To think when you're viewing a property the tenant shouldn't be there

[Vintagejazz]

I am hoping to move shortly and have started house hunting. Last month I viewed a property where the tenant was hanging around, making it very clear that she was resentful of people looking at the place she was renting, and generally making the experience very uncomfortable.

On Saturday I went to look at another rented property that's been put up for sale. The estate agent met us at the door but again, the tenant was there, sitting in the main living area and puffing away on cigarettes. Again it felt really uncomfortable, as if we were invading her privacy by going into bedrooms, opening the door of the airing cupboard and looking at the kitchen cupboards to see how much space there was.

AIBU to think that tenants should go out and stroll around for half an hour or grab a cup of coffee somewhere, or even just sit in their car with the newspaper and let people look around the property in comfort?

I would be very suspicious of a place where the tenants were not there when looking to rent - I want to talk to them, find out what the landlord is like!

I didn't say I'd 'go through the cupboards'. But I'd want to see the airing cupboard and also, if the place was empty, I would open the kitchen cupboards to get an idea of shelving etc. But not if a tenant was there, because that would be off putting.

It could have been a lot worse.

I remember selling a house which was let out at the time. We were in the midst of eviction proceedings with the tenants. The husband followed the estate agent round the house from room to room whispering in his ear the various methods he was planning to use to kill me.

Even so, opening cupboards on a first viewing is rude - it is someone's home. That's the kind of stuff you check AFTER you've made an offer, not before. Like taking measurements and that.

Also: "it felt really uncomfortable, as if we were invading her privacy by going into bedrooms, opening the door of the airing cupboard and looking at the kitchen cupboards to see how much space there was."

Is because you were invading her privacy, massively. Going into the bedrooms, fair enough. Cupboards, none of your damn business till a) you have asked permission or b) made a decision to buy the place.

Then why not evict him first, Beryl, rather than have him around when viewers were there?

I don't care what incentive a LL offered me, I trust EAs as far as I can throw one. Never met a one yet who was not a snotty little scrote to tenants, you would think they were all multi-millionnaires, so there is no way I'd ever leave one in my home with all my belongings when I was not present.

Their costs are not my problem, Lady.

YABVVU! I've been in that tenants position, when my landlady decided to sell a flat I loved and had only been in for 2 months; so not only was I being forced out of my new home, but I had only just paid one extortionate set of agency fees, and then had to pay another 4 months later when I had to move out.

The agency dealing with viewings were very unreasonable, sometimes calling us 30 minutes before turning up on a Saturday morning (when they are legally supposed to give 24 hours notice) and allowing the buyer who had made an offer to visit 3 consecutive Saturday's in a row, basically so she could mooch around her new flat! On the fourth time input my foot down and said she was welcome to view it in the week when I would be at work, but that I was entitled to enjoy my home on the weekends in peace.

Viewing a house with a tenant occupier is NOT the same as owner occupier!

It cost to move.

Removal vans £150
Bonds and credit checks ect can run into thousands.
The headache of finding a new place to rent, which in my experience are always dirty and need serious cleaning.

LeftRight the estate agent was only there to value the place, with the intention that we would market it once the eviction proceedings were complete.

We weren't evicting in order to sell, the eviction was in response to the tenant's behaviour. He had some serious anger issues and hugely unreasonable behaviour (as well as refusing to pay rent).

I dine out (now, with the benefit of time) on the story of me driving off at speed with him clinging to the wing mirror of the car after he had tried to assault me & my Mum.

I can remember selling our old house and our then 2 young dc didn't see the advantage of moving and asked us in loud voices if we had told the lady and gentleman about the damp and noise from next door
The people who bought it gave them 10/10 for trying to put them off.

I don't think its any different to the owner showing people around or being in whilst the EA does the viewing.

YAB sooo U i cant even cope.

why should I be forced out of my own home because the ll/estate agent is greedy and cannot wait until I have moved out?

why should I allow strangers to look around my home when I am not there?

whether I am moving out by choice or force I have a right to control access to my property, Of it means the ll and ea lose money if I dont let them show tenants round before I move out, so I let them in, doesnt mean I have to leave.....

But why would a tenant who isn't seeking council accomm and therefore can't risk voluntary homelessness want it to go to eviction? Surely it would ruin their credit ratings and chances of renting elsewhere? I get that moving is expensive, but it sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face...

If you hadn't evicted your tenants yet you were asking for trouble going in the house when they were unhinged, weren't you.

When our lovely landlord had to put our home on the market I escorted all viewings along with the agent. Nobody was poking around my personal property or looking in the wardrobes which were full of crap being hidden for the viewing In the end I sold his property for him when the prospective buyers came for another look. I answered the million questions they had about heating costs, explained how everything worked, bin days, lovely neighbours, good shops etc.

When our horrible landlord put our home on the market we refused viewings completely, wouldn't let estate agents in to do valuations and wouldn't even allow the landlord access. He had broken our contract in so many ways and completely ripped us off, we were giving him nothing!

I find it uncomfortable whether the tenant is following you about or not, it is far better when the houses are empty and you can have a proper poke about everything and not feel you have to rush. I know how I felt about strangers in my home so feel very aware that I am in someone else's home with their belongings.

When I viewed the house I live in, I was showed around by the tenant and not the letting agents.

I think this is a difficult situation for tenants and prospective tenants/purchasers and I can see both sides. When we were house hunting we looked around one house which was rented and the tenets had gone out for the viewing but it was a right tip, dirty litter tray, kitchen worktops unwiped and pants on the living room floor! I wondered whether it was some kind of dirty protest against the sale. We didn't make an offer but it did make me think that the owner was somewhat naïve, you can't expect tenants who may not want to move to be accommodating of viewings and motivated to keep the house in show home order as you would if you were trying to sell your own house.

YANBU to wish that they were not there.

When houses I've rented have been sold, we've arranged with the owners that we will be accommodating to viewers (tidy, not be in the house) IF they say that we can leave any time we want and pay rent only up until the day we choose (not up until the end of a whole rental period, as our contract said).

piper, disappointingly I've been a tenant twice recently and have a property I let out. None of the places have been dirty or in need of serious cleaning. The one I rent out was newly decorated, fitted out and cleaned till it shone.

bonds and credit checks do not cost 'thousands' unless you mean pennies.

removal vans for a nearby move don't cost that much.

boring old facts again.

Jeezus Christ, sorry but the tenant paid for the time you're little feet are walking on that floor. Excuse them for not laying out the red carpet while you take a look around all their belongings.

Pff, maybe she's annoyed because the LL is upping the rent or hasn't been that great to her!

"bonds and credit checks do not cost 'thousands' unless you mean pennies."

you what? A bond is typically a month-and-a-half's rent. Which can easily be thousands.

Average tenancy fees by estate agents are £350: www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2340136/Letting-agent-fees-England-control.html and can be double that.

"removal vans for a nearby move don't cost that much"

You can get a 'man and van' for a couple of hundred yes, but it's still money you need to find.

"boring old facts again."

Indeed.

Do you really think tenants all have two grand or more spare to move?

Specialsubject
Cost of moving - £1400 deposit (before receiving previous deposit back which will probably be incomplete)
£400-500 letting fees
£200+ removals
£100 hire of carpet cleaner
And that's without the first month rent. Last time I moved they deducted almost £500 from my deposit for spurious reasons and no the deposit protection scheme was no help.

Dancingwithmyselfandthecat: "But why would a tenant who isn't seeking council accomm and therefore can't risk voluntary homelessness want it to go to eviction? Surely it would ruin their credit ratings and chances of renting elsewhere?"

Some people don't actually have the equivalent of two month's rent-plus in savings in case their landlord wants to end the tenancy. Also, a landlord applying to the court for possession will have absolutely no effect on the tenant's credit-file. You need for a court to impose a FINE and then not pay it to acquire a CCJ. Seeking possession of a property has nothing to so with that.

Granted, they could risk getting a poor reference but there are a number of ways around this. God knows, there are enough bloody lousy landlords about and most decent ones also know that is the case.

YABU hilariously entitled. I've been the tenant in that situation. Whole weekends can be taken up with people traipsing in and out of the house you are still paying cold hard cash to live in.