Buyer has entered property pre exchange and started renovation

[Iwishiwasjoking]

We were supposed to exchnage last week, then yesterday, now the proposal is exchange and complete tomorrow, all delays on buyers side told its mortgage company releasing fund.

property was vacated last week, but I removed the last items yesterday. Went back this evening to do a meter reading. Garden dug up, carpets ripped out, all windows open, lights on.

I am so shocked I have no idea what to do now …technically is burglary … but if this sale falls through I have a much less saleable house …

and before you ask how has he got in, there was a lockbox with keys in that the estate agents have been using … so either they’ve shared the code with him or he’s watched them and then let himself in.

This happened to us. EA gave the buyer keys but they didn't pay for ten days. Our sellers lost their house (we had to go into a three month rental post our holiday).
EA had to give us £5k off to cover some of the costs.
My solicitor wanted to charge them rent.
It was horrible and everyone in the town got a made up story to our reputational cost.

It was a thread where the op built the story up about crows attacking her whenever she tried to go outside. She then posted to announce she was attempting a long walk and would return in an hour to let everyone know how she fared. She never came back and everyone was left hanging like a group of Aurora Borealis spectators standing at the wrong end of the globe. There seem to be lots of these threads popping up. I guess they get a buzz out of generating interest and exploiting the gullibility of bored mumsnetters… harmless but faintly irritating.

OP only vacated a week ago, I thought you were covered for a couple of weeks?

But she may yet return: the prodigal OP.

OP said she was off to work and would update when she could. Quite likely not until after she finishes work.

On a property they don't own? Highly unlikely.

I hope your cake is a large one @AGovernmentOfLawsNotOfMen !

Yes good point ……although
Working never stopped me from posting on mumsnet 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Probably not😔

If op doesn’t return before Government finishes her large cake it’s officially a crow thread.

Any update op? That's so cheeky!

Completely depends on the terms of your policy. Obviously you have to inform the insurer that the property is vacant / unoccupied (I vaguely recall that the distinction is important?) and they will then advise if additional cover is needed. Hopefully OP has done this.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hopefully it'll exchanged now

Fingers crossed, all goes through today

You’ve misread the post in question. The poster has disagreed with those who advised the OP to say nothing.

Wow! Gold standard of CF!

I sold an empty house this year.

The buyer’s solicitor sent a 37 para Email, each with at least 3 sub paras.

One specified that the buyer could enter the house twice before completion. I think it said that this was to allow them to do further inspections etc but I did get a text from the EA asking me to state which day and time was convenient for the buyer to measure up. (Cash sale. Parent was buying for a pregnant daughter. As soon as it completed, everything was ripped out.)

Family friend did this, it became an enormous mess.

She and her sibling inherited a house, they advertised it and found a buyer. It needed to go through probate. Buyer was someone she loosely knew and unknown to sibling she'd given the buyer a key. Buyer then went in, ripped out the kitchen and started remodelling, all whilst probate was still trundling on.

Meanwhile, unrelated to buyers remodelling, the property flooded. Whilst this was all up in the air with various insurance, and whilst probate was still ongoing, the family friend died.

It became a huge mess, and in all honesty I don't know where everything is at now, friend's husband will inherit her share of the probate property but presumably her probate now needs to go through as well before the property can complete.
Sibling is now trying to deal with the mess and praying buyer doesn't drop out.

We had similar but we had the foresight to ensure our presence at each viewing. While we wouldn't go around with them, just be nearby, it meant they couldn't do anything to damage the property before completion. It is usually fine for buyers to return, measure up, get an idea of what they want to do but not to start before completion. OP should get a significantly discounted rate from EAs for this screw up.

I left it all to the EA, but he came highly recommended by both my solicitor and my electrician.

Found the builders' wives. Gotta do your pickups in your Range Rover Evoques ladies?

Oh do bore off.

Following.

The cheeky fuckers!!!

I'm pretty much speechless and can't think of any good advice over what you've already done - taking photos, removing keys etc. but shit, they really take the CF biscuit!