First three times sound reasonable. The next one was generous. This most recent request is over the top.

You already reached the "enough" point. There is no need for anyone to be in the house after the inspection unless you need to do repairs brought up by the inspection. When we were under contract at our last house the buyer wanted to bring in all these trades, we said no. They have all the time they want to bring them in after the closing. Two days before the closing the buyer wanted to move the closing up one day to have a duct cleaner come in. Of course buyer expected everyone to rearrange their schedule for them. The answer was NO.

Your buyer is past enough- she can bring whatever family members or contractors she wants after she closes on the house.

If house has been inspected and closing date set, tell her you are not able to make any more appointments as your time is consumed with packing and preparing for your own move. If she persists, just tell her NO.

Assuming you have a real estate agent, have your agent tell her agent no.

Thanks, all - I appreciate your comments. Inspection is complete, we let her sister come in, we have a closing date - I've told our realtor that after further consideration we cannot accommodate it - we're also trying to schedule contractors for the minor repairs we agreed to do as a result of the inspection.

You mustn’t feel guilty. You have a lot to do with packing and moving. You have been generous, but now you have work to do and your own future to plan.

Thanks...the curse of a people pleaser.

Inspection time of 4 hours is fine. Quick trip with sister, okay, buyer is excited, (assuming your realtor is present at the inspection and at the visit with sister).

P & S is signed, Deposit is in escrow.

Buyer should not be contacting you at all at this point. Tell your realtor “enough is enough”. It is up to her/him to make sure there are No more visits.

This should be dictated in your purchase agreement -- it's usually 2 or 3 times.

I had a landscaper randomly show up in my yard when I was selling a house. My dogs went nuts is how I knew. He said the buyers told him the house was vacant. I was pretty heated, and was pleased he was scared of my pit bull (sweetest dog ever, but loud). I let the realtor have a piece of my mind, and said they could have full access after I was moved out. That sale turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.

I also think you have done enough. You are still living in your home.

Well, we said no and now OUR realtor is telling me I should find time to let her in because it takes FOREVER to line up contractors and she wants to start the work as soon as we close, and you never know when you may need a favor in return. Seriously!. We have almost a whole month to close so I dont see the urgency. We were pretty hot about this, as in, who is she representing?

Your realtor needs to take a refresher course. Buyer can line up the plasterer now for closing day. In the meantime, he can look at listing photos on his computer.

BTW, what needs plastering?

Scraping popcorn off the ceilings. Yes, or just say it's about 2000 sq ft. I get wanting that done before moving in, but who knows how many more "visits" she'll request. We may let her in like a week before we close but this is like a giant mosquito in the ear.

Okay - so you don't have to do it but I can understand why she wants to come in again. How much of an actual hardship is it for you to allow it? You could stipulate - one more 30 minute visit at my convenience but that's it - done - don't ask again - we're busy getting ready to move.

The more you let in the buyer or contractors the better chance they could find something else wrong with the house or it would be too expensive for them to do the cosmetic fixes. . Either wanting you to fix it or backing out of the deal. They will have plenty of time after closing.

The next they can come in is the walk thru usually the day before the closing.

Good point. And not sure it's my issue if she needs to wait a couple of weeks for the work to be done.

First, don't feel guilty. It's still your house. The buyer needs to respect your boundaries.

While we all understand the buyer's excitement, there is a danger of too many visits and buyer's remorse setting in. This is one of the reasons that you want to limit additional exposure. During the inspection period, she had all the time in the world to get her trades into the house. After that, it's only as you deem convenient.

In a spirit of cooperation, you can let her make an appointment for her tradesman to meet with you only. It won't take him five minutes. But, you aren't equipped to accommodate a visit from a cast of thousands. Your other option is to set a date and time for all of her tradesmen to visit at one time.

I also suggest that you have the lock box removed from the house if there is one.

Here is my horror story. I once accepted a purchase contract on my home. It was in NY so the rules of how things are done is a little different. I won't go into details. I came home at noon to discover the buyer's agent, the buyers, and their three children seated at my kitchen table having lunch. Fortunately, my dogs were still locked in the basement where I had left them. But, they were going nuts.

You should have seen the look on the buyer's faces. They were very surprised to see me. The lock box was only a convenience for my agent. My rules of showing were by appointment only. This was because of the dogs.

I was hot. I called my agent and told him to get over and remove the box. His listing was cancelled. I would not be accepting a contract from these buyers. He had failed to escort these people as required by the listing contract. The buyers tried to negotiate with my new agent and I refused their offers. These buyers had already proven to be troublesome. I was done with them. I ended up selling it for more money to another buyer that proved to be very nice people.

Moral of the story is get rid of the lockbox now that the inspection period is over. It will prevent the buyer's agent from accessing the home without your supervision.

I guess I stand alone. I allowed my buyers to access the house frequently - just let me know when they were coming so I would be out of the house. Similarly, I had my service providers visit the house I was buying often. They measured windows and doors for replacement. Measured the kitchen for re-design plans. I received accommodations so I gave accommodations.

The plasterer doesn’t have to visit to look at the popcorn ceilings. He’s done it before. All buyer has to do is lock in a date with him. Then it’s up to the plasterer. And, good luck to her with that end of it.

We were doing a renovation, owned the home, but weren’t living in it. Plasterers showed up as scheduled and began work on Thursday. We went over on Friday afternoon to see how they were coming along. They were no where to be found. The boss got a better offer on a bigger house on Nantucket and it was "gone, plasterers, gone".

I so agree with functionthelook. You are setting yourself up for a possible disaster. Now, it is check/deed, deed/check, as my attorney says.

I would absolutely not let them in to let contractors in. Jeeeeezzz, it is still YOUR house! Other people's contractors do not belong in YOUR house!

The request to allow the sister to look around: I might've said yes, but only if it was convenient. Since you are getting ready to move, you just say, we are simply too busy.

Can you imagine if one of their contractors gets up on your roof and falls off? It's not even your licensee!! Why take the risk?

And by the way, no WAY would I allow a "walk through" a day before closing. No way. Is that a state-by-state thing? Walk through? it's not a rental.

The new owner can walk through their OWN house when they take possession. If there are any items that were not fixed according to the agreement, they can address them at that time with the former owner. Or documentation, photos, can be provided to them to confirm items were fixed. Or the seller's realtor can confirm to them that the items have been addressed prior to close.

Ive lived in 3 states and they all allowed a walk thru the morning of closing to ensure repairs are completed, which is part of the contract, and to see no damage occurred between offer and closing. I would assume after closing it is much more difficult to resolve.

Everyone does walk thru here. It is to make sure the house is still in the same condition as when you went under agreement.

When we bought our first house walk thru was unheard of. After the closing we went to the house and found the dining room chandelier was missing. So were all the drape rods, light bulbs, and some plantings from outside. The real estate could of cared less. They got their money and they wouldn't tell us how to get in contact with the previous owner.

• We had a similar issue when we sold our house. The buyers wanted all sorts of contractors to see our house so they could begin work immediately on the day of closure. We told them no but we would be happy to move up the closing date. They declined that offer. They probably thought we were jerks but I just knew it was going to be nonstop appointments and I didn't need that kind of stress.

In PA, buyer is entitled to two walk throughs.

All right then, I hear you. The last house we sold, we turned over the keys and garage door openers in the driveway, and I guess that was their walk-through, but it was after closing.

But still, contractors?

All of this must be set forth in the contract. The contract and terms of sale rule, and I would abide by those and insist the seller abide by those. If the seller's realtor pushes on the seller to allow more, one needs to take that with a grain of salt---the realtor is just trying to please the other side, which is also what I've seen among realtors. They'll push against the weaker party in order to get closer to their commission.

It's still your house, you live there, and you have already revealed that you are the weaker personality. You need to stand up for yourself.

"And by the way, no WAY would I allow a "walk through" a day before closing. No way. Is that a state-by-state thing? Walk through? it's not a rental."

It's very common here, either by the owners or the real estate agent -- it's to ensure that the place has not been damaged between sale and closing, and to ensure that everything they said they were going to include in the sale is still in place and working. If anything is not right, it can be addressed and rectified (or compensated for) before closing. It's in the sales contract.

I've had a designer and contractor in my (sold) place twice so far since selling -- the owner plans to start work immediately on possession, and so wants to have plans in place before hand. I don't mind......In fact, I agreed to 4 visits by the new owner (or people they send in their stead) as long as I got a request with at least a day's notice, and as long as the real estate agent was there. I've always chosen to be away when they were here. They'll have used 3. I had two visits in my contract for my new place, and I only used one.

OK! As I said earlier!, I defer on that point, but not on the contractors entering the premises.

During the inspection window of our contract I was generous. Any time the buyers wanted access for an inspector or follow-up expert that was fine. After the inspection window (which was 10 days) that was the end of it. They could have their pre-closing walk through and that was it.

It’s your house until the papers are signed.

Reading through comments, it seems P&S may mean different things in different states?

In MA, once the Purchase and Sale is signed, the buyer and seller have a “contract”.

At that point, I would not allow the buyer to have any access to my property, except for walk-though, on day of closing.

Selling your house has nothing to do with being hospitable. Buyer loves the house; buyer had inspection; buyer commits.

Don’t be side swiped at closing when buyer presents a loop hole caused because of your generous walk-thru (s).

Buying/selling is a business, not a social engagement.

Have to agree with JudyG. I lined up painters, appliance installation and some other work for right after we closed on our last home. No need to keep bothering the sellers especially when they are packing up! I have sold three houses and never has a buyer bothered me to walk through once we accepted the offer.

Thought of this thread today -- selling my old condo with a closing tomorrow, and today the agent called and asked (via my agent) for a visit. In fact, they only wanted to see the garage and storage locker, but I'd moved out yesterday and there were just a few dribs and drabs to pick up (broom, garbage bags, etc). They used their 4th of 4 contracted-for visits on the day before closing.

One of the more interesting aspects of having the buyers visit your house, is hearing their unedited comments. I had an active security system (visual and audible) at my house, and whenever the buyers were in the house, I could see and hear everything. I wasn't home, but the cameras and microphones transmitted to my phone. I loved hearing their critiques on my decorating style. I wasn't insulted; I thought it fun.

A few days before closing, we were at the house (had moved before listing it), doing a final vacuum and loading up our few pieces of staging. Noise at the front porch, and I found buyers realtor trying to get in but the realtors lock box had been removed. Meaning she had no key three days before closing, but had arranged to meet our buyers there to discuss a rental property they were buying at the same time as our house. The buyers came in, middle aged couple downsizing with all three of their adult children in tow....6 additional people were very much in the way of our work. It was the first and only time I met them.

OT - but he was a little odd, was absolutely gushing to me about the house and how he knew it was meant to be his. She asked me who she was to call to do the lawn. I told her I didn't know, we had always done our own yard work.

One year later I rec'd an email from my realtor that read only one line: 'what the h*ll'. House was listed again. They were divorcing and selling it.