Am I being unreasonable?

[Barnets5pSlots]

How unreasonable am I being here? We were due to exchange tomorrow and complete on Friday, although at the last minute completion has been moved to next week. I am nowhere near being finished packing. The home is a bomb site at the moment whilst I’m trying to sort out what I can. Earlier today I got a call from the estate agent asking if the buyers can view the home tomorrow as they now won’t agree to exchange without seeing it again. There is absolutely no way I can get the house into any reasonable state for viewing tomorrow. It honestly looks like every room has been ransacked. I also work from home 3 days a week and the office the other 2. When I’m at home, obviously there can’t be any viewings, as I’m talking private calls for an hour each time all day. When I’m in the office, my dog is at home and he will not tolerate someone letting themselves into my home to look around. I have no one to look after him either and last time he went in kennels, he was so upset he scratched his claws down until they bled - so that isn’t an option either.

I’ve suggested one day next week where I have a 2 hour gap, and everyone feels I am being awkward and unreasonable being so rigid. I am a single mum, I work 2 jobs totalling 50 hours a week and my children do sports activities that I have to take them to every night of the week. It’s beyond stressful at the moment trying to pack and make sure that will be done by the day of the move, I have no help from anyone, let alone now having the pressure of sorting it out so someone can view. I wondered with my estate agent why the buyer couldn’t have said this sooner and visited last week or the week before; before all the packing and reorganising started, rather than demanding it the day of exchange. Am I being unreasonable?

Just an update. Turns out the buyers did want a ‘show home’ standard of viewing. They communicated that they were extremely disappointed with the state of the property and issued a list of things they wanted doing - cleaning some marks off walls, etc. Things I would have been doing had I not been packing the house up single-handedly. I am actually extremely annoyed as I had stayed up until the early hours for several nights in a row to get the house as straight as possible and it wasn’t very different to how it was when initially viewed, other than boxes being everywhere and furnishings and ornaments no longer being out. They commented on everything that wasn’t ‘perfect’ and it seems their expectation was for it to look immaculate.

You gave them their viewing, they had unrealistic expectations. Too bad for them. Try to not take it to heart.

God they sound completely insufferable. I'm so sorry they are behaving like this. Take a deep, deep breath and try very hard not to react.
I wonder if they might be working their way up to asking for money off? I do hope not, but being 'disappointed' because the house is being packed up and going so far as to communicate their 'disappointment' to you smacks of a bit of last minute manipulation. I hope I'm wrong.
My suggestion is to keep going with what you're doing and ignore their faux disappointment unless any further comes of it.
Fingers crossed for you @Barnets5pSlots .

Im sorry that your buyers are being unreasonable.

Just do what you can re marks off walls etc.

You don’t need to allow another viewing so try to just stay calm until Exchange and agree to do the things that can be done easily and cost no money.

Yes, you’re being unreasonable. It is advised to have a viewing immediately prior to completion in case you have done something to damage the house. I know it’s tough but you’ll have to have them come early, at lunch or in the evening or skip a call. The kids can miss one club session.

Read @Barnets5pSlots 's subsequent posts before posting?
It's not exactly a long thread!

I have never heard of this but I haven’t moved for 15 years 🤷‍♀️ sounds like it’s the normal thing to do now OP

You don't need to be 'adviced' on something thats basic common sense.

If your happy to take ridiculous risks thats entirely on you but you cannot decide for buyer must take that risk because you can't be arsed to do a viewing... its a LEGAL issue if anything goes wrong, no one is risking the cost of a house on your timetable.

Very Surprised your soliciter didn’t advise you to do the same on the property you are buying

it’s a viewing to check that nothing material has changed between offer and exchange

there is no reason to have the house “viewing ready” - they just need to be able to see the toilet still works and the walls aren’t trashed

They sound annoying. Were the marks on the wall etc there when they viewed? If so, it was sold as seen

The thing is when you start pulling your house apart in preparation for packing up the house it will look imperfect. Think your buyers OP were being very unreasonable in their expectations. I am in this process at the moment and it's very difficult to keep it looking pristine.

It doesn’t have to look pristine !

ours certainly wasn’t

It’s a structural damage check that most soliciters will advise you do so just prior to exchange

because legally what you buy is what is there on the day or exchange

before then the OP could have ripped out the entire kitchen and sold it on eBay and there would be absolutely nothing the buyer could do about it

I had to see my house due to there being a tenant that needed to have moved out; you’ve done your best so try to put it behind you.
Ask for help for moving day and be great to have your dog away from the house whilst you finish off packing and get to completion. Good luck.

How rude of your buyers! Take no notice.
You did what they requested, end of.

just wanted to add both my daughter and I moved late last year to different properties and neither of our solicitors advised having a second viewing just before exchange.
I was also on the buyers/sellers thread on here last year as we had loads of problems and not many people had second viewings before exchange either.

It does seem there’s lots of variations on whether the viewings are advised or not. This is the third house I’ve bought and never been advised to view any - hence why this one took me by surprise. In any event it’s been a difficult one anyway as the sale is likely to not go through now due to unreasonable expectations.

I’ve never heard of it either. We’ve bought and sold five times, and bought our last house in 2020. I’ve had people come back for second viewings, but usually soon after the first. We’ve also exchanged/completed on the same day with nobody asking for a viewing beforehand.

So have they pulled out or asked for a price reduction?

We've bought and sold eight times and it's only been the last three (since 2014) where our solicitor has advised to view immediately ahead of exchange. These were all in different parts of the UK (West Midlands, Wales, West Sussex) using different (local) conveyancing solicitors.

Our buyers haven't bothered to do this, so perhaps their solicitor didn't advise?

They have asked for unreasonable things to be done - I.e. they want tiles to be replaced that have hairline cracks within the next 2 days, etc. This is despite the issues having been there since before they viewed. They won’t exchange until this is agreed and I’m now about to lose my move date for the second time so I will likely pull out myself completely and take my house off the market as I can’t keep arranging and rearranging removals vans and days off work. There is actually nothing wrong with my house other than the one I was buying is a little bigger, so if I withdraw I will try and extend this one

They are pissing you about now @Barnets5pSlots .
Arseholes.

I think you should call their bluff actually. Tell them they can take it or leave it but you're not jumping through any hoops for them.
There's a strong chance they'll just back down. They think they can intimidate you.

Are they first time buyers.

I would say it was priced and sold including in the information sent as seen and nothing further will be done. They either oroceed as planned or you will withdraw

Retiled? absolutely fuckers op. Pull out. And feel a little smug.

Someone needs to EIL5 to them that, unlike rentals, you don't get to dictate minor things like this after your offer has been accepted and before you move in.

The people that I'm buying from have a) offered to service the boiler b) fix slipped roof tiles and c) re-paint a bathroom that's accidentally been done with not waterproof paint.

Offered, off their own backs.

I'm entitled to insist on these things being done per our agreement before exchange, but I don't get to walk around the house a few days before exchange and insist that they replace tiles with hairline cracks in them THAT I DID NOT EVEN NOTICE.

Sodding hell. I really hope they're not FTBs, because they're giving us a stinking reputation if they are.

They are first time buyers. I’ve given them a deadline to either agree or I’m dropping out. I’ve told them I won’t be negotiating.