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Original poster

Strangest reason buyers didn't make an offer

109 replies

Namechange1086 · 11/07/2024 06:19

Nowt so queer as folk. 2 buyers, 1 didn't offer because the garage was too small for their beer can collection. Who collects beer cans 😅. The other didn't like the wall colour or that the lounge was at the back of the house. The walls were a neutral off white and the lounge was clearly shown on the floor plan as being at the back. Was very relieved when we eventually sold.

OP posts:
MrsBreeze · 03/08/2024 07:01

OnlyFrench · 02/08/2024 22:52

I was selling a three storey Victorian semi. The agent was clearly confused why a couple viewed it and dismissed it because they wanted a detached chalet bungalow.

Turned out their daughter was a school mum and had persuaded them to arrange a viewing because she wanted a nose around my house 😡

I wonder if this happens more then we think?

Something similar happened when my mum & dad put our house up for sale when we were kids. Mum found out one of the school mums had asked her sister to view our home, no intention of buying it, she just wanted her sister to look around and report back, since our house was large and we had a big garden
(Big family)

My mum thought it was funny but I do remember her calling the school mum ‘a nosy cow’ in jest. Apparently she was known to be a ‘busybody’

Equivo · 03/08/2024 07:06

These threads pop up regularly and they're so odd. For most people the house/flat they're going to buy is going to have some compromises, you view to decide which are compromises you are/not willing to make, explore the options in their price range and decide which of the potentials you like the most.

So "it's only one bedroom" means "ideally I'd like two bedrooms but I'm considering one bedrooms too, but overall I just didn't like your place enough to make that compromise" or "I've found something better".

As for the person complaining that someone said there wasn't enough sun when they've got a south facing garden - depending on trees/other buildings providing shade that doesn't mean much even for the garden, and doesn't mean anything for how much natural light there will be in the house which depends on internal layout and window placement.

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 03/08/2024 07:43

People are weird but sometimes they just want to see if the house itself will be with a compromise. We sold a house with a downstairs bathroom. It was in the floor plan and the description that this was the only toilet and bathroom. Lots of people commented on it and some seemed surprised on viewing.

But I think a lot liked the house, liked the area and wanted to see whether they felt it was worth the bathroom sacrifice.

We have viewed some houses where our feedback would be "love the house, it just isn't in X village". As a seller you might think "well duh! If you want X village go look at X village!" The fact was that there was nothing available at the time and we looked at a couple of amazing houses elsewhere to see what we thought. What it cemented was that we definitely wanted the particular village.

RosaRoja · 03/08/2024 08:01

I think EAs sometimes take you round for that “wild card”, like you see on property programmes. We did that once with a car, had had no intention of buying that size or type when we went to the dealership. Tried it out and fell in love with it.

I can’t remember my own or others’ odd reasons with house-buying, but we were re-homing a cat once, via Cats Protection, and had a few couples or families with children come to meet the cat. One couple rejected him because he was “too fat”. I felt wounded on his behalf. He was young, gorgeous, in perfect health and shape.

Ponkpinkpink15 · 03/08/2024 08:09

@Namechange1086 well, they're both barking reasons!

were the garage measurements on the plan?

who objects to a lounge at the back? Especially when it's shown on the plan??

However, I'm sure I've made up some odd reasons when the EA has been pushing for a 'reason' and my genuine reason has been something I didn't want to share.

my most barking one was when my Mum was selling our family home. All clearly stated in the club & on the plans. 'No downstairs toilet'. (I get the issue with that, but not why they waste time viewing, especially when it was made clear that a mains sewage one could NOT be put in)

it was 'only' 4 bedrooms. Well yes, it hadn't suddenly spouted another one after the listing & before the viewing!!

I can only assume it was something else & the EA was pushing!

sunshineandshowers40 · 03/08/2024 08:11

I agree it is very frustrating but I think people view the house to see if the "issue" is something that they are willing to compromise on.

Tara336 · 03/08/2024 08:11

I had a buyer reject my first flat I was selling because I had added locks to all the windows! It was a ground floor flat, it was in a quiet part of the complex overlooking a field and it had fancy wooden windows that you could easily break into as they just had normal handles. There had never been a break in there as was a really nice area but I lived on my own and thought I was being sensible!

YoureTheTop · 03/08/2024 08:12

I said that the layout wouldn't work for me, but the real reason was because it stank of dog's pee.

spottydinosaur · 03/08/2024 08:20

They didn't like that the bathroom was next to the kitchen which was clearly seen on the floor plan and was typical of all flats in the area.

I was more pissed off I spent 3 hours cleaning with a toddler who shit his nappy just as we were leaving to get a call 7 minutes later from the estate agent to say why they weren't interested. I was mid nappy change in the nearest coffee shop and came home and cried

thecatsthecats · 03/08/2024 08:21

MorphandMindy · 02/08/2024 22:46

I think a lot of estate agents will (or certainly used to) drag viewers around every property in their budget that had the right number of bedrooms, without much regard for the buyers specific wants. They've done it to me as a buyer. I used to go and vet the viewings on my own because DH got so fed up with this nonsense that he saw as just wasting his time that he refused to see a place until I'd given the ok.

"Now, I know you said you were only looking for bungalows, but I have a fantastic property that's just come on the market and I think you really should see it, so to give you the opportunity we'll pop in on the way back from House 1 and take a quick look at House 2."

This (though viewers should refuse), plus buyers budgets and aspirations don't always match, and couples don't always agree!

Plus the feedback is always in comparison to other properties in their budget.

I would accept a dormer bungalow to get my dream location. I might be able to persuade my husband to view a very nice dormer bungalow. But if we view and at the end of the day he doesn't like it, the reason for refusal will be "it's a bungalow".

Not everyone is going to like your house. Make peace with that.

(And in the garage too small answer - for example, they might be bringing a lot of shelving, the pictures and floorplan might not show a buttress that would stop that etc).

Baseline14 · 03/08/2024 08:21

We viewed a large stables house in a beautiful setting because of the amazing blurb.

When we arrived it was absolutely filthy and it was only then were we told that you would own the house but not a single piece of land outside it, so you had to rent the tiny courtyard garden. All the other land around it (significant and included in pictures) was owned by the bigger house. The integrated garage in the house was also not part of your estate and they let it out to local businesses.

Funnily enough it's still sitting on the market 3 years later.

thecatsthecats · 03/08/2024 08:29

I must admit there's a house I want to view as it's a detached house with an upstairs bedroom that isn't included in the sale.

Frankly I want to attend with a sniffer dog in tow.

HMTheQueenMuffin · 03/08/2024 08:46

Baseline14 · 03/08/2024 08:21

We viewed a large stables house in a beautiful setting because of the amazing blurb.

When we arrived it was absolutely filthy and it was only then were we told that you would own the house but not a single piece of land outside it, so you had to rent the tiny courtyard garden. All the other land around it (significant and included in pictures) was owned by the bigger house. The integrated garage in the house was also not part of your estate and they let it out to local businesses.

Funnily enough it's still sitting on the market 3 years later.

We viewed a house with almost identical setup! No outside space at all so you could not even have a bin outside. It was literally the footprint of the house.

We once viewed a little holiday bungalow on the coast. It did not have a toilet. Not even a portaloo. Nor did it have any connection to the mains sewerage. This was not in the details. When we pointed it out the owner huffed with irritation and snapped we 'didn't have any imagination'.

PuppiesProzacProsecco · 03/08/2024 08:46

Scampuss · 02/08/2024 22:35

Because it wasn't a bungalow.

No, it was a house, as per the details you were holding.

We had one of these too. I mean, seriously?!

Same property, several viewers were disappointed it only had three bedrooms. Do they not even look at the details before booking a viewing?!

It really pissed me off as we were selling because we desperately needed more space and had to move stacks of clothes and other crap into our cars every time we had a viewing.

When it eventually sold, it was to a landlord/investor who barely looked around before offering the asking price.

Eeepsh · 03/08/2024 08:51

thecatsthecats · 03/08/2024 08:29

I must admit there's a house I want to view as it's a detached house with an upstairs bedroom that isn't included in the sale.

Frankly I want to attend with a sniffer dog in tow.

What now?

How would this work?

So many questions?

Any chance if an EA link pretty please?

WingSluts · 03/08/2024 08:51

This would all be less of an issue if photos/floorplans/agents were all less misleading. I’ve seen a property the agent was adamant could be made into a four bedroom by utilising one room as a bedroom not a study. It was only on the visit it was clear that would never work for a variety of reasons that were not obvious to that point. I’ve also been given very self-evident feedback from EAs and on pressing them it was more nuanced.

tishtishboom · 03/08/2024 08:56

One viewer gave marks out of five for random elements which were important to him. I could completely understand him doing it for himself, but him writing it out in detail for me felt strangely insulting, like he was teaching me a lesson. The one which made me gnash my teeth though was that they had three cars and there was no parking. Absolutely clear from the details that this was the case.

Blondeshavemorefun · 03/08/2024 08:58

mindutopia · 02/08/2024 22:57

We once didn’t make an offer on a property because it came with an 80 something year old who lived in the garden shed.

I’m not kidding. I think he may in another time have been the ‘houseboy’ - as in staff they imported from somewhere on their travels. 😬 The husband had died and the wife wanted to downsize and move into town. The man had lived in the shed for like 30 years and it was a stipulation of accepting an offer that he stayed with the property to live out the rest of his days. Oh, and you had to do his shopping and drive him to town for appointments.

Sadly, we never met him and the estate agent seemed (not surprisingly) really uncomfortable with our questions about the set up. But we did see his zimmer frame parked by the shed at our viewing. The property did sell and I still often think about him and wonder if he’s still in the shed. Maybe I should have rung adult social services? At the time though, it seemed like a potential human trafficking situation that I didn’t really want to involve myself in. 😬 I hope he’s okay still though.

Edited

You had to live with an 80yr stranger in your shed

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 03/08/2024 09:07

I recall being pressured by an estate agent to view a property that I said wasn't suitable, so I eventually I did go - it wasn't suitable.
The owner said no-one else had been to view it and so I think the agrent just wanted someone/anyone to go, so it looked like he was doing something. He might have told the owners that it wasn't suitable for my beer can collection.

gardenmusic · 03/08/2024 09:08

May I tell you the opposite, why I was not 'allowed' to buy a property?
I offered full price on the spot for an ideally situated house with beautiful bones and in good condition (I would have changed a few things, but was far too polite to mention it) and was asked about my family - general chit chat, I thought.
I explained it was just for me, and was told 'It's totally unsuitable for a woman on her own, with the wife chipping in that 'It's a family house!'
Both looking at me as if I am totally moronic.
It was a 4 bed 2 lounge house with a decent garden.
The estate agent tried to reason with them, but they would not have it. I was deemed unworthy.

YouWouldntKnowWhatIMean · 03/08/2024 09:10

First viewing- really emphasised that they loved the garden. Second viewing - not making an offer "because of the garden"! Haha, what?!

ClonedSquare · 03/08/2024 09:10

We had someone who didn't offer because we don't have a garage. No mention of a garage anywhere in the description, the floor plan or photos- because it doesn't exist.

Another couple didn't offer because "we live in central Manchester right now and love walking to coffee shops". We live in a tiny village that has no amenities and isn't walking distance to anywhere.

And another didn't offer because she didn't want a new build and wanted a period character property. Literally couldn't be more obvious our house was a new build online, and no one is getting a period character property anywhere near our price within 20 miles minimum.

WingSluts · 03/08/2024 09:12

gardenmusic · 03/08/2024 09:08

May I tell you the opposite, why I was not 'allowed' to buy a property?
I offered full price on the spot for an ideally situated house with beautiful bones and in good condition (I would have changed a few things, but was far too polite to mention it) and was asked about my family - general chit chat, I thought.
I explained it was just for me, and was told 'It's totally unsuitable for a woman on her own, with the wife chipping in that 'It's a family house!'
Both looking at me as if I am totally moronic.
It was a 4 bed 2 lounge house with a decent garden.
The estate agent tried to reason with them, but they would not have it. I was deemed unworthy.

Sorry this happened to you. Horrible, nasty people. Sadly I’ve seen it quite often.

LoopyGremlin · 03/08/2024 09:18

gardenmusic · 03/08/2024 09:08

May I tell you the opposite, why I was not 'allowed' to buy a property?
I offered full price on the spot for an ideally situated house with beautiful bones and in good condition (I would have changed a few things, but was far too polite to mention it) and was asked about my family - general chit chat, I thought.
I explained it was just for me, and was told 'It's totally unsuitable for a woman on her own, with the wife chipping in that 'It's a family house!'
Both looking at me as if I am totally moronic.
It was a 4 bed 2 lounge house with a decent garden.
The estate agent tried to reason with them, but they would not have it. I was deemed unworthy.

That's awful.

Our first house needed massive modernisation but the woman selling it was convinced it was perfect. She refused to sell it to a couple who had openly said they would renovate it. We therefore had to agree how lovely it was and that we would keep it exactly as it was (while planning to rip it apart within an inch of its life!) so she would sell it to us!

WalkInAStraightLine · 03/08/2024 09:21

TheTwirlyPoos · 02/08/2024 23:12

When we sold our old house we had three viewings all in a row that came back with 'love the house but it's on a main road'.

Perfectly fair reason to dismiss a house but it was obvious from the map and getting a house viewing ready with two small children was a total nightmare.

I was ready to dismiss our current house because it was on a main road. Agreed to view because husband was keen and it looked lovely otherwise. Even after 1 viewing I thought it would be a dealbreaker.
Anyway eventually decided to go for it and am so glad. It's still not ideal being on main rd but does have its benefits... so it's not a bad thing that people view even if there's a factor they're not keen on.