General Chat

When I bought my house, I had to pick up the keys from the vendor (sister of the lady who had died there) to measure up, then I gave them back, then I borrowed them the day before I moved in to clean the house as it had been empty for a while and I had a 5 yr old. Even then I had to return the keys to the vendor at the end of the cleaning day, and had to wait till the money was transferred after midday next day before I could have the keys again. All that while the house was empty, only some carpet left and that was nothing special.

Hope you can get this all sorted Uzzi, I think the Estate Agents are wrong to give out keys without escorting the person to the house, they are just being lax because you aren't around.

As if you needed any more hassle.....

Stay calm, hon

Lizxx

I would be furious ,and be on to the estate agent asap.

When we were selling my parents house we had a similar tho slightly different situation.
A neighbour to my parents (who always kept an eye on things) met us in town one day and said ....'Ive seen the house is sold then'...which it wasn't at that time.
We said 'No'..he replied that he'd seen a prosptive buyer coming out of the house with a handful of runner beans.
Hubby had planted part of the garden as he was there most evenings ,and every weekend ' because we were doing it up for sale'...Very fertile soil,so he used it.

I rang the estate agents straight away ,he said she'd asked to look at the property again (she put an offer in which we didn't accept) but she han't been given the keys for access.
I believe the estate agent that he hadn't given her the keys the second time, but he contacted me to say that the keys had gone missing !
They were on a keyring with a car on them ,so very distinctive...I think he must have handed them to her at some stage ,cos I'd warned him that the one door was iffy to lock and perhaps she was checking that lock and kept the keys...Will never know!
Estate agent paid for a new set of keys,and as the house was then under contract to be sold suggested to him to advise the buyers to change the locks..and that he paid for it to be done.
That prosective buyer didn't damage the house or remove anything ,there was a new kitchen,bathroom suite and some of our cast off wardrobes in there...but who knows what could have happened,as it was she just nicked our runner beans!!
I guess anyone could have but she was seen in the 'act' so to speak!!

Uzzi just a wee note to say when i worked in the bank, i was in the dept that sent the monies between solicitors. Our local sols would not hand over the keys to the buyer until the funds were in the sols account.

If it was the last friday of the month, it was really busy and our cut off time was 3pm. We used to have tel calls all day from buyers waiting to get into their new property but they couldnt until the monies were through and sale completed.

If i was viewing a property today, you would measure up when the estate agent took you round as i wouldnt expect to get in on my own especially with other peoples property still there, no no that is out of order.

I agree with someone who suggested getting the locks changed just to be safe and as for the estate agent, I would be on that phone as soon as giving them a blast!!

Hope you get it sorted soon. keep us posted and let us know what happens.
Take care
Florence in the hebrides.

Its not uncommon for estate agents to let the buyers have keys prior to completion,if they are dealing with them,,,,,,,, the buyers will of course have been checked,,,owners leave all that to the agents if they live away,,,,,,they are probally on the agents books and have bought others property with them so can be trusted.


look at the paperwork to see any small print within the agents and yours agreement.

I have viewed empty property alone without an agent....they need all your full details.

Erm.......Uzzi is in Spain, the house is in the UK.

Well said Penny.

Change the locks, tell the estate agent why - because you entrusted them ( and them only) with the keys, andthey have let them go out , and potentially be copied. this compromises your security.
Copy in the solicitor and ensure the costs are deducted from their final bill.

They have no need for the keys now, get someone else to keep them.

Uzzi, you are paying the estate agents to sell the house and they have a duty to do as you instruct. If there are any problems they will have to answer to you and you would be within your rights to ask for compensation i would have thought..

Make sure you contact them asap and get this sorted.

That's just what I was going to say VIV, what if they had the keys copied! If the estate agent haven't been given authority for unaccompanied visits, I would want the locks changing at their expense. If contracts haven't been exchanged yet, what would happen if the buyers forgot to lock up and the place got burgled, who would they expect to foot the bill? I would put these questions to the estate agent. Nothing runs smoothly does it. :-S

okay as angry as I am, I will contact the estate agents and see what they have to say.
I will ask why when they phoned me after the sellers had been to the house they had not told me that they had given the keys out , I am so angry but I will be sensible when I phone them.

We had the same problem when selling my f-i-l's house some years ago. The sale had been agreed and everything was progressing well. I popped in weekly to check the house etc.... I called one afternoon and was gobsmacked to find that kitchen cupboards had been removed, carpets taken up and paper had been stripped.

I contacted my then husband and his brother (the sellers) and told them what was going on. My b-i-l left work and came straight round and because the estate agents were closed took photos as evidence..

Not long after the buyer turned up and was shocked to find us there. My b-i-l demanded he hand over the keys and told him he would be contacting his solicitor and estate agent first thing in the morning.

He had been granted access to the house with a builder (with our permission) to measure up, get quotes etc but the estate agent had let them go on their own. It seems the buyer had had the keys copied before they were returned to the estate agent.

The upshot was the solicitor said if he wanted access before the completion and wanted to do any works he would have to stump up a hefty non-returnable deposit .

All work and access was halted, he was charged extra for the things he had done and the sale was completed on time.

Give the estate agents a right good telling off and tell them that no one goes into the house without one of their representatives present.

i would phone the estate agent
and say your not happy

as for them knowing people where there
then why did the buyer have the keys

the buyer should not have keys till the compleation
what if they were sqatters :-(

As I said........

Doesn’t sound right, agents do give keys out to surveyors and some trades people under certain circumstances but not purchasers. Sounds like they were just being lazy maybe a call to give them a chance to explain, if you are still not happy contact whatever trade association they belong to.


Regards,
Mayfield

As I said, without knowing all the facts you can only speculate.

Whoever instructed the agent should have a contract setting out the responsibilities for each of the parties, which should include arrangements for allowing access to potential purchasers.

Uzzi,

You should be able to check if they are members of The National Association of Estate Agents on their website/advertising

If so, here is the code of conduct – see item 6. Access

http://www.tps.co.sh/Documents/naeacop.pdf

Joy I didn´t think they would, but I am wondering what the heck my estate agent was thinking about to give the keys out before contract, knowing that I had all my Mums life in there, not just furniture.

I am still too angry to contact him, but I will. I am also annoyed that he phoned me the day the buyers had been in, and told me he knew I had people there (which I explained) but still didn´t tell me that the buyers had been there with keys !! .

Anybody know of an estate agent pact thingy maybe I ought to sue him lol

my son has 10 houses
and we dont get the keys
till the transaction is finalised

IGP the estate agents do NOT have permission to allow anybody access without them being there

Lesley I am perturbed because after Friday the house is empty until sold. My Aunt and Uncle didn´t actually like the buyers and think they are buying to sell. Not that, that makes a difference to me selling. BUT I am not allowing access to the garage for storage until the house is sold.

Is anything easy ?

If the buyers had told the Estate Agents that there were people in the house, why did they not ring you to check that they were supposed to be there?