Pre-offer Chattels Inspection

[Giddy]

Hi All,

My partner and I are in the process of putting an offer on what may be our first house.. we have been advised by our solicitor we should check that all of the chattels are in good working condition prior to signing - and that they should be in the same condition on settlement.

the offer has turned out to be a multi offer and the house is currently tenanted. Trouble is the tenants don't want the house to be sold and are being obstructive by not answering the agents communications and coming up with all number of reasons as to why it isn't convenient.

Anyway, as a result we need to get the offer in tomorrow morning but we haven't been able to view the chattels. We need to add a line into the agreement that it is subject to us being able to inspect the chattels within 3 working days of signing. Does any one have any suggestions for wording of this?

Hopefully someone sees this in time.. Thanks in advance,
Giddy

[Wayne]

Are the chattels in questions (the ones that may or may not work) significant?
You could wing it.
Or you could make some sort of condition that all chattels are to be in good working order.

[klauster]

With a generic DD clause, I do all important investigations during due diligence after the offer has been accepted.
If something is wrong, possibly you will re-negotiate the price before going unconditional.
I would not be worried about chattels at this stage.

[Propertytrader]

mate what is suspect the tenants may have reasons why they dont you guys to see the chattels,might be broken or something else might be going on inside the house, be very careful with that kind of tenants, thanks

[klauster]

Your offer will have an access clause, the tenants are the seller’s problem.
Contract subject to "vacant possession".
The vendor/seller offers you value for money, nobody else.

[Giddy]

Thanks for your responses.. added a clause 'subject to purchasers gaining access to ensure that all chattels are in good working order within 3 working days of signing this agreement' our concern is that if we haven't checked the chattels and the tenants are peeved that the house is being sold then they could damage them and we wouldn't be any the wiser if they worked on the date of signing or not. This was important to us as if they weren't working we wouldn't have had the extra funds to get them fixed.

Offer was presented this afternoon and accepted at about 4:40 this afternoon... have made a time to go check out those chattels..

[Keys]

Make sure you realize that, if you don't have vacant possession, you are not allowed a pre settlement inspection. The only way you can get that is to do a landlords inspection, properly notified etc.

[Giddy]

Funnily enough I had to point out to the agent after viewing the draft offer that we need to live in the house from settlement date.. so yes, we do need vacant possession.. this is why I am a Commercial Manager and have as little as possible with residential management.. other than currently being a tenant of course..