Buyer asking to move stuff in before completion

penrhyn

We are selling my parent's home which is empty since they have gone into care.
We are due to exchange contracts tomorrow.
The buyer has asked if they can move some of their stuff into the property ahead of completion, I'm dubious about this and will ask my solicitor but has anyone done this and are there any pitfalls?

PasturesNew

Your solicitor will advise you to say no.
Until completion it's not their property and should anything go wrong it could be a nightmare.

What if they squat and don't complete? That's unlikely, but your solicitor's job is to tell you "No" in case any one of 1000 odd things happens.

csnann

Would your insurance cover you if anything happened to the property? I wouldn't want to risk it.

scope

I agree with PN, one thing to consider if you feel you can trust them is perhaps give them access to any garage the property might have? We had access to our garage a couple of days before we completed and this helped us big time as we could start moving some of the stuff prior to completion day..

But like PN said, it is very risky.

chickmug

penrhyn wrote: »

We are selling my parent's home which is empty since they have gone into care.
We are due to exchange contracts tomorrow.
The buyer has asked if they can move some of their stuff into the property ahead of completion, I'm dubious about this and will ask my solicitor but has anyone done this and are there any pitfalls?

Your solicitor, as well as your EA, will toe the official line and say 'no way'. The same position I take, as an agent, but some sellers allow access usually in the garage, shed and outside but sometimes in spare rooms. Some even before an exchange.

The sellers logic is usually they get some feeling of reassurance that the buyer is being serious.

inmypocketnottheirs

No no no no no! No!

Definately not!

They could gain access and squat between exchange and completion!

Too risky by far, IMHO.

jorichste

The solicitors on both sides will say no. When I sold, we let the buyers move in before completion, although we did know them very well, and their solicitors almost peed there pants!!!!!Its a risky thing to do but its your property and up to you to decide

Bogof_Babe

I was in the same position as the OP, selling my parents' house after it was vacant, and I let the buyers put stuff in the garage and also a few things in the house, a day or two before official completion. It was done under my supervision so they could hardly become squatters, and anyway they were a very reasonable, decent couple, with nice teenage kids (not always a contradiction in terms!), so I had no worries about ulterior motives. I had their mobile no. and the whole process had been done in a very civilized way.

Like someone said above, it took away the stress of worrying about completion being cancelled at the last minute.

chickmug

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

No no no no no! No!

Definately not!

They could gain access and squat between exchange and completion!

Too risky by far, IMHO.

It is a tiny risk. I have seen thousands of completions, in a lifetime in the business, and never seen once a squat.

lostinrates

Wondering if sorting a rent or agreement (at their cost for paperwork) for a token sum might help?

penrhyn

Thanks for all the feedback, we have yet to exchange so I've a few more days to ponder this one, I may allow some storage in a spare room under supervision.