House move request

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Omg what a cheek do you have any offers or has this purchase gone to far, I wouldn’t really want to sell to them.

I think I’d get a gardener to quote for the work, then ask your agent to pass it on, saying you’ll happily set this is motion with the gardener, upon your completion, and here is what the gardener will charge them. That should make them think twice! X

No unreasonable - the offer was made on the basis of house and garden as seen. Any work they require to be done can be done when the sale is complete and they can pay for it. I wonder what your neighbours will think of the caravan and vintage cadillac on your driveway?

You say they want to do the work when they move in so of course it’s up to them what they do once the house is theirs but there’s no way I would make any changes to the garden in case the sale falls through. Sales can fall through even after contracts have been exchanged. They will just have to make the time to do what they plan to do or pay somebody to do it.

I am reminded of a house we viewed 7 years ago before we moved into our current house. It was a 1930s house with a very small kitchen but the best feature was the gardens, they had a lot of space at the side which was beautifully laid out and the back garden was nice too with lawn, shrubs and vegetable plots. A woman owned it with her daughter and she was clearly the one who tended to the garden. Reading between the lines she didn’t want to move and she pointed out a couple of negative points of the house. The house wasn’t for us but it did sell pretty quickly and after the sale went through we drove past and noticed that the whole of the side garden had been dug up, all the plants and shrubs were gone and they were in the process of making it into a parking area. It must have broken the woman’s heart but it was up to the new owners what they did with it.

Don’t you have to have planning permission nowadays to pave new areas of driveway over a certain size, and it should be permeable to allow drainage?

Never ever heard of anything like this, we would never ask someone to do this, surely you buy as seen and do the alterations when you actually live there, cheeky sods!

I think they cheeky and I would not do it they put offer in you accept end of

They are cheeky so and so’s! The answer is no.

To OP
Your purchasers are nuts to expect you will comply to their request! I feel sorry for your current neighbours when they move in, but in the end it isn’t your problem.

I'm amazed that the estate agent even relayed their request. They should know that there is no way you are going to make drastic changes to the garden before the sale has gone through.

Nice try just ignore

Yes, like everyone else, I wouldn't do anything to the property or garden before a sale. It's a totally inappropriate request. They could pull out and you'll be left with a devastated garden, which could reduce the sale price and indeed the saleability of your property. And you don't have to deal with this in person. That's what the estate agent/lawyer is paid for. Get the potential buyers to deal with them. You could write them a very polite note, to that effect. I would also instruct the estate agent to inform them that such requests are , (unfortunately), never entertained before a purchase.

Yes it’s a pity when you see what you cherish going to a skip.
If houses in your area are selling well then your solicitor can explain they can do as they wish when they have ownership. It’s possible they want the price reduced in lue of work they feel needs doing.
Our next door neighbour bought a trad house with Edwardian original features.
They had it at a very good price as the owner wanted a very very quick sale. Still they tried to get it cheaper. They moved in and modernised and painted over beautiful fireplaces and staircasings with fairy lights galore. No wooden floors, it’s now Lino looking wood. Looks like IKEA now. But it’s their house to do what they want.
When the new owners of your house take ownership they can do anything.
I think they’re looking to reduce the price. Just depend if you want to reduce it. Please don’t change your garden as others have said you may do this then they say no they don’t like it. Your then left with a less desired home to sell. Good luck with the sale

NANNY please DO NOT DO IT. We’ve just moved 6 weeks ago and we had all kinds of requests from our cheeky buyers and said a firm NO to them all! 2 nights before exchange because he wasn’t getting his own way with the completetion date he threatened to pull out so I told my Solicitor and estate agent to tell him to do it then, even though our chain was 5 long. I called his bluff and didn’t actually care in the end because he’d caused us such stress. If you cut down your bushes your buyer could still pull out and you would have done it for nothing, tell your Solicitor it’s ‘sold as seen’ and hold your nerve, trust me the stamp duty holiday is ending soon he won’t pull out and if he does he wasn’t a very strong buyer anyway. I personally wouldn’t let him touch the property until you have legally moved out and he has the keys in his hand as he’s trying it on and has no right asking you to do this. Be firm, good luck with the move.

We have just sold our house STC and one of the interested parties put in a reasonable offer and came back for a second viewing. Told me he was thinking about adding a sun room on part of the patio, did I think it would be possible. I said if he bought it then it would be nothing to do with me. He went back to the agents and reduced his offer because of what it would cost him to do the extension. Our agent told him politely ( without asking us) the answer would be 'no way'. The offer we have accepted is asking question after question about silly little things. Don't know whether it's delaying tactics, but any delay would be detrimental to them as well as us if we go beyond the 30th June.

I certainly wouldn't be cutting back hedges as requested. I would say check your deeds and covenants, but it might lose you the sale if there's anything prohibiting caravans etc on your property. I know there is on ours.

There does seem to be a lot of chancers around at the moment.

Is it a "condition of sale"?..

Paving over front gardens should not be allowed in my opinion.
Really bad as natural drainage hampered.
And to ask YOU to prepare for this is outrageous

A simple "S*d off" would be my immediate response, and on further reflection with great consideratin it would remain the same!

It must be a joke !

Cheeky! Why on earth should you do heavy gardening work for them - and presumably also dispose of the bushes - when they could perfectly well hire a garden company to do it when they move in. I feel the answer is a resounding 'NO'.

No ...if they offered when they saw it, ;sold as seen; then it is THEY would should do the work. I had a similar request to remove a lot of fitted furniture (bridging unit from the main bedroom, fitted shelving in alcoves, and various cupboards and other fittings in the garage. I said NO ....you can forget the purchase .....they still bought my bungalow for the asking price ...think they may be trying it on ! you could also suggest to the agent that he may like to check your council's regulations re vehicles on private drives....

What a cheek do they have???
My understanding is that you buy a house as is and do what you want once you have the keys in your hand!
I think I would be tempted to take some of the shrubs with you, is you can and put in your new garden.
I'm just wondering though if the purchasers will want to knock money off the agreed price due to the fact that they will have to pay to change the front garden - won't be the first ones to try it on ! It also won't be your responsiblity to arrange and pay for the dropped kerb they will be needing either!

They are being utterly unreasonable. If they want it done let them do it themselves....they bought your house on what was presented to them...I mean...do they want you to erect an extension or even move their furniture in? For gawd's sake, tell them where to get off!

Definitely NO. As others have said, "Sold as seen." I agree with others on the other point that you might get your garden all dug up then the sale fall through.
A relation did what this couple are wanting to do but only after he had bought the house and paid for it himself.