handing over keys before completion

soolin

I posted a while ago about my buyers sort of asking for a reduction in the price, and thank you for all the good advice I received. I did stick firm and refuse to negotiate and we are now looking for exchange next week at the original price.

I have run into another thing though that I have not come across before, allowing buyers to have the keys before exchange.

Basically, the house is run down and needs work and at first the buyers asked for full access to do repairs and undertake essential maintenance before exchange. I wasn't happy with this and my solicitor agreed that this was problematic so the request was denied. However they have now come back and asked for keys on exchange and have signed a legal statement to say that they will only be cleaning and decorating and will complete within 14 days of exchange. The solicitor says that this is perfectly normal on run down properties and that I should meet the buyers next week on the day of exchange and hand over the keys. (He actually said that this would normally be done by the Estate agents but I don't have any of those as this is a private sale).

I did question him as this sounded odd, but he was very reassuring that this was a very reasonable request and quite normal so I have agreed.

Is letting the buyers have keys before completion normal?

Doozergirl

No it isn't normal at all

It's still not their house, if they burn it down, you've got problems.

zfrl

No it's not normal at all. You don't hand over the keys until you complete. Until then both of you can change your minds so make sure you are still in complete control.

Biggie

I guess it's also fine but what if things go wrong...

Could be a potential nightmare.

i.e They damage the property and sue you for it after exchange

I imagine there;s a whole raft of legal issues that could come out of this if things went wrong.

merlinthehappypig

zfrl wrote: »

No it's not normal at all. You don't hand over the keys until you complete. Until then both of you can change your minds so make sure you are still in complete control.

Neither buyer nor seller can legally change their minds after exchange of contracts. That's why everyone breathers a sigh of relief when it happens.

Either could walk away I guess, but there would be serious financial consequences for the person who defaulted on the contract, so personally I don't consider this to be a barrier to what they suggest.

That said I agree that it isn't normal. I'd talk it through with your solicitor and see what they say. If your solicitor thinks that things can be tied up sufficiently in your favour then I wouldn't discount the idea. If your solicitor says no, then no it is.

Doozergirl - we have always been told that we need to insure any house we buy once we exchange, because at that stage it is legally ours, even though money hasn't changed hands. We've bought seven times in the past and this has always been the case. In that case any fire or other damage would be the responsibility of the purchasers.

Is that simply a myth put about by solicitors working hand in hand with insurance companies?

Doozergirl

You both have insurable interests in the property. You having put down a 10% deposit and made a very strong commitment to purchase the other 90%. They still own the house though.

shelly

We got the keys to our place before completion...admittedly it was only the day before and not 2 weeks

soolin

I don't know what to do now..the family moving in are lovely and I wouldn't want to be awkward. The solicitor also said that the signed agreement is watertight and if they breach it by doing anything other than cleaning or decorating we can sue (not sure what for ).

Looking at my notes it appears that completion is actually going to be about a week after I hand over keys.

Also I have not cleared the house entirely so the buyers are being nice by allowing me to leave furniture and also a shed full of tools and equipment, so I want to be reasonable in return.

krispy444

The legal document that the OP is talking about is called a Key Undertaking. Which will allow you to have access to the property before completion, the usual reason for this is that there is essential work to be carried out. If it is agreed and it is quite often refused access is normally permitted provided you have exchanged, paid a deposit and signed a key undertaking.

the key undertaking provides that you will not take poessession of the property, that you will only carry out the works which are referred to in the key undertaking and that you will become responsible for any services which may be used whilst you have access to the property.

The solicitor acting for the OP should have explained this, and taken your instructions on this. You were well in your rights to say no if you don't want the purchaser accessing the property. I think also you can stipulate that you want the keys returning each day, but if the key undertaking is already signed etc it may be a bit late to stipulate this.

soolin

I haven't signed anything yet I'm going in on Monday to do that so can have a list of questions to take with me then if needs be.

Originally the contract (key undertaking) also stated that maintenance and other work could be done, but I opted to refuse that as my soilitor said that if they did damage the property or remove anything , like plaster as they are going to rewire, then whilst technically I could sue them it would be long and drawn out and was probably not worth the hassle.

The revised document as amended by my solicitor will state cleaning and decorating only, but as I am at some distance from the property I will not be there to check on that. I anticipate, or rather I hope, thatI can finish removing all the personal effects by Tuesday when I hand over a set of keys, and then never ever have to go back there again as it is all too upsetting for me.

The solicitor did say I could insist on the keys being returned each night, but as I am probably a 1 1/2 hour round trip away and have no agent to deal with this on my behalf it was not very practical.

I'm really wimping out on this, another death in my family yesterday has upset things again and I just don't feel on top of things at the moment.

olliesmummy06

We got the keys to our current house the day of exchange which was 1 week before completion as we needed to clean and decorate. We were advised we couldn't do anything structural ie-knock down walls, replace missing ceiling which we did when we had completed. We too signed a legal document from our solicitors and had to have house insurance in place for the day of exchange to cover us if anything went wrong.