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Stale mate - seller refuses to complete and move on the same day
DrN
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hi all
First post so be gentle!
Myself and my partner are in the latter stages of selling our flat and moving into a larger house. Our buyer is at a similar stage.
We have not exchanged contracts yet but are effectively ready to do so.
Given that we both work as doctors, my partner and I have been pushing for a Friday September 5th completion as we have on calls and night shifts either side. This would be about 9 weeks after the offer was accepted.
The vendor of the property we are moving into is in a complicated situation in that she is getting a divorce and needs to move. She is clearly under a lot of pressure, possibly more than most. However, when we were round measuring up for sofas etc at the weekend she mentioned that we were going to 'have to' let her move out on Saturday 6th - the day *after* completion. We said that this might put us in a difficult legal situation, and in either case our buyer will (quite reasonably) expect to be able to move into our flat on Friday. Our removal company have also expressed concerns. The reason for her request is that she is not paying for a removal firm and is relying on a friend being available to move the larger pieces of furniture.
I (perhaps foolishly) gave her my phone number and then got a teary phone call the same night from a friend of the vendor (I know, I know, this was my fault) saying how we had to be reasonable and let her have the Saturday move. I politely said that we would have to talk to the solicitors.
So what now? It's now monday and struggling to get in touch with lawyers. As far as I'm aware, most buildings insurance requires you to be resident in the property to be valid so god-forbid there was a fire Friday night we wouldn't be covered. Given that we haven't exchanged yet we don't have any right to expect a particular completion date, but moving and completing on different days just sounds wrong. By the sounds of it she will never be able to move on a weekday, but we of course cannot complete on a weekend! I'm just worried that the whole thing could collapse and we would stand to lose around £3k in fees, as well as a great house. The only suggestion I can think of is that we try to complete on the Monday, and she moves her stuff somewhere on the preceding weekend.
Any other suggestions more than welcome, as well as any legal opinions about where we stand here!
Big love!
First post so be gentle!
Myself and my partner are in the latter stages of selling our flat and moving into a larger house. Our buyer is at a similar stage.
We have not exchanged contracts yet but are effectively ready to do so.
Given that we both work as doctors, my partner and I have been pushing for a Friday September 5th completion as we have on calls and night shifts either side. This would be about 9 weeks after the offer was accepted.
The vendor of the property we are moving into is in a complicated situation in that she is getting a divorce and needs to move. She is clearly under a lot of pressure, possibly more than most. However, when we were round measuring up for sofas etc at the weekend she mentioned that we were going to 'have to' let her move out on Saturday 6th - the day *after* completion. We said that this might put us in a difficult legal situation, and in either case our buyer will (quite reasonably) expect to be able to move into our flat on Friday. Our removal company have also expressed concerns. The reason for her request is that she is not paying for a removal firm and is relying on a friend being available to move the larger pieces of furniture.
I (perhaps foolishly) gave her my phone number and then got a teary phone call the same night from a friend of the vendor (I know, I know, this was my fault) saying how we had to be reasonable and let her have the Saturday move. I politely said that we would have to talk to the solicitors.
So what now? It's now monday and struggling to get in touch with lawyers. As far as I'm aware, most buildings insurance requires you to be resident in the property to be valid so god-forbid there was a fire Friday night we wouldn't be covered. Given that we haven't exchanged yet we don't have any right to expect a particular completion date, but moving and completing on different days just sounds wrong. By the sounds of it she will never be able to move on a weekday, but we of course cannot complete on a weekend! I'm just worried that the whole thing could collapse and we would stand to lose around £3k in fees, as well as a great house. The only suggestion I can think of is that we try to complete on the Monday, and she moves her stuff somewhere on the preceding weekend.
Any other suggestions more than welcome, as well as any legal opinions about where we stand here!
Big love!
0
Comments
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We had this , our vendors gave us a sob story about friends helping them move and could only do the saturday , reality was , they were too tight to take a day off on the friday and get it done , they obviously thought we were stupid to even think about asking , who`s to say you complete on the friday , and they squat from the saturday onwards? , unlikley perhaps , but a very good reason that your lender and therefore your solicitor has to ensure vacant posessionNever, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.0
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You would be unwise to do this.
For that one night, you effectively become a landlord. This entails your mortgage being a buy to let, you will need a landlords gas safety certificate etc etc.
Additionally, she then has a right if occupation and you will need a court order to evict her.
Her lack of finances shouldn't become your longterm head ache.Eat vegetables and fear no creditors, rather than eat duck and hide.0 -
Are you getting a mortgage.
If so there is not way your solicitir will agree to this.If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing0 -
There is no way I would agree to it, I would insist on vacant possession on completion, it is her problem and getting a friend to phone you with a sob story is completely out of order.0
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On the day of exchange YOU own the property not her.....no way would I agree to this!!!0
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Could you perhaps offer her some money to get a removal service for the Friday?0
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Kirstyb1987 wrote: »On the day of exchange YOU own the property not her.....no way would I agree to this!!!
From exchange you're committed to buying the property, you don't actually own it until you complete. I have a feeling you meant to say complete though.
Definitely a no-go from a legal perspective, ask your conveyancer and I'm sure they'll tell you not to do it.0 -
By the sounds of it she will never be able to move on a weekday, but we of course cannot complete on a weekend!
For this reason, I would be inclined to exchange with the Friday completion date, let her solicitor tell her that she will have to move out on the Friday.
She has the option of moving out the bulk of her stuff the previous weekend.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
I'm pretty confident that your solicitor will advise you not to allow this. I would make it clear to the vendor that you expect to have vacant possession on Friday, and that if she can't guarantee that then you'll pull out of the purchase. I would also not offer her anything to move, the cost of hiring a man with a van for a couple of hours is negligible in the overall scheme of things and it's for her to find the money to do that. I would hope that if she needs to sell she will realise that messing you about could cause her to lose out big time.0
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