Estate Agent Selling Empty House

[Deleted User]

We're about to put our old house on the market. We're now living about 25 miles away so the plan is to hand over the keys to the EA and let them get on with it.

Does anyone have any horror stories about this kind of thing? Presumably they can be trusted to lock up properly, put on the alarm etc? (They would invalidate our home insurance if they didn't!)

googler

Sounds fine to me. Why wouldn't they be honest and efficient about it?

To turn your question around, do you think it's possible they're wondering if they can trust you?

And why prejudge the answers by asking for 'horror stories' ? Why not just ask if folks here could 'relate their experiences' or something similar?

DVardysShadow

Deleted_User wrote: »

We're about to put our old house on the market. We're now living about 25 miles away so the plan is to hand over the keys to the EA and let them get on with it.

Does anyone have any horror stories about this kind of thing? Presumably they can be trusted to lock up properly, put on the alarm etc? (They would invalidate our home insurance if they didn't!)

Insurance may be invalidated by leaving the property unoccupied for over 30 days. But on the alarms, as you are only 25 miles away, I suggest you spot check after a known viewing.

shirlgirl2004

We put a relatives house on the market and have given the agent a key. I went over a couple of times and noticed that the heating thermostat had been turned down to zero. I had to phone and ask them to check that it was set at 8 degrees before they leave because it would invalidate the insurance if pipes burst. Obviously it might have been the viewers touching it but it seemed to be every time there was a viewing. They seemed to have listened to us. In all other repsects not a problem.

Saffy255

I did this four years ago, and had no problems....

Apart from moving day, we were just finishing cleaning the house, and the new owner let herself in.... I asked her who she was (as I'd never met her) and she told me she was the new owner. I asked where she had got a set of keys from, and she told me the estate agent had given her them. This was 10am, and we all know that the transfer of money takes ages - in fact it didn't transfer until around 11.30am... so the Estate Agent should NEVER have given her the keys - what would have happended if the money had been refused at the last minute for some reason? It CAN and does happen!!

The other one, which is awful didn't happen to me, it happened to my ex sister in law.... She moved away and we agreed to help her sell her flat, so we cleaned it all up, decluttered, and put my lovely brand new bedding on the bed, and really had it looking like a show house.

I would call in about one a week or fortnightly to double check everything was ok, and on one occasion, came round to find there was make up all over the white pillow cases and wine bottles in the bin....

My sister in law was living 200 miles away and the only other people to have a key was the agent..... make of that what you will!

Jowo_2

Empty properties attract squatters.

g_attrill

Jowo wrote: »

Empty properties attract squatters.

That is probably the main reason to check the insurance so that it is still valid no matter how long the property is empty for (I'm sure they will want more money).

I just bought a place which was one of 20 houses being sold, all vacant. For several months until a few people moved in they had a rota of security guards working out of one of them to deter vandals and squatters.

[Deleted User]

googler - instead of trying to persuade me to ask the questions that you want answered why not just start your own thread with your own questions? (No response from you required - just a suggestion ).

To the rest of you - thank you!

Firstly, with regards to insurance. Our normal household insurance would be invalid after the house has been empty 30 days. We could have paid a premium to continue the cover after that time but when you look at the small print you're only actually covered for things that are never likely to happen!!! However, you can take out 'special' insurance for empty houses that gives you full cover - albeit for a higher premium. This is what we have. However, the conditions stipulate that windows and doors must be locked, heating kept on and alarms set. Failure to do this may invalidate the insurance.

So obviously it's vital to be sure that you completely trust anyone that gets their hands on your keys. That includes EA's (not just the one that you dealt with, but anyone else in the practice that could get hold of them) and anyone that the EA sees fit to give the keys to.

A couple of you have related stories that could well have resulted in insurance being invalidated if something happened. Would the EA's be liable in this case? It's something for me to check with them. And I guess it's important to put all of these instructions in writing. What if damage is done to your house - again, is the EA liable?

On TV (and I'm talking fiction here!) EA's will often hand over the keys so that someone can look around a house on their own. Is this normal in real life? I don't want some stranger in my house on their own!

But on the alarms, as you are only 25 miles away, I suggest you spot check after a known viewing.

This is an option. Although if I feel I can't trust the EA I think it probably best to keep hold of the keys and do my own viewings. Same amount of travelling and it's the only way I know for certain that no one has been in my house without my knowledge. They are getting paid a lot of money to sell the house and they volunteered to do all of the viewings....which would of course be nice, but lets face it, you get untrustworthy people in all professions - is it really wise to hand over the keys to your biggest asset?

I realise that a lot of people hand over keys to EA's without problem. I want to hear about the kind of thing that can go wrong for people so that I can decide whether I'm willing to take the risk! Or maybe someone has had something bad happen and knows if the EA paid up to put things right?

daisygrabber

We are in a similar situation. I plan to do the viewings myself because I am a control freak
The agent is more than willing to do viewings and I will ask them to when we need them to but I will arrange for them to have a key on the day and expect it back that evening.
12 years ago, we wanted to view an empty property and were given the keys overnight to return in the morning. I hadn't asked for them overnight. Now, it was great from our point of view to get a proper look round and feel for the place and we did not disrespect the owners property in any way but I wouldn't want to rely on someone else not abusing my property.
And what would the agent do if the keys didn't come back, where would you stand?
If I were you, I would make it clear in writing that the agent is not to give anyone keys, all accompanied viewings only, then if anything goes awry, you have a leg to stand on.
Good luck!

[Deleted User]

Jowo wrote: »

Empty properties attract squatters.

If windows and doors are kept locked then squatters can't get in - right? So squatters are only likely to be a problem if someone fails to lock up properly?

[Deleted User]

daisygrabber wrote: »

We are in a similar situation. I plan to do the viewings myself because I am a control freak
The agent is more than willing to do viewings and I will ask them to when we need them to but I will arrange for them to have a key on the day and expect it back that evening.
12 years ago, we wanted to view an empty property and were given the keys overnight to return in the morning. I hadn't asked for them overnight. Now, it was great from our point of view to get a proper look round and feel for the place and we did not disrespect the owners property in any way but I wouldn't want to rely on someone else not abusing my property.
And what would the agent do if the keys didn't come back, where would you stand?
If I were you, I would make it clear in writing that the agent is not to give anyone keys, all accompanied viewings only, then if anything goes awry, you have a leg to stand on.
Good luck!

I think you're probably right - unfortunately! Originally I was very relieved when they said "Just drop off the keys with us and we'll take care of everything". But now I'm not so sure. My parents passed away a couple of years ago and we simply handed over the key to their house - I didn't give it a second thought. The house wasn't properly insured .... we were too busy to think about it and noone suggested it to us. Fortunately it all worked out OK - although I've no idea who came into the house and what they did when they were there. Ignorance is bliss I guess! But this is my house and it feels very different!

Good luck with yours!