House sold, awaiting exchange, awkward buyer, advice pretty please :)

pimento

He won't own the property until completion so there's no way he can order you to move out before then.

Tell him to go swivel.

jackomdj

I can see this partially from the other side. When OH's Grandad died he left his house to his two surviving children and OH (as OH's Dad, his son had died). OH's Uncle lived in the property and when it was sold we had issues with getting him to move out (that sounds like he was chucked out of his house but lots more to it than that). In the end the solicitor advanced 6 months rent direct to his new landlord so he did not touch the cash.

It could be that the buyer is worried you will not vacate by completion.

Yorkie1

Why on earth would the buyer be worried that the seller won't leave?

This isn't an unusual situation - it's a standard sale / purchase.

OP, if the buyer continues to be stroppy, you need to get your solicitor to read his solicitor the riot act (but after exchange if at all possible!).

jackomdj

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Why on earth would the buyer be worried that the seller won't leave?

This isn't an unusual situation - it's a standard sale / purchase.

OP, if the buyer continues to be stroppy, you need to get your solicitor to read his solicitor the riot act (but after exchange if at all possible!).

Op said they are living in an inherited house and executor is pulling their strings, so from the buyers view how do they know that the person living in the house wants to leave, could be that they have inherited a share of a psrents house and non residential siblings want (need) to sell? Hence why it rang bells with my OH situation as as OH Aunty needed to sell but Uncle had been living with his Dad

jackomdj

OP is it just you inheriting the property or is it others as well?

moneyistooshorttomention

Better_Days wrote: »

Very strange. My understanding is that the property is yours until you complete, so you do not have to get out until then. I wonder if your buyer has made arrangements to have work done and wants to access the property before completion. You should not permit this as this will alter the condition of the property between exchange and completion. He could damage the property between exchange and completion and then try and get the price reduced again.

There was a recent thread on this Board to precisely this effect - ie an unwary seller had allowed the buyer to move in in between exchange and completion and the buyer had proceeded to totally gut the place and it all went rather "belly up" with one scared-stiff seller worrying about it.

I dont recall what the outcome to that particular tale was.

Maybe someone else knows the thread I mean and can provide a link.

The only circumstances I can think of where a buyer might want access as soon as exchange has happened are the ones I myself had on buying this house (ie I was living in rented accommodation and knew my seller had already moved out to their next house and so I requested to move in as soon as exchange had happened - for the very legitimate reason that I wouldnt then have to spend several further weeks "throwing money down the drain" on rent). The seller would have been perfectly safe to agree with my request and would have "come to no harm" by agreeing - but they didnt (no surprises there - as they were a right little b****** of a seller all round in the event).

moneyistooshorttomention

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

What appallingly bad advice. Failing to complete would cost the OP thousands.

Your buyer is a git. All you can do is try to keep your head and don't spend any money or energy on removals etc until you've actually exchanged. I'd tell you to put your house back on the market in the meantime but there's not a lot of point until after Christmas.

Errrmm..you misread my post - I WASNT advising the seller to do "failure to complete" at all.

Poppy9

OP are you only part owner of the house? If so the buyer may be worried he is not buying with "vacant" possession hence his request. If you are full owner then you do not have to vacate before completion as the house is still yours.

Why can't you complete till new year? If everything is ready to go you can exchange and complete same day.

paradilly

Thanks for all the replies guys n gals, my what a friendly and helpful lot you all are!

I have a feeling we wont exchange until Wednesday as he's waiting for the results of other gazunderers. In that case if he demands exchange and complete the deal is off.

@paddles - Thanks for the well wishes. I know how you feel. I think the law should change to prevent this kind of heartache like in Scotland, it just seems rediculous to me that people can progress so far without any real commitment.

@betterdays - Thanks for the heads up on this, I will keep a close eye out. We have decided that if contracts are not exchanged by tomorrow morning (18th December) the deal is off or at least exchange with completion after Christmas, no more pandering. Thanks for the wishes again

@Ivana - Sound advice, thats what were going for, if it all goes pear shaped then theres other fish in the sea... Thanks

@art and york, you both have a point. Were certainly not going to be bullied any longer, screw em.

@terry - Well thats what the latest is thoughj I suspect they will want to exchange and complete wednesday regardless of what our SOLs say

@jack - No problems moving out, if he was worried he could set the completion then sue us to hell, I'm sure he'd love to do that, all extra money Its myself and my brother, although I had been living in the house helping care for my mother and brother has no issue in me being in the house until the sale.

@moneyistooshort - This all sounds very familiar, again we are the same, we dont want to commit to renting if the deal will fall through and the house will sit empty, nail on the head - B*******.

@poppy - The issue here is timing, we looked around for a new property to rent to tide us over, he dropped the bombshell and delayed so we couldnt now get our rented property in time. Hence now if he still wants to be in by Wednesday we have to place all our stuff in storage, even downsize and throw away stuff we want to keep all still without commitment. No way.

Thanks again all.

paradilly

Just a quick update.

The buyer completed on Monday afternoon with the completion of Wednesday. We were left with just 48 hours to move our entire life!!!
Well, needless to say it was the most stressful 2 days (apart from berevements) of my life. We eventually finished 20 minutes before the dealine.

Thanks for all your kind words and comments and anyone reading this in a similar predicament has my fullest sympathy, they (el governmento) should really do something about this dreadful state of affairs.

Thanks again.