Clearing a house : seller or buyer?

uptomyeyeballs

I've had a bit of dialogue with him this morning to try to move forward, but his reply was that he had 2 other people interested (but no other offers?), it'll get cleared 'if and when he's good and ready' and that trying to force him to sell it won't work! It's definitely a hoarder thing. He won''t clear it, and he won't let anyone else clear it. He'll still have that cottage in another 5 years. It'll be dropping to bits by then.

We're definitely out! :eek:

ognum

Could you pay for the skip with the price deducted from the final price, clearly it is a risk but at least you may see what you get or at least find out how committed he is.

One skip to start £150, that will show if he will do it.

witchy1066

OP you have done the right thing,

it sounds to me that he isn't really ready to sell, and by asking him to clear the house has made him realise he isn't ready,

uptomyeyeballs

ognum wrote: »

Could you pay for the skip with the price deducted from the final price, clearly it is a risk but at least you may see what you get or at least find out how committed he is.

One skip to start £150, that will show if he will do it.

No, I think it's dead in the water. He isn't serious about selling it. We'll look elsewhere.

hazyjo

Doesn't sound to me like he'd want to trash it all in a skip anyway. Hoarders tend to hang on to all their 'stuff'. You'd be better off paying for a storage unit for X number of months.

Anyway, sounds like you're walking now anyway. Can't say I blame you!

Jx

AlexMac

To reply to one of your OP Qs, "if we had an accident whilst cleaning it, he'd presumably be liable"; I think not; after completion, it's your problem, not his, but see below...

If this vendor is as daft as he seems, and/or too tight to pay agent fees, and you're prepared to spend a lot on a refurb, I assume you're getting it at a great price? In which case, if you can overcome the survey problem I can't see that the extra few hundred for a couple of labourers and skip hire should be a deal breaker.

Or, if you wished to be cynical, and given that the seller will (presumably) be using a solicitor and will have to complete the usual freeholder/vendor pre-sale paperwork, including the requirement for vacant/crep-free possession...

why not ask your solicitor to ask his to keep back a retention against the liklihood that he'll breach his written declaration that he'll clear the gaff? Retentions are quite normal on leasehold properties against the likelihood of unexpected charges like end-year service-charge adjustments (I got an unexpectedly welcome hundred quid 3 months after my last purchase that way), so maybe worth asking your brief?

Or maybe your other half would be happier if you just walked away? Mine put her food down when I spotted a wreck at auction on the grounds that I'm too old to do things like clearing 10 binliners full of guano and dead pigeon carcasses out of lofts like I once did! Happy renovating

[Deleted User]

Drop the price by however much an industrial cleaning company quotes you to completely clear and disinfect it. Don't forget the cost of pest control and replacing every single carpet, re-painting, sanding wood floors or replacing laminate etc. If you can't see what is under the junk you have to assume it is written off.

uptomyeyeballs

AlexMac wrote: »

If this vendor is as daft as he seems, and/or too tight to pay agent fees, and you're prepared to spend a lot on a refurb, I assume you're getting it at a great price? In which case, if you can overcome the survey problem I can't see that the extra few hundred for a couple of labourers and skip hire should be a deal breaker.

Or, if you wished to be cynical, and given that the seller will (presumably) be using a solicitor and will have to complete the usual freeholder/vendor pre-sale paperwork, including the requirement for vacant/crep-free possession...

why not ask your solicitor to ask his to keep back a retention against the liklihood that he'll breach his written declaration that he'll clear the gaff? Retentions are quite normal on leasehold properties against the likelihood of unexpected charges like end-year service-charge adjustments (I got an unexpectedly welcome hundred quid 3 months after my last purchase that way), so maybe worth asking your brief?

Or maybe your other half would be happier if you just walked away? Mine put her food down when I spotted a wreck at auction on the grounds that I'm too old to do things like clearing 10 binliners full of guano and dead pigeon carcasses out of lofts like I once did! Happy renovating

I think we've realised he doesn't want to clear it. We've met his asking price, without him budging an inch on price, and now he won't clear it, even without us asking for a reduction. He doesn't actually want to sell, even though he said he did. Not a problem, we'll move on ;-)

[Deleted User]

How can someone who won't chuck stuff out, even contemplate 'letting go' of their home? You've decided well

Stay away from nutter sellers

uptomyeyeballs

After another 3 months have elapsed, we're going to have another go at getting past the clearance problem, if he's willing to sell. If he rejects it again, we'll definitely forget it, but based on the fact that it's going to be £45k cheaper than next door (an identical cottage) I think we can cover anything we find and still sell on for a profit if need be.