Access to house before sale goes through

raxy

We have a house sale agreed and have signed contracts/paid deposit.
Have been told it takes about 4 weeks from date of signing to finalise the sale.
Is it possible to get access to the house to paint etc before the sale goes through?

miezekatze

Does nobody live there anymore? If it's empty then I guess you could ask (not sure the seller would allow this though), but personally I'd wait until I have the keys and the sale has been completed. It's still possible that the sale will fall through.

tuisginideach

Would any seller give you access to their house to paint it in your colours when the house still doesn't belong to you?

I certainly wouldn't!

Paulw

Unlikely you will be given access until all contracts are signed, just in case it falls through.

macnug

I know a few builders that would let you do this during the boom. If its a private sale then probably no chance. They probably will let you have access to measure up the rooms for furniture etc.

Sleeper12

I can't imagine any solicitor allowing their client to hand over keys before the sale is final

BRYAN Is Ainm Dom

No chance if somebody is already living there. I know what I would say to you if I was living in the house!!!!

ted1

raxy wrote: »

We have a house sale agreed and have signed contracts/paid deposit.
Have been told it takes about 4 weeks from date of signing to finalise the sale.
Is it possible to get access to the house to paint etc before the sale goes through?

You don't own it and sales fall through, why paint someone else's property? Also is the house currently occupied ?

john the one

I asked a few months ago and the EA said it wasn't the done thing so wouldn't be happening.

I knew it wasn't but chanced my arm anyways.

marklazarcovic

You could always find something you didnt notice prior to sale agreed so its not in sellers interest to allow access until keys handed over

ted1

marklazarcovic wrote: »

You could always find something you didnt notice prior to sale agreed so its not in sellers interest to allow access until keys handed over

Or they could make it look better and the owner pulls the sale because he could get more.

MarkAnthony

OP a huge amount can go wrong and nothing takes the time expected. Don't start planning just yet.

4ensic15

I got access to a house before the sale closed , the agent gave me a key. The owners found out after about 10 days, by which time a lot of the house was in a skip. The owners' solicitors then wrote and demanded contract interest from the date of the signing of the contract.
I know a man who died recently. He allowed purchasers in before the closing and they then refused to close or pay rent. It messed him up enormously.

Gumbo

I've done it when buying from developers during the boom. We bought from one developer in 06 and sold and bought in the same estate in the next phase so the foreman knew me and gave us a key. Told us that it's at our own risk of course but we were fine with that as we lived 20 seconds from the house.

Made sure to buy him a couple of bottles of wine when officially closing.
Also during a private sale last year we got the keys as it was empty and we had met the owner a few times previously, he was OK as we were clearing it out for renting.

My advice, ask the question, no harm.

Access to take measurements, yes. To paint, no.

raxy

The house is empty as it was rented before. There's horrible wallpaper in most rooms that we'll have to remove & re-paint. Just wanted to see if others had done something similar.
The estate agent had told us earlier that because of liability he couldn't let us in without him being there but since contracts are signed & deposit paid I was can't see the problem now. Obviously if the house was being lived in I wouldn't be asking. But since we have a young child I wouldn't mind trying to get some of the work done before we are actually living there.
I'll sound it out with our solicitor & see what happens. If the sale fell through a few tins of paint isn't going to be the end of the world.

Sleeper12

raxy wrote:

The house is empty as it was rented before. There's horrible wallpaper in most rooms that we'll have to remove & re-paint. Just wanted to see if others had done something similar. The estate agent had told us earlier that because of liability he couldn't let us in without him being there but since contracts are signed & deposit paid I was can't see the problem now. Obviously if the house was being lived in I wouldn't be asking. But since we have a young child I wouldn't mind trying to get some of the work done before we are actually living there. I'll sound it out with our solicitor & see what happens. If the sale fell through a few tins of paint isn't going to be the end of the world.

The sale can fall through even at this stage. Its not that common but it happens.It's not yours till the day your mortgage company pays the seller in full.

twowheelsonly

raxy wrote: »

................................
I'll sound it out with our solicitor & see what happens. If the sale fell through a few tins of paint isn't going to be the end of the world.

It isn't until the vendors decide that they'd have to get professionals in to re-instate the house to it's original condition before you 'messed up' the decoration !!!