worried about idiot vendor's next actions

FTB27

i know this will sound a bit odd but i'm due to complete on a house this friday and I'm worried about not being able to gain access to the house.

Basically the vendor is the most dopey person I have ever encountered, he has stalled on the house sale for ages. neither of us are in a chain, my mortgage offer, survey and searches came through in June and yet it's still taken 12 weeks to complete! He's been stalling for stupid reasons like saying he can't get his greenhouse out in time (this was 6 weeks before completion was due!) or he cant move his furniture out before the end of the month (he only has 2 settees, a telly and a bed to move which he has room for in his partners house).i even offered to send my boyfriend and his dad up to help him with all this and he still stalled. On top of that I had to arrange for an electrician to test the wiring as recommended by the survey, three times the vendor cancelled on the day saying he couldnt wait in for him because he had other things to do.

this has unnerved me because i feel he's either being incredibly dopey and willing to keep paying the mortgage for the sake of a greenhouse and a few bits of furniture OR he's stalling for a specific reason.

however i do finally have a date to complete, this Friday,BUT he's also going on holiday saturday morning straight after completion for a fortnight. seeing as he's been uncooperative with the whole house sale, I'm paranoid that he'll do something stupid (or deliberate) like forget (or withhold) the keys to the house. the estate agent said that if he hasnt droppped the keys in by 11 friday morning then they'll be ringing him but my funds are due to transfer at 9 a.m. so i'm scared he will end up with the dosh, !!!!!! off on hols and i'll have no keys!

i know if this happens he'll be in breach of contract but i'm just wondering if there's a way of entering the house without keys or getting someone to access the house (not trying to sound like a burglar!) in case the worst happens.

I know i probably sound mental and am overthinking but i'm a first time buyer and scared of losing money, etc!

any advice would be great!

[Deleted User]

U could get a locksmith and send him the bill.

FTB27

Hi funk_punk,

thanks for answering. dopey question but would the locksmith be able to access the house without keys as long as I showed him proof of ownership? not sure how locksmiths work, I always assumed you needed to be able to open the door before they could change the locks!

BitterAndTwisted

Have a locksmith on stand-by for Friday afternoon. It's quite easy to drill the locks from the outside if you have the equipment. They will, believe me.

GAH

As above.

Changing all the locks should be no 1 priorty if this chap is a bit of an oddball.

Rather than wait for him to drop keys off at agents, you could always arrange to meet vendor at property and he can hand keys directly to you.

Either Way im sure things will be fine.

[Deleted User]

FTB27 wrote: »

Hi funk_punk,

thanks for answering. dopey question but would the locksmith be able to access the house without keys as long as I showed him proof of ownership? not sure how locksmiths work, I always assumed you needed to be able to open the door before they could change the locks!

Yeh as long as you can prove ownership I can't see it being a problem. No they usually drill the locks.

Try not to stress though very unlikely he'll forget to hand the keys over.

casper_g

Yes, locksmith would be able to get into the house then change the locks. They don't need you to open the door first -- they deal with people who've lost their keys, broken their keys, locked themselves out etc all day long.

FTB27

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for the responses, I feel more at ease now. GAH - I will definitely get the locks changed anyway, vendor has been a total fruitcake throughout sale so do not want him having any form of access after completion!

satchmeister

Why not complete at the property, you can check that everything is OK, ie no damage and then call your solicitor to release the money and you take the keys and he leaves the property.

Running_Horse

Why not wait until the keys don't arrive before acting as if they have not arrived?

One day you will look back on all this and laugh at how unimportant it all was, and how you over-reacted.

He might be dopey, but you sound like you need to take a chill pill.

evoke

Sorry, but gaining forced entry to the house is not the answer.

Your solicitors should be involved with this, as would be your EAs.

When you signed contracts and contracts were exchanged, both parties would have agreed to pay compensation if they could not complete on the agreed completion date.

You can then also claim additional, reasonable expenses for a late completion.

You should be talking to your solicitors about this.