Moving house monday expecting hassle from sellers not rushing

EssexHebridean

Completion times aren’t in anyway regional - in theory completion can always be any time from start of business onwards - in practice everyone acknowledges that 9 or even 10am is almost always way too early to be practical, and in any event on a longer chain it takes a while for all the calls to be made, so the tendency has been for the intention to be to aim for roughly 1pm - that’s not set in stone though! 

tooldle

What is the layout of the property? Assuming vendor is not out when completion happens, can they continue moving their stuff via one entrance/exit whilst, your team move you in via another entrance/exit. It happened to us and our vendor continued to move out via back door and sideway whilst we brought our things in via the front. Completion for us occurred at 4pm which was lucky. Had it been earlier the position would likely have been more chaotic. Both us and the vendor were let down by our removal companies (we’d both reserved). We acted quickly and hired a Luton, our vendor hired a Transit and hence needed to make multiple trips.
If you can be gracious and give them a hand if necessary, get them out faster.

Cressida100

Moving into a new home should be a happy time. The op seems to be expecting the worse. It might not happen. Try and be a bit positive and look past the actual move in date. 

[Deleted User]

TripleH said:

Personally, with a move like this, I'd be tempted to book a night in a hotel for the peace of mind that you have a bed to sleep in and can get washed in comfort without worrying about cleaning the house first.

I have no sympathy about the owners packing as I'd have all but the essentials prepped when completion was looming. I'm grumpy I know but couldn't care about those that leave it all to the last minute.

Exactly their drama is not my drama.

Hotel is difficult since we've got cats

[Deleted User]

pinkshoes said:

Just take a step back and be calm.

You have forced them to exchange and complete when they really weren't mentally or physically ready to move out as otherwise the entire chain would have collapsed, so you really shouldn't be surprised at the element of panic they're displaying here.

Packing up an entire house with very little notice is stressful and hard work, so they are literally asking you to be patient with them. Yes, it's inconvenient, but they will no doubt do their best, and if they can't get all their stuff out, just put it all in one room nearest the front door so it can be moved out the next day. 

As for the broadband - you'd made a plan to have their broadband cut off before a completion date had actually officially been agreed, a date that they didn't even initially agree to, so of course they told BT that NO, they will still be there, because that's probably what they genuinely thought! 

So now you've officially exchanged and have an official completion date, NOW you can order your broadband. 

Again, just take a step back and remember that these people are humans, that there are two sides to every story, and they're probably ranting just the same about you!!

House buying is stressful. 

Hardly very little notice. They knew the date 2 weeks ago. And the house sale was agreed last October. 

Read the detials about broadband. I can see why they did when it seems people like can't notice the fact it was AFTER they moved out.

Yeh yeh not my circus not my monkeys. Its their drama not mine.

[Deleted User]

BikingBud said:

pinkshoes said:

Just take a step back and be calm.

You have forced them to exchange and complete when they really weren't mentally or physically ready to move out as otherwise the entire chain would have collapsed, so you really shouldn't be surprised at the element of panic they're displaying here.

Packing up an entire house with very little notice is stressful and hard work, so they are literally asking you to be patient with them. Yes, it's inconvenient, but they will no doubt do their best, and if they can't get all their stuff out, just put it all in one room nearest the front door so it can be moved out the next day. 

As for the broadband - you'd made a plan to have their broadband cut off before a completion date had actually officially been agreed, a date that they didn't even initially agree to, so of course they told BT that NO, they will still be there, because that's probably what they genuinely thought! 

So now you've officially exchanged and have an official completion date, NOW you can order your broadband. 

Again, just take a step back and remember that these people are humans, that there are two sides to every story, and they're probably ranting just the same about you!!

House buying is stressful. 

No don't get the at all.

You start preparing for the move before you market the property.

If you've been there a long time you declutter.

As it takes months now for chains to build there is plenty of time to plan and determine out how it will all work out, right up until you find someone that hasn't bothered to consider what it entails. 

If you are not mentally prepared despite having known that the day will inevitably come there really is no excuse. Perhaps that why people stay in a house for 50 years and die surrounded by a lifetime's accumulation of clutter.

EXACTLY.

We've had stuff in storage for 10 months now since we decided to move.
Had quotes from removal companies weeks ago.

Part of the problem is the seller is forced to move apparently due to financial problems. There were charges to sort out on the property due to CCJs. So I don't think they've been that focused.

Herzlos

I suspect there's no chance your movers will be done by 2 so I'd be making alternative plans for them to store and unpack the following day. The cats makes it harder - what were you planning on doing with them during the move? It may be better trying to get them boarded somewhere for the day so they aren't in a crate in a car for hours.

I'd definitely either book a hotel somewhere with a late cancellation policy or have some contingency plan, because if there's much of a chain and your seller is dragging their heels they may not get the keys to you before 5. Given they cancelled your broadband for after the move I wouldn't put it past them to be spiteful too.

Good luck! Moving is always a nightmare but you'll have years to get over it.

EssexHebridean

Absolutely get a cattery sorted for the cats - allowing to be sure of having them contained they are going to need to be in travel boxes from when the movers arrive, that could literally be hours on end, to be honest it’s always better ensuring they are safely out of the way when moving!  When we moved into our last home the previous owners cat was still wandering - she’d been spooked by everything that was going in. Our movers were still in the process of unloading when she shot in, dived into the it hen and made her way to behind one of the kitchen units via thr gap that their washing machine had been in. Took ages to entice her out and was a right pain! 

youth_leader

I didn't realise you had cats.  I also agree with a cattery.  I couldn't use a cattery as my cat hadn't had her jabs, so terrified of the car I had stopped taking her. 

I was lucky that I was in rented when I moved here, so was able to have a week's overlap between completion and ending my tenancy.  It did take me a week to clean, I was exhausted.

On the day after completion day I came over and set up a big dog crate in the bathroom with my cat's bed and litter tray.  I put the radio on and taped the bathroom door to stop any entry.  I had bought a Feliway plug in, for when the men had gone, I do think it helped my elderly cat settle here.

I hope everything goes well tomorrow for you, do let us know what happens.

Grumpy_chap

Good luck to the OP for everything to go well with the move today.