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Original poster

Things not to do when viewing a property

67 replies

bonfireheart · 15/09/2018 21:51

  • turn up late
  • repeatedly press the door bell (esp when you're late)
  • complain about how houses in another area are bigger and cheaper (thereby assuming either the seller is clueless or doesn't have access to rightmove)
  • point at DD10 and say "where's her dad?"
  • come to see a small/mid sized house with three average size bedrooms, see photos and measurements online and then complain to the house owner that there's not enough bedrooms for your massive family in a tone suggesting that they've personally offended you by only having three bedrooms (go home and have those conversations)

Oooof!!

OP posts:
wowfudge · 15/09/2018 22:27

LeftRightCentre - if you were interested in the house you wouldn't walk out.

SoupDragon · 15/09/2018 22:30

On the flip side, if you are a seller, don’t proudly explain how you put the kitchen cupboards with “really long nails” or point out every single one of the electrical sockets in every room.

SoupDragon · 15/09/2018 22:31

Put the kitchen cupboards up ...

Aaaahfuck · 15/09/2018 22:37

We're in our first owned home so we've not had to go through the selling process yet. However my sister recently sold her house. She had people complaining to her face about;
The location
Number of bedrooms
Price (even though the area had lots of streets with very similar houses so it was in no way over priced) for example stuff like well I think this house should be on for 115k when even the more outdated houses on the street were more.
All of these things are fully visable before the viewing
She had one fella say he only had x amount like 20 grand under asking price on a house worth 135 (I think) and he couldn't get a mortgage because he was Muslim so she should accept that offer as if that was her problem.
It pissed me off on her behalf can't imagine how annoying it is for you.

LeftRightCentre · 15/09/2018 22:39

LeftRightCentre - if you were interested in the house you wouldn't walk out.

I would and have, wow, because I become uninterested at that point, but hey, thanks for telling me I'm a liar Hmm.

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 15/09/2018 22:40

Don't try and steal my cat. (Happened in my first move. )Woman was more interested in my puss than the house. Her bf tried to distract dh at back door whilst she was trying to walk out the front door with him.
Let your child bounce on the beds.
Complain that the bus stop was too far away.

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 15/09/2018 22:42

I would and have, wow, because I become uninterested at that point, but hey, thanks for telling me I'm a liar hmm.

You must have a pretty small selection of properties to choose from then, very much cutting off your nose and all that jazz but to each their own. Hmm

LanaorAna2 · 15/09/2018 22:44

I know a buy-to-letter who steals books and ornaments regularly from the flats she views - she pre-plans and goes back for what she wanted to nick.

Example: She'd visit the property, catch sight of something she liked the look of in a bookshelf or on a shelf, then call the estate agent and ask 'to borrow the keys for five minutes to check pipes out, no need to bother the owners'.

Brings a rucksack to fill. She claims lots of landlords do it. Not so sure about that.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 15/09/2018 22:45

If you have a good local EA, who knows the area well and spends time with you, finding out about your house, so they can answer potential vendor questions, you don’t need to be there.

That’s why smaller local agents are a better bet than larger national or online ones. Left hand doesn’t know what right hand is doing with the big chain ones, in my experience.

shutupandgotosleep · 15/09/2018 22:51

Complain that my toddler is in bed asleep and that while I don't mind you having a quick peek in his room I dont want you turning the lights on and measuring up his room. Apparently I was being unreasonable because he should have still been awake. At 8pm at night at a time they requested

LeftRightCentre · 15/09/2018 22:54

You must have a pretty small selection of properties to choose from then, very much cutting off your nose and all that jazz but to each their own. hmm

It's never been a problem for us. We're very pleased in the house we are in now Hmm.

Watto1 · 15/09/2018 22:56

My brother is a teacher. When selling his house, an ex-pupil of his and her husband came to view. She was a nightmare! Saying things like "I don't know why they chose this wallpaper, it's horrible!" , "we'll have to knock this wall down " and "I couldn't bear to live with such a tiny fourth bedroom" , all in front of my brother! He's sure she was like this just because he was her old teacher. She ended up buying the house and is still there 10 years later!

AnneElliott · 15/09/2018 22:59

Bring 10 other members of your family with you and all go off in different directions.

MadameGerbil · 15/09/2018 23:03

I had someone view.my apartment and did some sort of tyre kicking exercise in the property, dissing furniture etc. My flat was an unfinished rental and it was a condition of the lease that the tenant showed future potential tenants round. I said he should really go for trying for a 30% reduction on the rent if he wasn't happy with the quality.of the furniture ( which was mine!!!) Twunt

ratspeaker · 15/09/2018 23:03

Dont tryto buy a house inScotland LeftRightCentre, it's the norm up here for owners to show you round, usually open viewing Thursday evening, Sunday afternoon.
I was helping a friend when she was selling, there was one woman critised everything then said " you'll not get much interest in it" totally ignoring the 3 couples waiting to view. Or the woman who told us about the wonderful aura but " she had to consult the spirits" or the guy who said he really liked it but the flood risk from the river put him off - there was NO river in the vicinity

Puzzledandpissedoff · 15/09/2018 23:04

Don't rifle through owner's clothes drawers

Don't ask to use the loo, crap massively and fail to flush
Don't kick skirting boards to see "if they're sound"
Don't ask if all stand alone appliances are included "because everyone else does it"

All from personal experience Hmm

Puzzledandpissedoff · 15/09/2018 23:05

I see I cross posted with you on the "kickers", MadameGerbil

Maybe it was the same viewer Wink

SayNoToCarrots · 15/09/2018 23:12

LanaorAna2 what??? There's no way she'd get away with that, surely!

Blankiefan · 15/09/2018 23:18

Don't stamp hard on the floorboards repair you think looks dodgy; then look shocked when your foot disappears through a hole as the floorboards gives way.

To be fair, they still bought our house for the full asking price.

busybuildingdens · 15/09/2018 23:29

Another ‘on the flip side’, I viewed a house where the EA was a neighbour, and spent the entire viewing bogging up her own house, ie; my kitchen is bigger than this one, and cost a lot more. Blah blah blah, totally totally put me off buying that house!

chickenchip · 15/09/2018 23:34

I had a lady who put in an offer on my flat and began proceeding with the sale but then pulled out as it was a flat and she didn't know who the neighbors were going to be in the future Confused

RangerLady · 15/09/2018 23:38

Best vendor viewing I've done was with a couple- the wife admonished the husband for being in his diy clothes to open the door to us (I didn't care). Then in the garden loudly worried about her cat "he's got a biiirrrrrrrddddd". Hilarious. I have to say we've had one or two lovely vendors show us round places including a seal the deal your by a 17 year old son! Though the less said the better as the actual vendors later pulled out on us.
Overall I prefer agent viewings. And am glad to see I am not an annoying viewer of houses.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 15/09/2018 23:39

Don't add all of the sold prices of the street published on Rightmove together, average them and then refuse to offer more but keep ringing up (six times) to reiterate the offer. Rejected every time, not least because one of the properties on the road was totally different to all the others and less than half the price (think tiny bungalow with large semi detached types) so it dragged the average down. Don't complain about the size of the house in front of me and tell me about your giant mansion. Clearly you are looking at the wrong type of house!

Japanesejazz · 15/09/2018 23:44

Never ever accept viewings from anyone who has sold or who is on the market with a mortgage in principle. Make this very clear with your estate agent at the start. Anyone else is just nosey

Japanesejazz · 15/09/2018 23:44

Not sold!