House buying today.

petra

Having bought and sold a lot of properties this is the red flag moment.
From experience it will only get worse.
The couple need a clear and honest answer as to why the vendor wants this explanation.

I agree

Moth62

Re the house still being furnished and full of personal effects, I have friends who bought just such a house and it was months and months before the seller moved all his mother’s stuff out and they could move in. I would stipulate that they want it completely cleared either by the date of completion or at an agreed date of their choice. Otherwise, it can just drag on and on.

Yes!

Is this maybe in Scotland or Ireland?

In Scotland, some property sales are bound by terms and conditions which prospective buyers must match.

Bottom line is, the seller calls the tune. Keen buyers do as asked.

fancythat

I would be a bit wary that clothes etc are still in the house.
I would have thought it normal that they would already be gone.

whenever I've sold houses they were still full of our stuff becaise we lived in it. Every house I've bought , the same, including the present one whose owner had died. Her executor hoped we might buy some of the furniture to simplify clearance.

I employ a competent solicitor to hand the buy or sell conveyance and the missives invariably include conditions about vacant possession etc and the consequences/penalties for failure. This is standard procedure.

My DD had to do this when they were househunting ten years ago, so it isn't new.

They didn't get the house but found one soon after just up the road. They didn't have to write a letter for that one and are still living there.

They live in the south west of England where the property market is very different to how it is here.

butterandjam

fancythat

I would be a bit wary that clothes etc are still in the house.
I would have thought it normal that they would already be gone.

whenever I've sold houses they were still full of our stuff becaise we lived in it. Every house I've bought , the same, including the present one whose owner had died. Her executor hoped we might buy some of the furniture to simplify clearance.

I employ a competent solicitor to hand the buy or sell conveyance and the missives invariably include conditions about vacant possession etc and the consequences/penalties for failure. This is standard procedure.

The owner has gone into a home.

As petra said earlier on, red flag.

The op's GD may be ok. She may not.

fancythat so what is the problem with the owner being in a home?
The person responsible for selling the house will empty the property as required by law.

But when?

Why has it not been done already?

And the biggest issue of all, and especially in light of the request of a reason to buy as well, does the daughter really want to sell. In her heart of hearts.

4th I suppose - why has she dragged her heels thus far in emptying the house/getting it ready for sale. Properly ready.
Though there may be excellent reasons for doing that,

50 years ago we saw a house we wanted to buy. It was being sold by the Scottish National Gallery as the owner, a well known artist, had bequeathed it to the gallery. It was in a village south of Edinburgh.

We were asked to submit an application letter along with our closed bid.

We agreed to put a blue plaque on the house and I said I would have a pottery studio there. We bid all we could afford which was several thousand pounds above the upset price.

We had a long wait until the closing date and we were disappointed that we were outbid and annoyed that a builder bought it and immediately divided it into 2 homes.

We felt sure that the artists wishes had been ignored in favour of making the highest price.

I sold my father’s house in a cul de sac in small Norfolk village a couple of years ago. Many of the owners had lived there for decades as had my parents. There were a few people interested. In the end I accepted a lower offer from a lovely young family with small children who I felt would integrate well into the small community and reinvigorate young life into the aging community there.
Having gone back to visit when my dad was in a care home I know that it was the right choice. The children are in the village school, they are adored by the other residents, and have brought new life into the street.
I would never have forgiven myself if I had sold the house to someone who didn’t “feel right” for the house and community.

I always leave furniture and contents in a house when selling it. A furnished house sells much better and uicker than an empty unfurnished one. I have never not had the house completely empty well before the completion date.

fancythat

But when?

Why has it not been done already?

And the biggest issue of all, and especially in light of the request of a reason to buy as well, does the daughter really want to sell. In her heart of hearts.

4th I suppose - why has she dragged her heels thus far in emptying the house/getting it ready for sale. Properly ready.
Though there may be excellent reasons for doing that,

I also wondered if the person selling the house had the legal right to do so?

I wonder if the house is having to be sold to pay the fees for the mother’s care and the Daughter is dragging it out as long as possible for some reason.
If ( heaven forfend) the mother dies soon it may not need to be sold and some family member might want it.This is all speculation on my part of course and my GD and BF have two other viewings booked.

I would write to say that it was obviously a well loved house with a friendly feeling about it (or whatever) and I would tell them all about myself too. The lady in the nursing home may actually be the one making the decision - and it might make her feel better about the sale this way.
I know this is supposition but see no harm in it.

We had to do this once for a tenancy (and got it). I suppose you do want to know more about potential tennants though.

I know the people selling the house to one of my daughters sold it to her for less than their "best offer" because they thought she would love it the most.

...And my husband's aunt actually exchanged her big house for a much smaller one because she liked a young couple round the corner who had a young family and couldn't afford a bigger house.
People don't always do everything just for money you know.

If the mother lived alone and is being paid for by the Local Authority on an interim basis because her savings have run out, the house has to be sold to pay her fees, it sounds like that may be the case here. If so, the daughter has to do all the work to empty it, which is hard for her I’m sure. It might mean though that she is willing to leave white goods and furniture behind, which coukd be a bonus for young buyers.

Yes, I have seen that. This is where you write a beggar's paragraph as to why the sellers should choose you to be the new owners rather than another couple offering the same amount. Just a note about who you are, children or not, where you are from and that you plan on living the home forever. If you write that you are from the middle east or China or are an investor or a builder planning to do a tear down then, no, they will choose the other prospective buyers.

Unless she really dislikes the neighbours and wants to be sure it will be a party house!!

So different here. What business is it of the real estate agent why they want to purchase? It is more the banks that worry about whether or not you can afford the place and the banks are the ones the loans go through, not the real estate agents. Usually the house will go to the highest bidder and once an offer is accepted that is it. No up staging, it is binding after a 2 day ‘cooling off period’. It has been a seller’s market , several offers for every house and most sell after a period of about 6 weeks. Definitely slowed down a bit - it used to be a couple of days . Some go to auction and either sell on the day or get passed in .

That's bizarre alright.

If you need a roof over your head then you buy/rent somewhere. Obviously.

Perhaps this particular property is in a conservation area with a bunch of caveats attached to it?

Weird, and no mistake.

As MOnica said, you could give any number of reasons why you want to buy a house, but once the deal is done, who knows what might be done with the property?

Regarding stuff in the house, my elderly neighbour has been in a home for over two years. His house went on the market a few months ago, and was soon snapped up.

His family have had a lot of clearing out to do. (Very clean and tidy, but lots of ‘stuff’)

I am pretty sure his clothes etc were still in the wardrobes and cupboards when the viewings happened.

Also, although the family had POA, I know the solicitors saw the owner at his nursing home and he had to do some signing, to make sure he was well aware of all that was happening. (He is still very good mentally).

He just wanted the property sold and sorted.

Never heard of it. If its an old person who is leaving her much home perhaps she just wants reassurance it will be loved and cared for . I would make it honest and brief in what they say. When my home is sold I won’t ask for a letter but I will know by meeting them. It is not just a house to me, I want it loved however daft that sounds.

Oreo

fancythat

But when?

Why has it not been done already?

And the biggest issue of all, and especially in light of the request of a reason to buy as well, does the daughter really want to sell. In her heart of hearts.

4th I suppose - why has she dragged her heels thus far in emptying the house/getting it ready for sale. Properly ready.
Though there may be excellent reasons for doing that,

I also wondered if the person selling the house had the legal right to do so?

Ownership of the property and legal right of the vendor to sell it, are the first thing a solicitor checks. In this case they'd be looking at land registry and then the extent and legality of any POA held by the daughter.

The contents can send a powerful message to viewers about the property's care and maintenance by the recent occupier and vendor.

Our property's 100 yr old (deceased) previous owner had owned it for 30 years. It was for sale by her Executor (son) who lived 400 miles away. (Useful gossip gleaned from neighbour)

It was still fully furnished right down to kitchen utensils and linen cupboard. Everything, furniture, fittings and ornaments spotless and absolutely immaculate, all in the style and taste of a wealthy and very particular old lady who bought the best and employed excellent tradesmen and housekeeper.

Her taste and style was irrelevent. The level of care and expenditure and maintenance were a powerful selling point to any experienced seller and buyer.

We ended up with four people all competing to buy our house, all with a house to sell. First to sell, bought the house. All were young childless couples wanting to buy a family home and start a family. Fortunately they were also all very nice and we were delighted with the couple who did buy it.

We were still living in the house and as we were downsizing we were able to sell some of the furniture to the new owners, sell some and put the rest of our belongings into store until we had a ne home to move to.

The new owners also sent us a card afterwards to thank us for leaving everything so clean and in such good order.

Seems to have been standard practice for buying and renting in London, Brighton and Bristol, that I know of, for th3 past 7/8 years. It’s due to the huge demand. Th3 seller/renter likes to know more about the people seeking to buy/rent.