Vendor not allowing early Access

[Property Meister]

Was wondering what peoples opinion on this one,

settling on a property in about 2 weeks, regional VIc

vendor is a middle aged/elderly, sold due to husband passing away

I originally asked for early access to tidy up and potentially paint, she umm'ed and ahh'ed about it and ultimately agreed,

I then later informed them that I won't be painting or doing anything to do it, just showing it out to get it rented,

fast forward a while, ive just been told that there is an open for inspection for it to get it rented out in 3 hours time, I just found this out yesterday,

vendor has now changed their mind and has taken the keys away from the agent,

conveyancor told me that the clause for early access was put in, BUT so far their communication has been atrocious, and it wouldn't surprise me if they had forgotten or gotten mixed up,

If there is no clause inserted, what are my options,

its not really the end of the world, but it may cost me up to 2 weeks in rent,

according to the 2 sales agents I dealt with, both were under the impression that she is fine with early access, and they say that they feel she changed her mind because I reduced my offer by $2k from the first lot of negotiations to the 2nd.

got me stumped.......

 

[Propertunity]

If there is no clause inserted, what are my options,

No clause = no options
There is a clause & the vendor still denies access = no options.

Suck it up and move on.............not worth worrying about. Legal avenues just cost extra money and achieve nothing.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

according to the 2 sales agents I dealt with, both were under the impression that she is fine with early access, and they say that they feel she changed her mind because I reduced my offer by $2k from the first lot of negotiations to the 2nd.

It's not really worth pushing hard on the issue for 2 weeks rent. You're more likely to get a painful vendor which could make things hard at settlement which might only cost you more in the long run.

I'd advertise the property now with notes that it'll be available from the day after settlement. Include pictures from the vendors sales campain in the rental advertising. You may find you've got a tenant within a day or two of settlement anyway.

 

[Terryw]

I woudn't be letting it be open for open inspection if I was the vendor. Giving the purchaser access to inspect is one thing, but giving access to potential renters (and sticky beaks) is another.

And why did you sign the contract of sale if you don't know what is in it??

 

[marg4000]

There is a world of difference between early access for YOU to do odd jobs, and an invitation to just anyone to come and inspect the property with all the insurance risks involved (slips, injuries). I may allow the former, but definitely not the latter.
Marg

 

[Property Meister]

fair enough, just assumed the clause was in there and left it up to the conveyancer to do his job,

at the end of the day, its not the end of the world,

its already advertised for rent, an inspection is for today, which the agent will have to show photos,

hopefully it will be tenanted straight away,

not really happy about vendor not going back on their word, but not much I can do if its not in the contract, as expected, the conveyancer hasnt got back to me, next time I will be using somebody else

 

[Dazz]

fair enough, just assumed the clause was in there and left it up to the conveyancer to do his job

There's about 7 things that are wrong with that statement, all of which amount to you not really being a professional when it comes to transacting real estate.

Note : A conveyancer just works with what is in the contract after it is signed. It's your job, not theirs, to make sure you have in the contract what you want. Don't palm off your responsibilities to them.

not really happy about vendor not going back on their word, but not much I can do if its not in the contract

In real estate transactions, there is no such thing as "your word, or their word".

If you want all the benefits of early possession, the easiest thing to do is hand over all of the money to the Vendor early, and then you can do what you want with it when it's yours.....simple.

 

[kathryn d]

You could the vendor some money to allow access for the day?
Personally, I wouldn't allow purchaser access.

However, we did buy a property a few years ago.
We asked and received access to hold inspections for an hour..and the REA sat there with us. She was happy to oblige, as she was getting the commission when the sale went thru. She also knew if we bought more properties, they would be thru her.

 

[turk]

fair enough, just assumed the clause was in there and left it up to the conveyancer to do his job,

at the end of the day, its not the end of the world,

its already advertised for rent, an inspection is for today, which the agent will have to show photos,

hopefully it will be tenanted straight away,

not really happy about vendor not going back on their word, but not much I can do if its not in the contract, as expected, the conveyancer hasnt got back to me, next time I will be using somebody else

Perhaps the vendor is not happy with you going back on your word i.e.

Moving from access for you to access to complete strangers possibly not known to the vendor, buyer or estate agent.

 

[Property Meister]

Perhaps the vendor is not happy with you going back on your word i.e.

Moving from access for you to access to complete strangers possibly not known to the vendor, buyer or estate agent.

quite possibly however, it wasnt a case of going back on word,

I got into a 2 way bidding war with another buyer (not through auction), basically, my offer would be counter offered by $500 immediately, this occured 4-5 times, at which point even the agent said it looks like this guy has his heart set on this property no matter what you offer, so I thanked the agent and told him I had reached my max,

24-48 hours later, agent calls me back and says that other guy is umming and ahhing and now wants to put in a finance clause ,and that the vendor would be willing to sell at my highest bid which was $500 off,

I resubmitted my offer in writing lower by $2k and it was accepted,

so nothing remotely dodgy had occured, was just part of the bargaining process

 

[buster]

I woudn't be letting it be open for open inspection if I was the vendor. Giving the purchaser access to inspect is one thing, but giving access to potential renters (and sticky beaks) is another.

And why did you sign the contract of sale if you don't know what is in it??

The biggest issue is giving access to potential theives who will case the place .

 

[sanj]

fair enough, just assumed the clause was in there and left it up to the conveyancer to do his job,

good lord. you put in and signed an offer without reading the O&A/contract???

im genuinely struggling to compute how anyone could do that let alone someone who has been a member on SS since 2007 so would/should obviously know better

 

[Property Meister]

good lord. you put in and signed an offer without reading the O&A/contract???

im genuinely struggling to compute how anyone could do that let alone someone who has been a member on SS since 2007 so would/should obviously know better

the problem in this situation was that there were multiple copies of the contract floating around, with amended offers, the agents fax machines werent printing out correctly,

The original contract had the clauses inserted,

Plus I had the confirmation that the conveyancor had the clause in the contract,

somewhere down the track the clauses have dropped off

hence this dilemma at this point in time

 

[Dazz]

somewhere down the track the clauses have dropped off

...but you own the track...

You're the Track Meister. You're the God of your track. You built the track. You maintain the track. You're supposed to know every inch of the track. You become the track....

Things don't just drop off on your track without you knowing.

You're the Track Meister. Start acting like the Track Meister.

 

[knightm]

...but you own the track...

You become the track....

I love it dazz, zen and the art of contractual negotiations....

im gonna remember that one next time.

 

[Property Meister]

Update:

well, got a call back from the conveyancer, the clause for early access is in the contract from 8th Jan

vendor is being difficult because they accepted the 2nd highest bid after the highest bid pulled out,

have been recommended just to settle on original settlement date as its not worth the headaches and time frame

which is exactly what I ll do

 

[Terryw]

What is the wording of the clause?

It may not be worded so as to give you the right to allow others to access the property

 

[lizzie]

Have to also remember that the vendor is elderly, recently widowed, selling the family home ... probably doesn't really understand all that she signed for (early access for you is different to allowing dozens to troop thru "her" home) ... head not in the right place ... emotions all over the universe.

I'd hold off until after settlement too.

 

[Property Meister]

Have to also remember that the vendor is elderly, recently widowed, selling the family home ... probably doesn't really understand all that she signed for (early access for you is different to allowing dozens to troop thru "her" home) ... head not in the right place ... emotions all over the universe.

I'd hold off until after settlement too.

Update: well, agent has requested for access to do the final inspection since its exactly 1 week away, lets see how this goes down!

 

[Propertunity]

Update: well, agent has requested for access to do the final inspection since its exactly 1 week away, lets see how this goes down!

You are entitled to the final inspection before all the money gets handed over at settlement.