Seller wants to keep possession of house after closing? (apartment, rent) - Long Island - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

wannabuyahouse · 02-10-2010, 07:57 AM

The seller wants some extra time after closing to stay in the house. This seems like trouble waiting to happen. The seller is buying another house but may have trouble closing on their new place, and they have a bunch of college & post college kids who are also staying in the house.

Does anyone have any advice on whether this is something I should agree to?

If I do refuse to this, what can the seller do with their stuff so that they can move out of my house at closing and then move into their new house a few days later? I understand their dilemma and would like to suggest a solution to them. Thank you all for your suggestions!!

redrunner+2 · 02-10-2010, 08:02 AM

We had to do this when we bought our house. In retrospect, I wish I had not. They left behind a whole lot of crap and we are still arguing about it months later. We also never got keys to the house, another added expense. Can you just put off the closing until they can vacate so you can do a true walkthrough?

They can get a POD for their stuff. That's what we did with our stuff after we moved out of our apartment but before we could close on our house.

twingles · 02-10-2010, 08:03 AM

Well, are they offering you anything? It can be a sticky situation....my sister bought a house last year and let the seller stay, they had a contract with the move out date and they paid my sister money, etc. But my sister KNEW they were going to try and push back the date again, and she made it clear she wouldn't go along with it. Well, of course, the people tried to change the date again after the month was up, but my sister needed to move in so her kids could start school, so she said no. But if they had given her a problem, she would've had a hard time moving them out, I guess.

What they need to do with their stuff is not your problem. They can get a storage unit or something. People do this all the time. My sister had to store HER stuff for a month while she waited for the sellers to move out. DOn't let their problems become yours.

hotkarl · 02-10-2010, 08:08 AM

As long as the agreeable terms are in writing you should be ok.
Usually there is escrow held until they vacate the premises.
I may be wrong, but there is usually a standard grace period of a few days maximum.
Anything beyond that requires compensation. It's usually written in the contracts to be pretty steep in an effort to motivate the previous to get the hell out.
I think on my last transaction it was like 3 free days and $250 a day thereafter if we stayed with $2500 in additional escrow held. Talk to your lawyer, they will know better than some knucklehead internet poster like myself

I was in this situation when I bought my current home. We closed on my previous home about a week before the closing for my current home. The owner was a real scumbag and would not make any concessions, nothing, we even offered to pay, but he was just a real prick and would not let us do anything until after we legally took possession of the house. Wouldn't even let us store our stuff in the garage with indemnity letters and monetary compensation. All our belongings sat in our vehicles and a moving truck in my parents driveway for the days until we closed.
It really sucked. Edited to add that the house had been vacant for months!

Chrisk327 · 02-10-2010, 08:20 AM

there is a grace period of a few days, not sure how long. you are compensated for these based upon taxes and interest. After that there is normally a penelty clause in your contract.

Its not uncommon if that is what you're asking. If you think the seller is a problem you should address it with your lawyer.

hotkarl · 02-10-2010, 08:24 AM

Yeah, if you're talking about a few days to a week, that is very common and totally acceptable. Anything past that is questionable.

scottzilla · 02-10-2010, 08:26 AM

I had to do this when I bought my house. The former owner had to pay me rent. Fortunately, the guy was such a tightwad he left after 6 days.
My lawyer explained it wasn't uncommon to do this.
I had to jump through rings of fire to even get my house so I didn't argue.

okaydorothy · 02-10-2010, 08:43 AM

Three days is acceptable. Our previous owner called me a week before we were scheduled to move and said she had no place to go to. However, she was the reason why everything moved so quickly. I was so annoyed as we had bags and boxes packed and the kids were ready to go.

I didnt sell my house so she moved in to it for a month. the only damage she did was to put her plants on our windowsil and stain it. Otherwise she was gone in a month. It was a risk, but it worked out in the end. Nope, she didnt pay rent for the month and even had the nerve to complain that I had cut off the cable.

I say 3-5 days is acceptable. otherwise, hardball comes into play

newtoli · 02-10-2010, 08:47 AM

Just make sure everything is written out legally and charge daily rent. Very common to do that, I just had a friend who rented the place she bought to the original owners for 2 months with no issue.

hotkarl · 02-10-2010, 08:55 AM

Oh, you just reminded me, that was another thing the cheap bastid did to me...he told me a week before the closing that he was terminating the utilities. LIPA and the water. So, I had the stuff transferred into my name and was paying for the utilities before I even took possession of the house. This also brought up another scenario, we needed to do the proper 24 hour before closing walk through, now how would we do that with no water or electric? And this prick was trying to dodge the walk through as well, because the prior week or so we had the home inspection. He was like "you just had the inspection why do you still need to do a walk through?" What a scumbag.

It is common courtesy to keep the utilities going until the transfer of ownership, that way there is no lapse or break in the service. The essentials, water, electric, gas.
I'm not sure but this may even be a mandatory legal thing, anyone know?