5 months to complete - who mows grass?

[Horsedatives]

Buyers offered on my late parents' house in April.... they can't complete until early September as they are selling their property to a family member..... agent has just said they are waiting for that mortgage to go through.

They've been going past and noticed the garden is going crazy.

I live 200 miles away.

They contacted the estate agent and asked that lawn is mown immediately. I will arrange this, but just wondering what is normal here?

What is normal is for the legal owner of the property to do basic maintenance jobs like mowing the lawn ( or paying someone else to do so) at least until exchange of contracts.

You. Unless you are trying to piss everyone off?

It’s 100% your responsibility. As a buyer I’d see the garden and wonder if the rest of the house was falling into disrepair too. Do you have someone checking on it? They can’t remand you get the grass cut right now but it needs to be decent for when they move in and personally I wouldn’t want to risk putting them off.

Keeping the garden tidy (not Chelsea Flower show ready) is part of upkeep/maintenance. I'm also doing it more for DMs old neighbours who have become family friends and who have show gardens in comparison to ours! I'd also be worried about squatters if it started to look too unkempt and empty.

As part of my empty house insurance I have to check in on the property weekly - just as well as a pipe burst back in feb! Do the EA do this for you?

We’re in a similar position in that we’re holding our house for someone until autumn. We could put it up n the market and sell it quicker but we’re waiting for them. So we’re doing them a favour, they’d lose the house if we put it on the market now (we’ve already had a few people asking to see it before it goes on the market). If I didn’t live nearby I’m pretty sure this person would pop in and mow the lawn once a month for us - because they know we’re being nice to them. So I might ask these people if they could mow it themselves. Ideally it should be kept mowed, although you don’t have to, but I think they are incredibly cheeky demanding you do something when you’re actually doing them a favour waiting, and I’d say that to the estate agent/solicitor.

It should be maintained as it appeared on viewing.

It's not unusual to let things slip a little but it's shitty to completely abandon any maintenance.

I'm not legally trained but agree with others that you don't have any responsibility until you've actually sold it.

Leaving a house untouched from april to September ,it is not going to fall into disrepair 🙄. It will just sit there empty. What do you think is going to happen in 5 months of nobody being there ?

Our current house was empty for a year and a half owner had moved to new Zealand. House was fine , garden was wild but they did get someone to strim it over before completion. No it didnt put me off , no i didnt tell the estate agent to get it cut immediately.

Op, you just need to say the garden will be tidied and in good condition at the time of exchange.

Quit your childish eye rolling, I was giving a different perspective. The garden could fall into disrepair for one thing and the buyers could see something prettier or ask for a discount. OP asked for opinions, I didn’t post here for you.

🙄

Anybody who is going to pull out of a house sale because the garden/ grass has not been weeded/ mown is not serious about buying the house in the first place.

If you don’t like other peoples comments/ opinions then dont post on a public forum 🙄

As a pp asked, have you exchanged? That’s what it hinges on

pre exchange - you insure & maintain
post exchange - they insure & maintain

Thanks everyone
Ea has got someone doing it - princely sum of £10ph which is a third of what is charged where I live.

I've got it insured.

Other maintenance...... there isn't a lot, seriously it's got new everything and is only 20 year old

Not exchanged. We want a 10% deposit on exchange and it was supposed to be super quick aa we agreed to take it off market and allow the long lead time.

That's £50k so after that I'd be more inclined to spend out on the property tbh.

In this case tho I feel like other viewings should be going ahead.
Ea has taken it off right move foe them.

I'm not sure I'd have agreed to stop marketing it in the circumstances. Purchasers could easily change their minds or find themselves in a different financial position especially if a mortgage is involved and the economy changes post election. You can exchange with a delayed completion date but are still responsible for the property in the meantime. Does the insurer know the house is unoccupied? You can still get a leak or break in, for example.

Other viewings should not be going ahead because you have agreed to sell the property to these buyers and they are presumably spending money on the legal process of buying it.

It was on the basis of a rapid exchange - therefore even if they fall through, we have the £50k.
But thr exchange hasn't happened yet.

They haven't even exchanged contracts yet and they are badgering the estate agent and demanding that you immediately arrange for the grass to be cut?

Wowee. That is serious CF territory.

Yes - OP it is your responsibility to maintain it although they are cheeky f**kers for asking the agent to ask you.

It would be in my best interest if it was me to go and check on the house now and again, and if I couldn’t go, someone else in the family.

How do you know someone isn’t swotting in there?

The risk you have if you don’t get the lawns mowed is that the buyer could pull out… for the sake of a 200 mile drive, is it worth the hassle?