How long after completion do we get the keys?

mjane93

Hi all

after 19 stressful weeks we finally completed this morning at around 10:30AM. 

Our estate agent let us know that the sellers would contact us to collect the keys directly from them. We haven’t been given a time and the estate agent is trying to get on contact with the seller for a time frame. 

How long does one usually have to wait after completion to collect the keys?

TIA

Swasterix

mjane93 said:

Hi all

after 19 stressful weeks we finally completed this morning at around 10:30AM. 

Our estate agent let us know that the sellers would contact us to collect the keys directly from them. We haven’t been given a time and the estate agent is trying to get on contact with the seller for a time frame. 

How long does one usually have to wait after completion to collect the keys?

TIA

If you’ve completed, it is now your house, and you should be entitled to go get them now! 

If the previous owners aren’t out by now then they’re taking the mick IMHO. 

AdrianC

It's your house, you should get the keys IMMEDIATELY.

The vendor is now the ex-owner, and shouldn't have anything left in the property. They should not need the keys. But, of course, they might be busy with their new house... Which is why the EA (the vendor's EA, not yours) usually does the handover.

Monsternextdoor

Its your house ! 

Go get them now.

Mac_70_

Whoa, I'd be going round to your new house to see if it's been vacated.

mjane93

The sellers have just called with some sob story about how their removals van didn’t show up however that’s different to the story they told the EA. Apparently they were held up to a child’s performance at school. Anyhow we’ve got a few errands to run and agreed a 2 o’clock handover of the keys. Whether that are moved out or not we are taking the keys haha. 

london21

Congratulations on completing.
usually the estate agents give you the key same day.
Maybe the sellers have not moved out completely.
chase up with the estate agents again to get time frame or if close by pay the house a visit.

canaldumidi

Have the name of a local locksmith to hand. If there's a further problem, get the locksmith to open up and change the lock.

Then claim his fee from the vendors.

Chandler85

I mean it should be immediate, but you also need to be a little bit realistic in that the seller may still be finishing up loading a van to move out.

Even if they started loading at 7am, getting a house loaded in 3 hours 30 minutes is still a challenge!

When I last sold, we got two phone calls from the estate agent telling us it had completed and where were the keys even after we had dropped them off and were enjoying lunch in a pub.  Add to that, my solicitor had called me to say my purchase was complete, about 2 hours after (enjoying lunch etc) I went to the estate agents who called me as I was walking there to tell me that the seller solicitors had just called them to say they can release the keys (probate), so if I had rocked up immediately I would have been waiting about for confirmation and all sorts.

m0bov

You shouldn't have completed without vacant possession, might be worth speaking with your sol.

pinkteapot

While it's true that legally, at the very moment of completion it's yours and in theory that's when you get the keys, in reality this sort of delay happens ALL the time. Far more often than not we've got the keys later in the day. Typically we've completed mid-morning and got the keys early afternoon. In the worst case we completed early morning and the seller finished moving out at 4.50pm, but that was because they thought they could self-move in a hired transit from a 4-bed house. *sigh*

The reality is that these days the bank transfers and legal bit can happen very quickly, but the removers for everyone in the chain are very likely to need the whole morning to load the trucks. So, as long as there are no solicitor issues or idiots being disorganised, everyone empties their house in the morning and unloads at their new house in the afternoon.