Gone sale agreed ... what to do while waiting to move

positivenote

HI All,

we went sale agreed on a property over 3 weeks ago and have our own home now sale agreed. All documentation seems to be in order our end and we are going to walk through our future home on friday. Estate agent has said that basically everything is for sale in the house as its current owners are moving abroad. Im looking for advice on what we need to do regarding the following:

We are moving from our own home which is fully furnished and we dont really want to bring everything with us as alot of furniture hasnt been updated in the 17-18 years we have lived there previously. What should we expect to be included in the sale of the house we are buying and how should we broach this idea from them that everything is for sale in it?

Secondly we got a surveyers report back saying that all is good structurally etc... only a few little sugestions, should all of these be met and if not should we look at getting mooney off the agreed price (or include furniture / white goods to equate the cost of this work?)

Also any other tips on the moving process as we have never done this before... Ideally we get keys the same day that I had my own keys across to the person buying my home. What do we do with all our stuff in the day of getting/giving keys etc...

The stress is already starting.... how long should we be looking at before we are out of this home and in our new one.. So many Q's apologies.

Thanks

amdublin

What did you do last time you went Sale Agreed?

positivenote

First time moving. We were first time buyers 20 years ago

Wildly Boaring

Well firstly no. The issues on your engineer's report do not need to be met, unless their advice or your solicitor's advice is that you should insist on it.

Example. A missing cert of compliance. I'd insist on that.

Example. Few missing vents. You'll end up sorting.

You won't be getting money off in today's market. You can try......

Your furniture. Generally things that aren't bolted down or fixed in are not part of a sale. You can of course offer some to the person buying your home via your solicitor. And their solicitor should provide list of items that come with the house.

A chain is pretty standard. So if all are amenable the 2 sales on same day is commonplace. But regardless moving everything in a day would be very stressful. There are companies who will hold stuff for a few days. Some have large trailers you just fill and they bring on when youre ready. Some can be paid to do everything. I know or neighbour's used a crowd called Colpe Storage.

positivenote

Thanks for this advice

Ray Palmer

Either sell or give away the furniture you don't want on Adverts. If you don't want the furniture are you sure others would want it? Is it good quality furniture, you can go into most furniture shops and spend a fortune on it but still be poor quality?

Harvey Norman is so strange tome. They charge a lot of money for very poorly made furniture and people buy it. Chipboard construction with staples holding it together. Ikea tend to be better made even when you put it together yourself using proper joint connection

seamus

We are moving from our own home which is fully furnished and we dont really want to bring everything with us as alot of furniture hasnt been updated in the 17-18 years we have lived there previously. What should we expect to be included in the sale of the house we are buying and how should we broach this idea from them that everything is for sale in it?

Properties are usually sold as "vacant possession" unless explicitly stated otherwise. In effect what this means that when the buyer walks in, they expect there to be nothing left in the house which isn't bolted down. Furniture that the seller doesn't want shouldn't just be abandoned in the property. Dishwashers, fridges, etc shouldn't be left unless they're integrated into the kitchen. The shed shouldn't be full of old wood or rubbish. The attic shouldn't be piled high with carpet fragments, etc. Everything should be empty.

As part of the sale, if the seller intends on leaving some things (or the buyer wants to keep some things), this should be included in the contract of sale. If you leave all your unwanted stuff in the house, the buyer can refuse to close the sale until you come back and remove it all. In fact, it's quite common for a buyer to insist on a final "walkthrough" to check for vacant possession before they agree to close the sale.

As part of the property that you're buying, the vendors have already flagged that you're buying the house and everything in it. You can try to push back and say that you want vacant possession, but it's a seller's market. The vendor can insist that you take it or if you don't, they'll just pull out and put it back on the market.

For your own house, you can take the same approach if you want. "We will leave behind all the crap we don't want and it's your problem".

Once contracts are exchanged however, you're locked in. You can't then decide to leave things in unless they have been included in the contract.

Lean on your solicitor for a lot of this. You're paying them a decent wad of cash, so don't be afraid to fire all your questions at them and ask them for advice on what you should do. This is what you're paying them for.

Secondly we got a surveyers report back saying that all is good structurally etc... only a few little sugestions, should all of these be met and if not should we look at getting mooney off the agreed price (or include furniture / white goods to equate the cost of this work?)

The surveyor's report should list everything which is necessary to fix in the house, but most of this will be basic wear & stuff. As a general rule of thumb, if an issue is something relatively cheap (less than €2,000) that you can live with for a couple of years, like an old boiler, degraded fascias or crumbling roof felt, then leave it be. If there is something which you will need to pay big money to fix nearly immediately or is dangerously urgent - like rotten rafters, rewiring, subsidence - then you would insist on a price reduction or remediation. Again, lean on your solicitor for advice.

Also any other tips on the moving process as we have never done this before... Ideally we get keys the same day that I had my own keys across to the person buying my home. What do we do with all our stuff in the day of getting/giving keys etc...

The key exchange is always the fraught bit. Basically you need to be ready to leave once you've been told that the keys have been handed over. When there's a chain, people know to expect that the vendor needs some time to get out. The people buying from you will get the keys and may want to move in straight away. But if you're still trying to get your stuff out of the house, so be it. People are told to expect a bit of time - meaning hours, not days - for a vendor to get out of the house. For you, the most painless thing, if at all possible, is to have everything packed up and ready to go on the day. The last time we sold, we had all the boxes and stuff ready to go, furniture dismantled, etc., and on that morning we packed up the truck and waited.

In your case because they're not living in the house, the vendors may allow you to move in early. Or at the very least to store your stuff in the new house. This will give you somewhere to put stuff while you wait for the formal key exchange.

My advice for you is to start decluttering now. You have 20 years' worth of crap stored up, and when it comes time to packing up, you will find it insanely difficult to sort it and pack it at the same time. In the interests of time saving, you'll end up just packing everything, and bringing a pile of useless junk with you to your new house.

Simple questions to determine whether something is worth keeping:

• Does it have sentimental value?
• If not, will it have a place/be useful in the new house?
• If not, have I used it in the last five years?
• If not, bin.

Get yourself a skip out front and be ruthless. Old kids' toys, old clothes, bedding, paint tins, old chargers, parts from the dishwasher you threw out in 2012, you get the idea.

Your furniture is worth more to you emotionally, than it is money-wise. As a rule, any furniture over 3 years old is functionally worthless. There is no real market for second-hand furniture with the likes of IKEA around. You can try list it on adverts, but be realistic. Even if it's in absolutely brand spanking nick, it is worth less than half of the cost of a new one off the shelf. If it's of particular value; maybe a hand-crafted solid wood piece, you might get €100. Might.

In general for used furniture, you should count yourself lucky if someone takes it from you and saves you a trip to the dump. Any kind of cabinets and storage are always in demand. But kitchen tables and old sofas next to impossible to give away.

Start now, go minimalistic.

positivenote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118813367#Comment_118813367

Jeez, thanks for all that detailed feedback. It is very helpful.

Just a point of note, re: the house we are moving into, the Estate Agent has said that everything in it is for sale (rather than we have bought it all) and we are going to walk through and discuss anything we wish to buy on friday. If we dont see anything that is of genuine worth to us we really dont want it.

Surely this means that we are only contracted to buy the house 'vacant possesion'?

thanks again

seamus

Depends on what you mean by "contracted". "Sale agreed" can mean that your offer has been accepted and you've handed over €5k or so to the estate agent.

Or that you've signed contracts and handed over 10% of of the purchase price.

If it's the latter, then yes you are entitled to vacant possession and if you don't want any of their stuff it must be gone before the house is sold. If you haven't signed contracts yet, then anything you do want will be added to the contracts.