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Original poster

Would you offer on a house that you haven't viewed?

52 replies

Champagneforeveryone · 29/12/2021 22:04

We've found the perfect house (on paper)

We've been looking since August, though have only had our mortgage agreed last week so have not been in a position to do more than look. However it's apparent there's very little that meets all our wishes and we will have to make some compromises.

A property has just come up which ticks more of the boxes than most and looks perfect. However the vendors have been unwell and viewing has been pushed back until mid January. We have to leave our rental property by Easter so don't really have the luxury of hanging on another couple of weeks.

I've bought cars without viewing but a house is something else. Part of me says it would be utter madness, the other part thinks what could realistically go wrong?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated before we make a possibly expensive mistake

OP posts:
MadMadMadamMim · 29/12/2021 22:06

Utter madness. It's the most expensive purchase you'll ever make - and you can't judge a house you've only seen online or read the particulars on.

Zampa · 29/12/2021 22:07

Don't do it. You could end up wasting time and money (and not just yours).

As a vendor I certainly wouldn't accept an offer made without a viewing as the sale is more likely to fall through.

ballsdeep · 29/12/2021 22:11

Oh god no.
When we were looking we thought we found some amazing houses. When we went to see them they just didn't feel right and didn't feel like our home. The one we have now we knew straight away!

tectonicplates · 29/12/2021 22:21

It's not just about the house itself. You also need to judge if you'll feel safe walking down the street, or if there's a nightmare neighbour etc.

tealandteal · 29/12/2021 22:21

Yes in the sense that DH viewed it as it was in another part of the country and I couldn’t get there, but not in that neither of you have seen it. There’s often things that aren’t apparent in the pictures, like the beautiful converted barn we viewed where the windows were actually extremely low(like knee height!).

RedRobin100 · 29/12/2021 22:26

Jesus no

So many houses sound perfect on paper then the minute you set foot outside your just like…no way

Potential for such a waste of time and money. Or a massive mistake.

VenusClapTrap · 29/12/2021 22:29

SIL did this, and so did a close friend of mine. Both happy with their choices and worked out fine.

hartof · 29/12/2021 22:29

Sort of. We reserved our new build without having seen where it was or the house itself, it was in a town we'd never been to. It worked out well but we only paid a £500 deposit.

Have you driven to the area and outside the house? Are they likely to allow the mortgage surveyor in?

RidingMyBike · 29/12/2021 22:34

Definitely not! Something that looks good online could be awful in reality - it's your only way to check what it's really like.

Purchases are speeding up again. We just got from offer to completion on a sale (no chain either side) in 30 days. If you did decide to go ahead then you've got from mid-Jan to early April? Have you got other stuff in place ready eg decided on solicitor and done the identity checks etc?

bonfireheart · 29/12/2021 22:35

A car is more easily resold if you don't like it.
I saw so many houses that looked nice online and then weren't.

allycat4 · 29/12/2021 22:37

No!

Kite22 · 29/12/2021 22:39

No.

I mean, I might if I were 1/2 of a couple who had looked at a dozen houses already and one half of the couple couldn't make the viewing but the other had, but there is no way I would view a house without either of us stepping inside.
Photos can be deceptive.
Photos won't show things that aren't appealing.
You can't pick up smells from photos.

TheFlis12345 · 29/12/2021 22:39

Definitely not. When we were looking, my least favourite house on paper was the one I loved straight away on viewing and is now our much loved home.

ThePlumVan · 29/12/2021 22:42

Are there any videos you can view ? Are the agents on tictock (a lot are)?

Even after videos I still don’t think I would offer without a proper viewing but the videos might help you realise waiting is your best option.

emmathedilemma · 29/12/2021 22:43

Absolutely not

anothername007 · 29/12/2021 22:43

As everyone says, madness. I would though!

longtompot · 29/12/2021 22:45

The first house we viewed I would have bought just via the online details and photos. In person it was so much smaller than we needed, so on that I would say no, I wouldn't offer without a viewing.

StarryNightSky26 · 29/12/2021 22:47

Good god no.

Imagine moving day finding the whole place stank of sewage or every floorboard was like standing on a balance board or there was a constant smell of weed from next door - or 100 other worse things!

You'd have to be crazy.

Ilovechoc12 · 29/12/2021 22:49

Check on - train lines , planes, churches, schools, fire stations. We have been busted with noise in the properties we lived in …. Be very careful!

Kite22 · 29/12/2021 22:52

Plus, if recent experience of everyone I know who has bought a house recently is anything to go by, you'd be lucky to be moved within 3.5months of an offer going in, even if you did.

Don't be panicked into buying what could be a really costly mistake for the cost of an extra month's rent (or storage and staying with someone or any of the other options). This is the biggest financial commitment of your life - one that can sign you up to 30 years of debt and is expensive to buy and expensive to sell. It is not worth gambling on.

justasking111 · 29/12/2021 23:00

DS was overseas the perfect house came up for him as parents we viewed, contacted him, said it was a good investment, he put in an offer, set the ball rolling with EA and solicitors for him, he did return for signing and viewed it so could have backed out.

But it had been physically viewed by us ticked all his boxes, survey was fine. He was single then so a bit different

HeronLanyon · 29/12/2021 23:06

No. More to the point I’d be astonished if vendors accepts your offer and estate agent will often urge them not to as utterly likely to fall through or renegotiated etc once you actually see the property.

backtolifebacktoreality · 29/12/2021 23:06

I wouldn't accept an offer on my house if the purchasers hadn't viewed it!

ChippyDucks150 · 29/12/2021 23:10

I did. Offered without either of us seeing it, I viewed afterwards with dc1,.then we upped our offer. Was accepted, DH didn't see inside until we got the keys. Honestly, unless it's one of a kind property, I would.

mindutopia · 29/12/2021 23:22

Personally, no. But people do. We had been looking to buy since pre-COVID and lost out many times to offers pre-viewing. Realistically, everyone will be in the same boat and they’ll be likely to go to best and final offers after viewings. Not likely to take it off the market sooner.

Being moved by Easter will likely be a stretch anyway unless you’re both chain free and super motivated. In our case, we had offer accepted first week of October. No chain (we’re in rented, sellers moving into another home they own). We still will take 4 months to complete in February.