We're buying an empty house (old man has gone into a home, nearest relative lives in Canada and has power of attourney). The house does need a lot of work and we need to make it liveable for us and our young baby asap. We want to replace the manky 70s carpets, give it a good clean and give the walls a lick of paint so we can live comfortably until we start all the major work. We would like to try to get the keys after exchange and before completion so we can do this work before we move in. Has anyone done this? How do we go about negotiating this - do we do it via the Estate Agent or do we get our solicitor to do it?
We also bought a house where the old boy had gone into a home and therefore the property was empty. We tried to get the keys before completion to move the sofa and heavy items in but the owner said he had consulted with his solicitor and was advised not to let us do this. We phoned the estate agent and asked them to phone the owner but he was having none of it.
Quite right too, Cazza & Doo - if I let you have the keys to my house before completion, whats to stop you from pulling out of the purchase & claiming squatters rights instead?
Originally posted by Jim G: Quite right too, Cazza & Doo - if I let you have the keys to my house before completion, whats to stop you from pulling out of the purchase & claiming squatters rights instead?
Surely the fact that they would lose their deposit and have to wait 10 years to be able to claim squatters' rights would put them off doing that?
I'm in the same situation as you, Doo, except the work I need doing is a bit more serious, and the estate agents have said from the start we can have the keys after exchange - not sure they've asked the solicitors dealing with the probate yet though!
This brings to mind the lady that built a very very large dolls house in the front garden of the house she was in the process of buying, I don't think she exchanged contracts at that stage, but she was doing an awful lot of work beforehand. The owners were living abroad at the time. She was catch when the EA was driving past and noticed the Dolls House He only let her have the keys for measuring up curtains
Ask politely, and they may say yes. Perhaps a letter to the owners son, stating your good intention, and don't ask for too much i.e. carpets would only add to the house value, if it went pear shaped, a bit of decoration also. If you want to start pulling garages down, then that's a different matter. We were allowed to start building work before completion, one of the benefits of living in a village where everyone knows you...........
A vendors solicitor will feel happier if you are putting down a 10% deposit on exchange. They will then allow access for minor works only and in theory you would have to return the keys each night to the agent.
"The greatest trick the Devil played, was convincing us all that he did not exist"
We were in a similar position when we bought a house that had been empty for two years. Although it needed a new kitchen and quite a bit of work we didn't expect to be able to start that, we just really needed to do some serious cleaning (2 years of dead bluebottles on the windowsills ) before installing our small baby.
As has been said, it was down to goodwill really. We grovelled to the EAs and looked like fine upstanding trustworthy souls and they let us have the keys for a day, though grudgingly.
The electricity had been cut off so we had to arrange to have that reconnected in our name from that day, so that could have been awkward for us if anything had prevented completion, but would probably have been the least of our worries. I suppose it also helped demonstrate our seriousness to the EAs/vendors.
This is done through your solicitor, and is called a 'keys undertaken' I believe. As was mentioned earlier it would help if you have put down a sizeable deposit. We got ours a couple of weeks before completion - don't think anyone would agree to any more than that though.
Just thought I'd update this - I should be exchanging next week and our buyers have confimed we can have access from exchange (I imagine it'll be 4 weeks between exchange & completion), so it can happen
He only let her have the keys for measuring up curtains 
) before installing our small baby.
