NO NO Do not let them into the house. What if their house deal falls thru?? Will they move all the stuff out and will they damage the floor, rug, walls in moving? What if a mover/themselves/friend hurts themselves? Will the damage YOUR property? As to their agent "promising them" they could, if they insist, report the agent to the state board. At this point, I would not even let them have access to the garage--this is still YOUR property, and you are liable for accidents. Again, what minor thing on the inspection does the agent/people want to ignore and without anything in writing, they could/would/will come back and make you do it anyway. Just say NO and be safe.

Our sellers let us move a few things into the garage before closing. It really helped us out. But that said, I wouldn't let your buyers move anything into the house.

Absolutely NOT into the house! The garage is bad enough. It's nice to be nice and probably all will go well but there's always that small chance something could go wrong so why even taken that risk at all with one of the biggest financial transactions you're likely to do in your lifetime to "be nice" when 99% of people don't expect to be able to move in early, it's just not done.

Here's another vote to just say NO to the house move. Garage...ok you already said they could do that. But absolutely no to moving into the house! For all the reasons mentioned in the previous posts and I'm sure there are more that I can't think of. When they own the house lock, stock, and barrel then they can do what they want. It will be THEIR home but until the closing happens and the papers are signed it is your home. You are responsible for anything that happens. Don't do it. NancyLouise

I think the issue here is the 'under the table' aspect. I have been on both sides. My Realtors had a form that indicated the liabilities and responsibilities and a cost which as I recall was about 35-40 per day the last time I did it.

Too often it seems like the buyers are looked on like they are the bad guy which I don't really understand. Perhaps it is a remnant of the negotiations that don't always go the sellers way.

I am no expert for sure, but I have sold 8-10 homes and have never had one get within 3 days of closing and not close. Maybe I have just been lucky. YMMV.

HalB

I don't understand why this is considered "under the table and off the record" when everyone involved in the transaction knows about it.

I would give them a choice: in the garage without a written agreement or in the house the day before closing with the walkthrough done prior to moving in and a short term rental agreement of some sort with a very steep penalty if closing doesn't happen as planned.

"They're making a big deal about moving in that day so they wouldn't have to spend the money for the truck for one more day. Am I freaking out for nothing?"

No. You are thinking clearly. You don't know these people. It is unreasonable for them to ask you to do ANYTHING "all under the table and off the record".

How much more is it going to cost them to rent the truck for another day versus the legal headache$ YOU will incur if the sale falls through or anything else goes wrong?

If you feel like being generous, take this extra day of rental off the price instead of exposing yourself to potential litigation.

Thanks everyone! I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks moving into the house is a big NO NO. We would know if they closed or not on their house on Friday 4/20...it would be two days later Sunday 4/22 that they wanted to move their stuff and we would close in the AM on Monday 4/23. But I still stand firm on not wanting them in the house. There is just too much that can happen.

The off the record and under the table is just that it was not written up on the inspection form. Their agent didn't want us to "counter" on the inspection list and then have to get both her people to sign in (one in FL one in CO). So she wanted us to sign off on the list of repairs to be made knowing that we would not do one of them in exchange for moving some of their stuff in on Sunday.

HalB...we had two other contracts that fell through five days before closing...so it can happen. Can you rub off some of your luck on me please :o)

dreamgarden...I've considered giving them the money for the extra day of rental. I was going to just leave them the cash...I guess that would be okay??

Thanks again everyone!!

Their agent didn't want us to "counter" on the inspection list and then have to get both her people to sign in (one in FL one in CO). So she wanted us to sign off on the list of repairs to be made knowing that we would not do one of them in exchange for moving some of their stuff in on Sunday.

HA! So they want a contract lying around you failed to comply with? Not a chance.

Oh, and imagine the deal falls through and you now have a set of tenant renters you need to evict. We had a deal die on the closing table when their money failed to show up. Turns out they'd never really qualified for their loan and no one caught it except the guy at the bank who was susposed to wire the money. Since that was going to make them homeless the next day, I don't want to think what could have happened if they'd already moved in.

Just say NO! We sold a house last fall and the first buyer walked away and the second one closed a week after it was supposed to and our agent thought they might also walk away. Getting the call that it had really, finally closed was such a relief.

And the house that we just bought ... it had gone back on the market because the previous deal had fallen through *the day before closing*. The buyer got laid off the day before close and hadn't sold his previous house, so he canceled the contract.

It does happen. I wouldn't have even agreed to let them store stuff in the garage, but you said this is your third buyer and I know you must be eager to get it over with.

But not in the house, nope.

Am I reading this correctly? All this risk for the one day cost of a truck rental? Jeeze. A 25 foot Ryder truck, or equivalent, costs around $60/day. Pull 60 bucks out of your pocket at the closing table and hand it over. Or, just give it to them now as a show of good faith.

Do.Not.Do.It. Period.

Personally, I wouldn't even let them move anything into the garage. What if they injure themselves on your property whilst moving things in?

The bad thing about letting them use the garage is if they say they brought something over and now it's missing. I would at least get some sort of contract that you are not responsible for their stuff.

Okay...I just need to vent a bit. I'm so ready for this to be over with...

We were supposed to receive loan committment this past Friday (4/13). Well, our agent talked to their mortgage company and found out she isn't going to be able to get everything ready until maybe this Wednesday (4/18). We did find out that there are no FHA predications...but haven't seen that in writing just yet. They are still supposed to close on the house they are selling on Friday 4/20. I wonder if our closing will really happen a week from today.

Our agent told theirs that we're not agreeing to anything else or doing anything else until we get loan committment. So we still have the one minor thing on the list (relocate the exhaust fan in the basement bathroom) that we verbally agreed to exchange for letting them move in the garage. If we don't receive loan committment until Wed, they could get ticked at us for not letting them move into house and decide they want the fan relocated afterall.

Relocating the fan isn't a huge problem...just time consuming and we just don't want to deal with it. They even said it wasn't a big deal to them. I don't want it to cause any problems though. I think we should just go ahead and relo it now and be done with it and forget the whole verbal agreement. Something about it just doesn't sit right with me.

Thanks for letting me vent :o)

I'd say that relocating it is probably the safe bet right now. This won't give them anything to hang over your head. It's exactly why we've been working on our house every chance we get before listing.

I had something similar with my last move. Recently seperated w/ 2 kids, house closed really fast, couldn't get all of my stuff out. New owners allowed me to leave some of my stuff in the garage. I personally spoke to them verses the realtor and wonder if you'd be able to speak to them about the moving arrangement they think you agreed to? Say you'd gladly give it to them in writing that they could use the garage, but in writing so as to CYA and so that you are both on the same page...

The new owners ended up changing the lock on me at one point when I had a few more things to get. Thankfully it wasn't important, sure they threw it out.

I also think relocating the exhaust fan is a good move right now, verbal agreements have a way of not being remembered correctly, so go ahead and fix it. I can say that the one time we allowed the new owners to move stuff into the garage before closing it was a verbal agreement made directly between the two of us and was only a convenience to them, we didn't exchange anything on a list for that privilege.

Why can't they just load the moving van and keep the stuff in the moving van until the day you close?

"...a short term rental agreement..."

Never.
You do not want a lease to be associated with things like this (including holding over after settlement).
A lease can make you subject to various landlord/tenant laws and rules.
You want a holding over owner to be a 'tenant at sufferance'. This gives the owner maximum leverage.
The same for someone who might want to move things into a garage before settlement.
You DO NOT want to extend any security or assume any responsibility for the property or the persons.
In most cases the previous policy on their house remains in affect for a limited time after sale and closing, but the more formal you make this agreement the more likely you are to be held responsible.

NO, NO, NO! I have a friend that did this, to be 'nice'. The buyers were 'very nice'. It did not turn out even remotely close to 'nice'. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

orchid - what did you wind up doing?

We went ahead and relocated the fan. Their agent hasn't brought it up anymore. We're firm on not letting them move anything in the house. And it seems like they didn't think moving it into the garage would help them at all. They're doing their walkthru on Sunday. I'll be checking out the house and saying my goodbyes (FINALLY!!!) Sunday afternoon and will lock the garage mandoor (no door going into the house from the garage) and gather up the garage door openers and bring them to closing on Monday.

We did finally get their loan committment on Tuesday...so that was a relief. Keeping my fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed that everything works out!

Thanks everyone for your support!!

Almost doing the happy dance :)

Good luck. May everything run smooth. Be sure to post back