The money has all cleared but we don’t/cant have the keys!

[Mykittensmittens]

DM is completing today and it’s getting a bit fraught. The onward sale is moving to a new build and DM is bottom of the chain.
DMs money cleared at 10.30am and she had confirmation that all was well so she is now the legal owner of that house. Contract states midday vacating.

However, the vendors purchase hasn’t gone through so they are not budging. DM has spoken to the agent who has now said because their onward purchase hasn’t been confirmed, they need to sit tight as they have nowhere to go. The situation hasn’t been updated in the last hour as they are now not picking up calls from the agent.

DM is going nuts (she’s very anxious, this is all as a result of a difficult split). Shes trying her solicitor again now but the agent is now saying DM is being ‘difficult’ and this is normal protocol. If it was 5pm it would be an issue but as it’s ‘only’ 2.30 it’s not.

is it normal?? I think that the fact that their onward purchase isn’t confirmed as paid is nothing to do with my DMs situation, and not her problem? Her part of the chain is complete and they need to vacate?

What does he think she should do? Wait until everyone is closed before she does anything about it?

The vendors need to move their stuff into a second van now. Multiple trips at 4pm on a Friday is not on- even if they are moving 5 minutes away that's 10 minute round trip + 30 minutes unloading + 30 minutes reloading. Anything after 5 on a Friday becomes a challenge*

• I moved on a Friday- never again!

Well surely she does need to go and wait at the estate agents if that’s where the keys are being dropped off. The estate agent won’t like it if they’re supposed to close at 4.30 but what else can she do, are they suggesting she wait until Monday to get the keys to the property that’s now legally hers?

We once didn’t get in on the day we were supposed to due to the money moving up the chain too slowly so it can happen. I think it’s rare but agree don’t move on a Friday if you can help it.

If I was your mum I would be staying in the EAs until the keys arrive whether they like it or not. Someone will just have to work until after 4.30 if necessary.

Both times I've done this we vacated ours had the stuff in storage with removals company- most good removals company's will do it for little(if any) cost-checked into premier inn for 2 nights and had the cleaners in the day before we moved the stuff in having picked up keys and given it a once over look whilst empty- works a treat and you have a clean house to move into

The estate agent is a right piece of work who is playing your dm for a mug. Please do make sure she goes and stages a sit in at the estate agents!

What absolute CFs they are! They should have all their stuff packed up and ready to go and should have vacated the property already. The fact they haven't got the keys for their onward purchase is not your Mum's problem. I'd get onto her solicitors and get them to speak to the vendors solicitors. Tell them that if she hasn't got the keys by 4.30 she'll be calling a locksmith at their expense. I can't believe the estate agents are being so unprofessional either, but really the solicitors are the ones with the clout.

God i'm absolutely fuming on her behalf. You can't do multiple journeys once you've sold your house!

Not up to them is it. Legally the property is hers, and being present may just nudge them out. We arrived at one property about an hour after completion but the vendors were still sat there waiting to be told to go by their solicitor. They left pretty smartish!

This. Do not let them take the piss! They should have booked a big enough van and had it loaded up before noon.

Is she incurring any actual costs as a result of the delay? Like, does she have removal men waiting outside with all her stuff? If so I'd be asking the solicitor to make it very clear to the vendors that those costs will be passed on.

If she isn't, I'd maybe take a deep breath and not worry too much - it's stressful, and yes it's immensely cheeky of the vendors, but it looks like everything is going forward (albeit glacially) and she'll be in very soon.

I have to say, though, any agent who told me it would be inappropriate to come and get the keys to a house I now owned could expect the response "well then, prepare for me to do something inappropriate!"

We had this, we literally turned up at the house and started moving our furniture in around them. They left.

This happens to my eldest we and she just turned up and started to unload - they soon got a move on. Your mum owns the house she needs to get the keys and move in.

It's just inconvenient to them, that's all. The vendors should have had their house emptied in the morning, just like everyone else.

Your mother doesn't need to wait at the agents for the keys - she needs to go to the agents and collect the keys for the property as it is now hers. She also needs to call her solicitor ASAP before the solicitor goes home for the weekend to say that the vendors have not vacated and ask for advice.

Can you send your mum to sit at the estate agents and you go to the house with some of her stuff? Hopefully you will stumble across the seller and chivvy him on and take the keys off him.

i mean if the sellers next house hadn’t been confirmed today what did the estate agent think was going to happen? That the seller could just stay in someone else’s house all weekend?

What cheeky fuckery - bloody hell! Hopefully your mum gets this sorted tonight given it’s her house.

It’s not so much about the inconvenience but the fact that the house is now legally hers and theoretically could be in a dodgy situation re insurance should the vacating party cause any damage.

Your poor mum, so stressful, we were last in our chain and didn’t pick up the keys until 4:15, winter, so dark in a new city with snow on the ground. We did move on a Thursday, really pissed off everyone else in the chain, as they wanted a Friday completion, we said no, as we were last in the chain and had a 3+hr drive. I can understand why people opt for Friday’s, if something goes wrong, nothing will happen until the following Monday. I hope your mum has the keys and is moving in now. I hope it will be a happy home for her.

ask her to speak to her solicitor. Usually there is a vacation time in there, something like 2pm.

She goes to the Estate Agents and asks for their set of keys right now. If they don't hand it over then she tells them she'll report them because she is now the legal owner of the house! The vendor can leave their set as they go

What a shitshow.

Sounds like the vendor's solicitor has cocked up, if the money for the sale was in at 10:30am, possibly didn't send it on promptly to the newbuild solicitors.

And the vendor has cocked up by not getting a big enough van. What an absolute idiot!

I'd be pretty pissed off at this point.

I hope your Mum got into the house.

We had this, the house we were buying had been vacated but the estate agents tried to withhold the keys because the rest of the chain hadn't managed to complete. They were trying to say we needed to go back to the old house with some sort of agreement drawn up by solicitors. I refused and we broke in and then unloaded. People up the chain had to stay in hotels.

I can't believe their vendor hadn't packed up.

We had this from the other side when the solicitor made a mistake and 'lost' our money. We were mid chain and had already left and gone for lunch. No idea when our buyers moved in but we couldn't go back as it was their house.
Ended up being a very worrying afternoon and then the solicitor paid for us to spend the weekend in a hotel as while they found the money and got it back it was too late to put the transaction through.
No idea if our sellers stayed put or also went into a hotel.

My friends had this. They turned up at the house in the end where the sellers were still slowly moving their stuff out and instructed the removal men to start moving their stuff in around them. Absolute piss takers this was also at 4pm when they were meant to be out by 12 and their movers had been waiting round since 12 for them to be able to move them in.
Id either turn up at the agents or the house and wouldn’t be leaving until I’d got my keys