Can we move garden items in before completion and collecting keys? Empty house purchase.

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We're due to complete on our house on Wednesday next week. We're first time buyers so naive to the process! I stupidly thought that at 8am that Wednesday we could stroll into the estate agents and collect keys. Nope - we have to wait for monies to be transferred and clear!? Ugh.

The property is empty - it was a probate sale and the family selling are away on a cruise. So they 100% wont be doing any last goodbyes to the house that morning.

Could we just open the back gate and put all of our garden stuff away that morning to start with, whilst we are waiting for them to call us and tell us to collect the keys? I don't want to waste the whole day when we could be moving shit about! Ive agreed to borrow a van from a friend but I have to give it back Tuesday night!

I wasn't planning on asking permission because obviously the estate agent would say no just to cover themselves.

Wwyd?
YABU - you have to wait
YANBU - nobody is there, just get cracking

Shit I forgot to add the poll 🙄

The answer is legally, no but to be honest this is what we did. The house we were buying was 5 doors down and empty so we started putting some stuff in the garden on the morning of the move.

You have to wait.

Until all the money has gone through it’s not your house and you don’t own it.

you cannot just start dumping things in a house you don’t own.

Nope - we have to wait for monies to be transferred and clear!? Ugh.

I know, imagine expecting you to pay for your house before you go dumping your shit there. Total bummer. 🙄

No you cant and in unfortunate cases house sales can fall through at the last minute, just don’t do it. Have the van packed and drive it and sit outside, How many van loads of stuff do you have ?

Don't be unkind, why would a FTB know that the transfer of funds isn't immediate in the morning??
OP if you're chain free it won't take long. My keys were available about 10am. I would do what you're suggesting too, no reason not to.

If it's just some stuff in the garden they can easily take it away again if the purchase falls through on the day of completion for some reason

Just phone your solicitors and say you need to get in early please can they make sure the money is sent first thing in the morning.

With no chain, the money could well be transferred early. We picked up our keys before midday.

You obviously shouldn’t dump stuff in the garden but if you do it seems to me that would be very low risk. You wouldn’t be covered by any insurance policy if stuff went missing or damaged, but you can make a judgment about that.

Unless you live in a mansion, until Tuesday night will be fine for the van. Pick a room downstairs, maybe the lounge and put as much stuff in there as possible. The big stuff, beds etc take them up to the room they belong in but just stick them in there. Have a box of things you’ll need for the first night/day - kettle, bedding etc. Then just focus on getting as much stuff into the house as possible, you can sort it out, assemble furniture etc later.

Also, try not to panic if you don’t get the keys straight away, there are all sorts of weird things that have to be confirmed so they will be ready when they are ready. Ours were ready at 13:00 and then our buyers didn’t get theirs until about 15:00.

I agree that legally you shouldn't and as FTBs theoretically you won't have numerous vans full of stuff....

However, like @tealandteal we have previously done this.

Back in 2011 we were cash buyers, buying a house 200 miles from the one we were selling. The house we were buying was empty as the vendors had inherited a farm belonging to elderly parents and had moved out months before it went on the market. We planned moving ourselves in hired vans and knew it would take a few journeys.

They actually approached us and asked if we'd like to move things in ahead of completion. When we hesitated, they handed us the keys! We had loads of stuff (a six bed house's worth including lots of garden furniture and a hot tub 🙄) so we accepted and moved a couple of vans loads in before we completed but not the hot tub which required specialist removals!

Ask the estate agent to ask the vendor. We sold a probate property and allowed the buyers to do this.

We did, but we asked and EA and vendor said yes as property was empty. They won't automatically say no especially if it's just garden stuff.

Wouldn't have done it without asking though.

Legally no, but in practice you could get away with it. Until it is legally yours you'll be on dodgy ground if anything goes wrong - if it's stolen it won't be insured, and any damage done if something falls over and knocks down a neighbour's fence panel or breaks a window won't be insured. Technically you will be trespassing. However in all probability nothing will go wrong and you'll be fine.

Just ask the vendor - with our first time buy we got a set of keys after exchange (though this wasn’t to move in but to allow access for tradespeople to quote etc as it was a wreck that needed doing up!). The agreement was via the solicitors - the vendor was a very reasonable person!

Our buyers moved their garden stuff into our garden the night before completion and we were still living there. We came back from a meal out to find it all. I thought it was incredibly cheeky but did nothing about it. There was no point as we were moving out the next day.

We did move garden stuff, pots and plants etc the day before and stashed it in the garden. However we did ask permission from the vendor (also a probate sale, empty house). When we got there we found the shed was unlocked, so we went back with another car load of garage stuff, nothing valuable, just bulky.

If you have exchanged then I think that it’s fine as no one can back out without large financial penalties and you would have insured the house and contents in your name anyway (or you should have). However having just done a house move, you will likely exhaust yourself moving things twice. Once to the garden and then once in to the house. It’s hard work. I would only move garden stuff into the garden and everything else wait until you have the keys. Also you likely won’t get the keys until 1ish, are you just going to sit in the garden for 5 hours? What will you do when you go and get your keys and your things will be unattended in your garden, if you can access the garden so can a thief. What if it rains?

Last year my sons sold their late father's empty house

Towards the end of the process, the buyers asked via the estate agent, if upon exchange but prior to completion which would be a few days later, they could store some stuff in the garage

This was agreed to on the strict stipulation that it would only be after exchange of contracts

Just ask. I was a FTB and the house was empty. Was chatting with the vendor on my second visit to measure up, swapped numbers (her solicitor was being awful. She told had to say I’d threatened to pull out the sale. It should have been six weeks and took 4 months) one day she texted me when we had a completion date and asked if I wanted the keys as she was driving past. I was stripping wall paper over a week before we completed.

My ex husband has just said his vendors have said he can have the keys to their place early too because they know he’s had a mess around with his sale and purchase.

some people want to help.

My seller assembled a bed frame for us and let us drop the mattress off the night before completion to let it "inflate". I bought her a bottle of gin to say thank you. Most people are normal and understanding about things. We got the keys about 9.30 the following morning.

I wouldn't, I know it's exciting moving into your first house but you need to be patient. Even at the last minute there could be delays.
Having the van until Tuesday night should give you enough time to move in.

When we sold my late Dad’s house the buyers requested early access to drop some things off. We allowed access to the garden for a tree they were moving but nothing else because of insurance. Until the completion has happened the insurance is with the current owners. Had the buyers caused any damage, or had an accident we, the vendors, would’ve been liable so we stuck to the completion for them to have access. This might sound unreasonable but after all the stresses and difficulties that go with being an executor we didn’t want to fall at the last hurdle.

Speak to the sellers and get their permission.

Our vendor gave us the keys after exchange, empty house, and we had about two weeks before completion. I didn’t really think about potential consequences at the time but we got all the ceilings and a few walls painted and had new carpets fitted, so on moving day we could get the furniture straight in.

The house had stunk of dogs and we had a new born baby, so we were extremely grateful (if a bit naive!)