closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

So, our sellers have been dragging their heels about moving out of their home - I really don't understand why they are selling, but we've been in contract since mid-March and we really want this house.

We found out today that they want to close in mid-June, but not move out (so we can't take possession) until sometime in July. Right after their lawyer dropped this bombshell on us (we thought we were closing/ possessing next week), everyone involved (lawyers, etc) went home for the weekend.

We'd really prefer to close and take possession the same day or within 24 hours. Are we being unreasonable? What are our options? Anyone been through anything like this? Any thoughts, ideas or advise?

Thanks. Just trying to not freak out.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

we bought without taking possession right away. The seller had triple bi-pass 3 days before we closed and he wasn't allowed to leave the state.
They paid us 1 months rent upfront and left 25 days later.

I'm not sure your situation or the reasoning is for them not wanting to leave.
I could understand if it was a school thing and they didn't want to take the kids out. I would consider closing 6/15 and letting them stay until 6/30. But for all intents and purposes there is no reason for them to stay longer.

What is your on or about date? They have 30 days from that date to close. So if your on or about it 6/15, you may not have much choice but to close 7/15 if they want that.

Sorry you are going through this. It really stinks.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

What did your attorney say? Personally, I would never agree to this, however, when we were confronted with the same thing this is what I said in response to the request and they left without renting.

I would agree on the condition that
they have to pay you $1000 a DAY in rent,
that they and you both have to maintain insurance until they leave,
that they agree to leave by x date,
that if they don't leave by x date they will also have to pay any expenses you have incurred after that date,
that you have a walk though after they leave to make sure all is ok, and they keep $$$$ in escrow to make sure they actually leave.

I would ask your attorney to include any other suggestions he she may have and to include other methods of enforcement to make sure they move out and don't become renters. I personally would never agree to having someone else live in my house after closing. I think the above poster was in an extreme circumstance and was wonderful about the entire thing. Baring something like that, I would never want to rent back to the prior owner, ever.

I was prepared that they could decide to cancel the sale and force me to sue them. There are ramifications to something like the above, but I made sure to run all scenarios via my attorney. He did not like my conditions, and tried to ask me to be more reasonable with the daily rent, but I got what I wanted.

Message edited 6/4/2010 7:51:57 PM.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

We closed on 7/10 and didn't take possession til 7/17.

A week is typical, especially when you're buying from someone thats been there 20 years....but longer than that would worry me and there should be terms that define it VERYYYYYY well in the contract.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

Our seller verbally agreed to "On or BEFORE" Feb. 28th. We were moving from out of state and I had a limited amount of time in the corporate apartment so we needed a place we could move into fast. They then refused upon signing the contract and changed it to "On or ABOUT" which technically gave them an extra 30 days but they said they would be out by the beginning of March. By the beginning of March they were doing nothing about getting out - pushed it the full 30 days and finally our lawyer said we WILL set the closing for April 15th and if you don't show to close we are filing a lawsuit to force the closing. That was enough to scare the crap out of the seller who was dragging her feet. They finally asked for an April 28th closing since they could not get into their new apartment until that date. We later found out that she told neighbors she didn't understand why we would not let her stay til the end of June when the kids were out of school. What part of On or BEFORE FEB. 28th didn't she understand?

If you're approaching the end of the 30 day grace period I would ask your attorney to threaten with a lawsuit to force the closing and tell them you want immediate possession. If they want to extend the closing date I would insist on a reduced selling price or compensation for your expenses during the time you are waiting to close.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

thanks for your responses ladies. I have to add that our original date was on or about May 1. They hadn't found a place to move to within a few weeks and asked if we could change it to on or about June 1, which we agreed to. They have mentioned many times to us that they would be okay if we don't really want the house. They just don't want to move out. Their youngest is in college, so the school year isn't the issue.

The strong impression that I'm getting is that they want to close so that they are still within the on or about date (I think their lawyer or someone is going on vacation the end of June), but the house they are moving to won't be available until July some time and then they want to take their time moving in. Since we already have delayed the on or about date by a month, I am really not in the mood to be a lot more accommodating. I don't mind giving them a day or two to move out, but that's about the extent that I'm willing to give. Plus they are moving 1 town over, so it's not a crazy cross country move, you know?

We are going to have a big discussion with our lawyer next week, but keep your suggestions coming. I'd like to talk to our lawyer with as much information as I can.... Thanks again!

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

We went into contract at the end of February and didn't close til the end of June. I'm going to say it's normal bc we had nothing unusual to deal with.

If it means you are saving more money, so be it. Just make sure to do a final walk thru!

We had a few days where the previous home owner lived in our house. However I do work with people that had a similar situation to youl They still haven't moved !

Message edited 6/5/2010 2:15:54 AM.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

I am not entirely opposed to agreeing to these kinds of things. There was a house we loved and bid on (but ultimately did not get) where the seller wanted to remain in possession for the month of June, until the kids finished the school year. At the time, we had a month to month lease so it did not matter to us, but I could see a buyer refusing to agree to it. It depends on what works for you and what your circumstances are.

I think most buyers want to take posession right away so I dont think youre being unreasonable.

Message edited 6/5/2010 7:53:37 AM.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

This happened to us for the same reasons - but the sellers actually did us a favor by closing early so we didn't lose the rate we had locked into. We closed on 8/31 and didn't take possession until 9/10 or something like that. The house they were buying just wasn't ready before then. We agreed that if they were there longer than 30 days they would have to pay us rent and they put $2500 in escrow just in case.

If your on or about date was 5/1 and you still haven't closed by 6/1, then your attorney isn't pushing them like they should. There is nothing wrong with not taking possession right away with certain stipulations, but not closing on time is just ridiculous.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

we closed mid october and didn't take possession until the second week of november. It sucked to wait, but we had to do it, we got the house and thats what mattered. We knew we'd be in the house for years, to wait a month or so wouldnt hurt us. It was strange to walk out of closing empty handed though. They paid us "rent" and money was held in escrow until we moved in and were ok with the condition of the house

Message edited 6/5/2010 8:51:23 AM.

Re: closing without possession (long) - thoughts, advise welcome

We closed and didn't take possession until 2 weeks later. They had to keep insurance on the property and utilities in their name until their move out date. They also had to pay us $250 a day until the move out date and if they weren't out on time... it went up to $2500 a day. A significant amount of money was kept in escrow to make sure they couldn't get away with anything. We had 48 hours after they moved out to report any damage they might have caused. They moved out on the expected date and there weren't any problems or damage.

It sucked cause I wanted to move in as soon as we closed but... it wasn't that big of a deal.