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Original poster

Someone wants to view my house and I don’t want them to. How do I phrase it with estate agent?

213 replies

Myhousemy · 02/08/2022 11:48

I’m selling my house and have an open day on Saturday.

I do not want one of the viewers, Mr Smith (not real name) to view my house but how do I tell the estate agent this without getting in to too much detail? Reasons I do not want Mr Smith viewing my house:

He viewed it several weeks ago. Estate agent said he was going to make an offer but was carefully thinking about what to offer as he felt certain work needed to be done. No offer was made so I think he’s a time waster.

Mr Smith has a dd in the same class as my dd and when he viewed my house he brought his dd with him. My dd was upset at the thought of this girl in her class going in her room, seeing all her things etc. It’s obvious my dd lives here as there are school photos on the walls etc

I am confident my house will sell as we have lots of viewers lined up and house is in good area etc We have spent a lot of money on new kitchen/bathroom etc so I guess there is an element of annoyance at Mr Smith saying he “needs to work out how much to knock off asking price for renovations” - estate agents words.

should I just tell estate agent to cancel Mr Smith and if they ask just not give a reason?

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 03/08/2022 10:20

The point is the market is not the same in all parts of the country so it would be better for us not to use sweeping statements about “the market”.
In some places you obviously have to offer immediately or lose the property. In others you can take a bit more time. In this particular area it seems the market is not red hot as the property didn’t sell immediately

6079SmithW · 03/08/2022 10:35

@Myhousemy I am totally sympathetic to your daughter here, and I'm sure Mr Smith knew what he was doing bringing his DD, but just didn't care. He sounds like a knob.

I don't think children should be allowed to house viewings until after an offer has been accepted, in which case it's nice to introduce them to their new home.

IME they are a complete distraction to the parents viewing and likely to touch things/cause mess etc.

I'm not anti children, I just don't think there's any need/place for them making £'000s decisions. You're buying a house not choosing a new puppy!

mam0918 · 03/08/2022 10:48

6079SmithW · 03/08/2022 10:35

@Myhousemy I am totally sympathetic to your daughter here, and I'm sure Mr Smith knew what he was doing bringing his DD, but just didn't care. He sounds like a knob.

I don't think children should be allowed to house viewings until after an offer has been accepted, in which case it's nice to introduce them to their new home.

IME they are a complete distraction to the parents viewing and likely to touch things/cause mess etc.

I'm not anti children, I just don't think there's any need/place for them making £'000s decisions. You're buying a house not choosing a new puppy!

We are talking about older girls not hyperactive 2 year olds... of course kids deserve to be involved in something like a move that MASSIVELY impact them, its utterly shit parenting not to include them.

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Property
Harrysmummy246 · 03/08/2022 10:56

strawberriesarenot · 02/08/2022 15:24

I think you can sell your house to who you like. It's your house.
We had a wildlife garden, full of birds who nested every spring. So did our next door neighbours.
We said no cat owners.
I don't know if the agents really understood, but they certainly implemented it.

Oh yes @strawberriesarenot because estate agents are scrupulous, house buyers are totally truthful and just because someone is a non-cat owner now, they may not be after purchasing a house, e.g. if moving from rented. And PS, cats ROAM. We are about 400m away from nearest other house. At least 2 cats regularly visit our garden and leave gifts....

strawberriesarenot · 03/08/2022 12:57

Harrysmummy246 · 03/08/2022 10:56

Oh yes @strawberriesarenot because estate agents are scrupulous, house buyers are totally truthful and just because someone is a non-cat owner now, they may not be after purchasing a house, e.g. if moving from rented. And PS, cats ROAM. We are about 400m away from nearest other house. At least 2 cats regularly visit our garden and leave gifts....

Show quote history

We knew all that, of course we did, but we figured that it significantly cut down the odds.

Cattenberg · 03/08/2022 13:11

You shouldn't have family photos up anywhere in the house, actually. Take down any that you have up.

I think this is good advice for several reasons. I once viewed a property that had belonged to an elderly lady and hadn’t been decorated for ages. Then I saw a photo of the old lady and felt oddly guilty at the thought of getting rid of her wallpaper 😆.

scarybiscuit · 03/08/2022 17:51

Sorry, but have to comment you just say I don’t want Mr Smith around my home he us a 2nd viewer and am obvious time waster he has made comments via his child You home matey and your choice who visits.

Bobbins36 · 03/08/2022 18:06

I would tell EA to relay to the buyer that details of your childs bedroom were discussed publicly on social media after his family's last visit and so you are unwilling to risk a repeat of that occurrence and so respectfully decline any further requests to view.

Salome61 · 03/08/2022 18:10

So sorry, it is so very stressful. I had a viewing and the parents bought their two children. The older boy started shouting he'd seen a ghost and the house was haunted, and his little sister started screaming hysterically. The parents were allowing them to run riot upstairs and couldn't catch up with them, it was a very large house. An unforgettable one.

Wiscowoman87 · 03/08/2022 18:13

Bobbins36 · 03/08/2022 18:06

I would tell EA to relay to the buyer that details of your childs bedroom were discussed publicly on social media after his family's last visit and so you are unwilling to risk a repeat of that occurrence and so respectfully decline any further requests to view.

Exactly. Super creepy, if you ask me, and totally out of bounds. OP's house to sell, OP's boundaries.

Red flags abound re: Mr Smith and his dd. Stay clear!

Sitdowncupoftea · 03/08/2022 18:26

I would be honest he's viewed the house. I presume there are photos online. Tell the Estate agent that unless hes viewing to put an offer in then no.

LoisLane66 · 03/08/2022 18:26

Tell EA to advise Mr Smith that the numbers are full and unfortunately no more time can be given for viewing especially as he's already had a bite of the cherry.

Memyselfandfood · 03/08/2022 18:32

Carryonmarion · 03/08/2022 10:09

Im baffled by people here saying 'if he was serious he would have put in an offer already' and thinking wanting to think about it and view it again for the most expensive thing most people will ever buy is not normal.
If Im spending £100,000 on something and will be paying it off with interest for 20 years because our annual income is only £30,000 damn sure I want to view it a second time... thats common sense NOT time wasting.

I wish ... That isn't how it works at all in London, South Manchester or many other parts of the country.

Hmm, I’ve viewed houses a second time 🙄
don’t know anyone who hasn’t.
i was a serious buyer, but agreed, I’m going to be paying it off, I’m not making a decision on one viewing!

JudgeRindersMinder · 03/08/2022 18:36

I totally get where you’re coming from. We sold our parents’ house earlier this year a and there were a couple of people I knew interested in it, but no way did I want them living in my childhood home, so we just told the EA to not show it to them

butterflied · 03/08/2022 18:47

sonjadog · 02/08/2022 14:27

I think it is really strange to put off a potential buyer because your daughter doesn't want his daughter to see her room... I have always done a second viewing before putting in an offer, so that may well be why he is coming back. Or there may be another viewer who has a child in your daughter's school who you don't know about yet. The solution to me would seem to be to tell your daughter to remove any personal things from her room that she doesn't want viewers seeing, rather than cancelling potential buyers.

Yeah, this.

It's weird that she's so upset about it.

Missyc11 · 03/08/2022 19:01

I actually feel sorry for “mr smith”
if you are buying a house it’s a very important decision to make so I don’t see the problem in viewing it twice.
ridiculous.

Iwanttobeagranny · 03/08/2022 19:14

Is the Smith’s house on the market? Book a viewing and take your daughter 👍🏼

PetuniaT · 03/08/2022 19:16

I'd refuse him a second viewing until everyone else has had their first viewing and then allow second viewings to those who are genuinely interested. I reckon someone will put in a reasonable offer after your open day and second viewings won't be necessary anyway.
Estate agents are behaving despicably at the moment but hopefully the bubble will burst soon and they'll start going out of business as the market contracts. We have been put through the mill over the last 3 months due to the policy of not allowing you to view a property until you've sold your own. As a result we're in a very long chain and they keep breaking

Missingpop · 03/08/2022 19:18

It’s your house so cancel his visit he’s obviously going to try to get a bit knocked off but everyone chances their luck when buying a property; he sounds like he’s offended you & your dd isn’t keen of his brat so why put the stress on yourself or your dd cancel it’s only one person.

Londoncallingme · 03/08/2022 19:34

why not say ‘no children until an offer is accepted?’
meanwhile your daughters room could be totally ‘neutralised’ ie nothing on walls, soft toys away etc so there’s really nothing to say.

Mandyjack · 03/08/2022 19:56

I would speak to the agent and give your reasons. You don't have to sell to someone you don't want to.

Rmw12 · 03/08/2022 20:12

No advice but some sympathy! It’s very frustrating when people put their offer in with a knocked down price for the work they think needs done. As if you didn’t carefully set the price based on what you believe the value to be in its current condition! 🙄 We had one like that and his offer was lower than the other 7 offers.

Emotionalsupportviper · 03/08/2022 20:28

Iwanttobeagranny · 03/08/2022 19:14

Is the Smith’s house on the market? Book a viewing and take your daughter 👍🏼

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

NattyNatashia · 03/08/2022 20:48

It's your house you can tell them what you want. That said you are being unfair to he agent who doing what you hired them for. As for family photos and personal effects if doing viewings you should take them down/put away anyway for best results, especially if you have an issue with people seeing them.

GirlOfTudor · 03/08/2022 21:04

Bit confused how you know who viewed your property as you said the estate agent did the viewing for you...
Did Mr Smith tell you he'd viewed it, or did the estate agent tell you that?
It's not unreasonable to request a second viewing when buying a house. It's an awful lot of money to spend, so seeing such an expensive purchase more than once before committing to buy makes sense?!

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