been a misunderstanding by the estate agent.

Thank you both, I will ask the solicitor to stipulate that. I was just a little bit shocked to find that the situation was not at all what the estate agent had told us!

Understandably. Hope it all goes well and you love your new home. :)

Standard for the property to be vacated by tenants before a solicitor would let you exchange.

I don’t see the problem. Just say that you won’t exchange until you have viewed the property for a final time AFTER the tenants have moved out