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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To contact our house viewer?!?

91 replies

TomHardysLittleWeener · 04/04/2018 15:56

We are selling our house. We have had a few viewings, one of which was a couple who are FTB's, it was a positive viewing they were impressed with the room sizes and storage space, we were chatty, they asked lots of questions about local area. All was good, wished them goodbye, thought we would at least get a 2nd viewing and maybe an offer in the next few days to follow. Especially as they stated they had driven past our home a few times to check it out first... and said they were really interested in living in the area and our development.

But the agents have had no call back for feedback - no calls returned.

AIBU to be slightly pissed off as it takes a lot of time and organising on our part as we like to get our young children out of the house.

I feel like messaging the couple on Facebook to ask lol - I wont obviously as it looks unhinged but I just would like to know what their thoughts were!

As you were.

OP posts:
frasier · 04/04/2018 15:58

Some people are just polite when they are looking around. Some people make a hobby of looking around houses and some of those may say nice things. It's all just part of the house selling/buying game.

(How do you know they are on Facebook?)

meowchi · 04/04/2018 15:58

You have agents for this.

Don't be contacting people directly, I would never ever reply to you.

Sunnysidegold · 04/04/2018 16:01

When we were househunting we viewed a particular house twice but decided against it.i think the owner felt a bit like you did but it was the estate agent who asked us why we didn't buy (there were steep steps to access the house from both sides which had out us off). The estate agent was able to pass this on to the owners. I wouldn't appreciate you contacting me personally.

WilburIsSomePig · 04/04/2018 16:05

No, of course you shouldn't contact them directly.

We had a couple come round, stayed for an hour and loved the house. I could hear them talking about where they were going to put their furniture etc. No contact from them to the Agent at all, then a week later the agent called me to let me know that they'd had a bereavement in the family. You just don't know what people have going on in their lives.

Original poster
TomHardysLittleWeener · 04/04/2018 16:07

I searched for them as I know their names. Blush

I get that people are just polite, that's why I have the agents do the viewings 80% of the time, as then people can be really honest, I feel that with me there, they tend to be polite.

This was an out of office hours viewing hence why I did it.

I just want some feedback from them negative or neutral, maybe the feel of our property just wasn't for them? They just seemed to be quite interested.

We have other viewings scheduled, I think I am just getting impatient as we have found our next home.

OP posts:
ziggiestardust · 04/04/2018 16:16

Don’t contact them. Speak to EA about other viewings.

We went to a house we’d really been looking forward to viewing for a few days and we were excited. When we got there though, it was apparent that it was NOT what we were looking for. The photos were very decieving and their dog had done a LOT of damage. We were really nice to the vendor though; he’d obviously stayed home for the viewing and taken time out of his day —even though he was a bit of an arse— . We were also FTB and I honestly felt a bit embarrassed during the whole viewing; the place was just so badly represented by the photos, there was so much damage and it was so overpriced; I was saying nice things to try and fill the silence.

Maybe to him, it looked like we were impressed because we found out subsequently that he had phoned the EA to check if we were going to make an offer. Luckily, we had made it clear to the EA with us that day that there was no way of that happening and we found our forever home that same afternoon.

QueenieBuchanan · 04/04/2018 16:17

Ask the agent to ask them for feedback

frasier · 04/04/2018 16:18

Well, good luck.

Have you asked the agent about feedback from others, what you can do to get things moving? (Excuse the pun)

himalayansalt · 04/04/2018 16:20

So - you're asking AIBU to contact the people who viewed our house? Yes I know I am BU, so obviously I'm not going to!

Why did you start the thread again?

MyKingdomForACaramel · 04/04/2018 16:20

People will always be polite but there can be a whole host of reasons someone does not want to buy your house - and you are not going to be party to them. Maybe it’s the top of their budget and upon relflection they don’t want to stretch, maybe one of them has an elderly parent and your stairs are too steep -there can be a million reasons that have nothing to do with the house per se. If you feel like this when people make a positive comment when viewing I would strongly suggest that you let the agents do it and don’t get involved

Chattymummyhere · 04/04/2018 16:26

We did this when looking to buy. Owner showed up around but it was very apparently it had been pictured to look better and bigger than it really was. The third bedroom was so small it had to have a custom made bed and folding door. We where polite made the right sounds but told the agents that we did not ever want to look at another house anything like that one as we had already made it very clear what we wanted. This was a house they pushed us to view as it was perfect ticked the boxes etc in their words. We also got sent to one that was over priced by a good 40/50k considering it needed central heating installed, hbac removing and a new roof. Estate agents will send people they know don’t want you house just to say well we have had X viewings.

expatinscotland · 04/04/2018 16:28

The agents can ask, but they're not obligated to answer or can just say 'personal reasons' and not elaborate, or lie. It's just how it is when you're selling or buying, have to dust yourself off and move on.

LadyLance · 04/04/2018 16:28

There could be lots of reasons that might not have anything to do with your house: They might have seen something else they like better, they might want to view a few other properties for comparison first, they might have checked their finances and realised you're out of budget, they might have tried to confirm a mortgage offer and hit a roadblock, they might have family involved who have taken against your house for some reason, they might be relying on an inheritance which has hit a roadblock.

Given they aren't responding to the estate agent, it's possible they've had a major change in circumstances which has changed their plans. I don't think it's a good idea to harass them on facebook as you don't know what could be going on in their lives.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 04/04/2018 16:28

Surely it's your agents job to get feedback from viewings? Have you asked them?

Good luck with the sale.

Belindabauer · 04/04/2018 16:29

I think most people make positive comments when being shown around by the vendors.
You are hardly likely to say what a dump it is are you.
It's frustrating though.

kitkatsky · 04/04/2018 16:30

Can understand your frustration. Me and my boyfriend are both selling up at the mo. My top tip for out of hours viewings is to stay in the garden and ask them to come see you if they have any questions. I’ve done this even in the rain. There’s nothing more awkward than viewing a house when the people who live there are home

problembottom · 04/04/2018 16:33

We've looked round two houses in our hunt so far. We absolutely loved both of them when we were there but with one, DP ultimately couldn't get over the north facing garden, and with the other, we decided it just wasn't a big enough step up from our current house when we talked it through afterwards. We told the estate agents and would be happy for the reasons to be passed on, not sure if they tend to do that as a rule or not.

problembottom · 04/04/2018 16:34

Still gutted about the north facing garden one, it was my dream period property and is still on the market!

MumofBoysx2 · 04/04/2018 16:35

I would say definitely no, don't contact them! They're either interested, in which case you'd come across as anxious to sell so they might offer a lower price, or they're not and it's a waste of time! Ask the estate agent to do their job and get some feedback for you.

PlateOfBiscuits · 04/04/2018 16:35

There’s nothing more awkward than viewing a house when the people who live there are home
Apart from, maybe, them standing in the rain in their own garden while you view. Grin

MumofBoysx2 · 04/04/2018 16:37

PS you need to go out when the viewings take place. I always rush round houses I'm looking at if the owners are there, and I hated having viewers there when I was home too.

Bluelady · 04/04/2018 16:39

Most feedback is pretty useless. I got things like "the shower room's too small", so what was I supposed to do about that? "Not enough outside space", actually on the generous side for the size of the house. "The garage is just about to fall down", it wasn't and the eventual buyer's surveyor certainly didn't think so.

I wouldn't buy a house if I didn't feel the love. How ridiculous that would sound to a vendor.

Fia256 · 04/04/2018 16:40

Unfortunately that's all part of the frustration of moving. Definitely don't contact them though, while it takes you as a seller hours of preparation for showing them round and their politeness all looks great and positive, to them, it's probably just one of many they will look round this week. That's how I remembered it when we moved anyway! Whenever someone came to view, it would take all day to make the place spotless, each one would seem a big thing and you cling to every positive remark. Yet walking round other peoples houses as a viewer tends to all roll into one, even if you really like a house!

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 04/04/2018 16:41

I prefer if seller is not around when I do viewings, but frankly, if you like the house, it's irrelevant. Buyers will not decide if they buy a house or not because of the owner being around.

Chase the EA for feedback, but that's all you can do. Maybe they want to view a few other properties before making up their mind. People will try to stay polite, but they might hate it and not dare telling anyone, so many reasons why you wouldn't want to purchase a house.

Of course it's inconvenient to prepare a house and be there for viewing, but look how long it takes to chose a car, test drive it and so on, and compare with the price of a property! Buyers need some time before going in debt for 15 to 25 years!

SecretBum · 04/04/2018 16:43

Oh no...don't contact them directly. That would be so awkward just the thought is making me cringe.

When househunting some of the reasons we've decided against a property are:

An unpleasant smell, on two visits, that we couldn't put our finger on...but were concerned it may be something that wouldn't leave with the owners.

After research deciding that the local school, talked up massively by the owners, really wasn't up to our standards.

Realising that rooms only looked so large because they were cleverly laid out with small sofas and 3/4 beds...sneaky and misleading!

NONE of which I would want to feed back to the owners directly!

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