I would refuse to let them on the property, and make them hire either a local mover, or junk hauling service to drag their stuff off of your property. If the crazy wife takes the door, charge her with theft, and get an estimate from Lowes (it’s $35 to get a written estimate from them, including installation) for a rush replacement of the door. Get the dumpster delivered as soon as possible, and start getting rid of their old junk. Get formal receipts for everything, in case you have to go to court. Today, take pictures of everything they left, the door loaded on her trailer, or whatever else you can document. If you hire help to clear out their junk, make sure it’s from a company that gives receipts.
Make sure all windows are latched too. You don’t want someone crawling in a window in the middle of the night either, at your house or the smaller one either.
Oh how I agree with not closing until they are GONE gone. I bought my farm 3 years ago and when we walked through before closing, there was still a TON of their crap in the house and in the barn. We showed up at closing and I asked when they were removing it all. They had the gaul to say they thought maybe I would like that stuff so they intentionally left it!! Who wants old rusted beat up crap and 20 bales of moldy hay? And clothing in the closets!
They promised to be there later that day to remove it all. They came and took maybe 10% of it. I spent weeks cleaning out their crap.
How far away are they moving? If somewhat close, don’t be surprised if they occasionally show up or drive by slowly or send friends to scope things out. Hoping peace for you once they are physically gone, along with their stuff.
What a gong show. When we closed on our house, my realtor wrote in that any junk left behind would be subject to a fee. Sellers left behind 3 garbage bags and a wooden play structure in the basement - we received a check for $500 because it it. My realtor and I were not playing around.
I figured it would be the appliances, tbh, even though they were specifically mentioned (and photographed!) in the contract as coming with the house. I should have guessed though, they whined about the renters burning them on the NextDoor app for stealing the front door. I remember the nasal whine of “Who would steal their own front door? Why would we even do that?” Ummm.
They gave in on the front door. I’m pulling it out of the trailer as soon as the fireworks display is over. Seller was very upset when their realtor said they would need to give it back or buy us a new door. She threatened to sue their realtor for “not properly explaining what an as-is sale means”, and said they were going to call the cops on us for not letting them in to get their stuff whenever they want. LOL. Nut. The realtor had her boss call them, and he apparently gave them a dressing down, because they agreed to give back the stolen door.
9 hours away, Hallelujah! They are sticking around town for a couple weeks to ‘finish some fencing contracts’, so I’m sure we will get some drive bys in the meantime. Got one today from one of the folks who has been helping. Long as nobody comes through the locked gates, they can give me the stink eye all they want!
It would be very rude to wave like a fool at them as they drive by. Please be careful and don’t hurt yourself waving, and use all of your fingers (a friend waved bye-bye to someone with both middle fingers extended, and that was totally rude, especially since I caught her doing it).
I’m glad you got the door back.
Check the appliances out very carefully. Since they left them, they might not be all that great.
Eagles Wings Acres does beat When pigs fly which is what I think of your sellers. And a good fire might help with all those sheds and sh*t.
Now I am trying to figure out who gets sentimentally attached to a door, though granted DH built a custom door that I was sad to leave, I still left the darned thing, it was a custom fit for crying out loud and who DOES that, although it does seem to be recurrent, gates…doors.
Dare I ask if there is anything remotely useful in the crap they still have left? Or is it really all just junk? Sometimes if there’s something decent left it can at least pay for the dumpster to get rid of the rest.
We had very drunk people pull down our farm drive a few weeks after close to “check on things for the old owners” and offer their farrier services. It was 10pm.
We also changed all the locks and paddlocked the farm gate
I can’t stop laughing that the sellers thought an “As Is” sale meant they could take the front door… and the fencing… and the gates… and… :lol: like “as is” means as in how you leave the place?!? That thinking is way out there in left field, like as in another planet left field.
OP, I hope this is over for you soon. I can’t even imagine how stressful this has been for you. I hope you are able to enjoy the process of making this farm your own. Don’t let these nut job sellers take that away from you. And I’m glad you got your front door back!
We had the ex-wife of the seller break in the house AFTER closing and AFTER we changed the locks and put a chain across the driveway because of the previous break-ins and thefts.
That was when we got local law enforcement involved. After the law contacted her and explained things to her, she called us to apologize…and ask us if we were gonna need that couch upstairs.
On your to do list, have the HVAC serviced, and change the filters. You never know how long it’s been for either one. Also, it may sound over the top, but I put a cheap aluminum (the disposable type from the grocery store that has the 1" side on it) cookie sheets under every under sink, under the drain, and the cut off valves. If there is ever a leak you’ll hear it without even looking.
I also have saved a ton on electric bills by putting LED bulbs in the ceiling fans, and the over sink light fixtures. My bill is a lot less than my neighbors with the same size house.
A basic but good quality front door is several hundred dollars at least (from a surplus store). A better quality door (still fairly average) is well over a thousand - even several thousand. If you get into fancy side panels and fancy glass, there’s no real upper limit on what you can pay for a classy, solid front door.
You can get cheap front doors, but one good kick from an intruder will cave them in. They will also lose their true to the frame with each change of season. Those are not true exterior doors. I wouldn’t feel safe living behind one.
Based on the theft of the gates and so on, I do wonder about the previous owner’s next place. I suspect they tried to steal the front door because they need a good front door where they are going. Same with the gates. My imagination can creatively construct an hypothetical scenario about why they are doing some of the things they are doing. Guessing that there is a money problem at the root of it.
People do get emotionally attached to front doors that are significant to them for their artisanship, or in their family history (although I suspect that OP’s sellers are not in that category). Can’t afford to keep an old family home, but the well-remembered front door is a good stand-in. A friend in a rural area bought a house that had been built 50 years previously by the grandparents of the husband of the couple next door. The next-door husband asked about buying their front door, as it had been made by his grandfather and was a unique piece that he remembered well. My friend said sure, if you will buy a good-quality replacement front door. The husband agreed and ended up paying almost a thousand dollars for a replacement door. The old one was well-used but in excellent shape and extremely heavy. My friend & his wife are happy with the new front door, but it is nowhere near as solid as the old one they gave up. As for the next-door husband, he couldn’t afford to keep his grandparents house that he remembered so fondly, but he was very happy to have the front door (which is now mounted in one of the exterior doorways of his own house).
Well, back to the sense that these sellers weren’t really emotionally ready to move on from this house, one wild guess is that that they just didn’t think ahead to that piece. My speculation is that actually moving out all their stuff (and their horses) was never real to them - and sounds as if it still isn’t.
The other wild guess is that they can’t afford a decent front door that wouldn’t be an objection from a prospective buyer while the house was listed. Stealing the good one after the closing means they keep the decent front door to use at their new place without having shelled out for one. Again, even a basic but good front door is expensive. Even at the surplus store.
There are sellers who go to great lengths to try to take things with them that are intended to convey with the sale of the house, and hope that no one has the energy to go after them to bring it back. Heard of one sale where the buyers happily came to their new home only to find round holes in the yard where the bushes had been. Other things that often disappear even though they were to convey are window fixtures, small appliances, and built-in decor. Instead of a bathroom mirrored medicine cabinet, there is a large hole in the sheetrock. Yep, people can be pretty awful.
And I’m glad you got your front door back!