House buying in England

[OnTheBanks]

I'm Irish, have only purchased in Ireland. One thing that has struck me reading Mumsnet is that the seller seems to be in the house for viewings? That would never happen in Ireland, the estate agent does the viewings and you never met the seller. I would hate to view a house with the seller there, so uncomfortable! Is this normal, to show the house yourself to buyers is it not really awkward?

When we bought, it was 50:50 between owner and agent

Personally I would always go out when a viewing on

I took it would reduce my chance of buying if the owner was there

why is that the case over there?

It depends. We had days we were out and days we were in. I actually found that estate agents weren't too thorough with outbuildings. When we looked at houses they often didn't have the keys for sheds/garages or even to go into the garden. So having the owners there means you can really go everywhere.

We rented years ago and the house was on the market (we planned to move away anyway). The estate agent decided on an open day and we had people all over the house and nobody checked what they were doing in each room.

Never again, one party with the estate agent or us or nothing.

I don't know why, I thought it was just the normal way until I started reading Mumsnet!

I have bought two houses and sold one, and have never met a buyer or seller

So you are not sure if that is the case where you live?

There are some people that cant leave home etc - I'm sure you have got things confused

I hope you get to view properties as you want to

I am pretty sure it is the case in Ireland though I imagine there are exceptions

I'd say that's pretty normal here too. I've viewed many houses as a potential buyer and never had the owner show me around. I would hate that! And I wouldn't feel comfortable having a proper look. Once, the owner was working but kept out of our way while the estate agent showed us around. As a seller, I absolutely always disappeared for a viewing. So awkward otherwise.

Right, somehow I got the impression that the seller was often around, obviously I got it wrong.