AIBU to think the question, "would you like me to take my shoes off?" is rude?

[Underhiseye2]

Just that really. An estate agent came to value my house today. The first thing he did was introduce himself and we shook hands. The second thing, he stepped inside and looked around and asked "shall I take my shoes off?".

I would never dream of not taking my shoes off on entering someone's house, except maybe my MILs because she is a filthy mare, it's automatic.

Is this question code for, "I think your house is dirty"? Straight up, I am not the house proud lady that my own mother was, but man, this place is clean and tidy. We are part hard-wood floor and part carpet (which could be seen from where estate agent was standing).

No it isn't rude because not everyone cares about people keeping their shoes on.

It's only polite to ask. It's usually obvious from whether there's a pile of shoes by the door or not as to the owners preferences

YABU - it says absolutely nothing about their opinion of your house, they're asking what you want them to do. Some people just genuinely aren't bothered about people keeping their shoes on.

YABU, it’s polite as some people don’t mind others do. I’d say he thought you were houseproud and would want shoes removed. I’m not sure I know anybody who automatically removes shoes in others houses.

What? How on earth could that be considered rude? He was trying to be considerate to avoid walking on your floors with dirty shoes.

He was politely offering to remove them, not waiting to be asked, not refusing to either. He'll go in many houses over the course of a day and different people have different expectations, so he needs to check.

Poor bloke! He was being polite.

YABU. Most people in the UK don't take their shoes off on entering a house, so he was politely checking whether he should.

It's not rude at all, he was checking your shoes policy, as I'm sure you've seen by the many threads on here that not everyone has a shoes off rule.

Yabu. Some people don’t care, and some people mind massively that people take off their shoes. I’d just answer ‘that would be great’.

YABU. Not everyone thinks like you do. Lots of people keep their shoes on in the house.

I don’t give a shit about people taking their shoes off in my house

God I say that all the time.
It's not a judgement on someone's house, it's really code for 'Please don't make me take my shoes off - I have a hole in my sock.'

I have dogs so I couldn't care less about people walking around with shoes on!

I've got wooden floors so never ask anyone to take their shoes off. Why is this such a momentous issue on MN?

And why would anyone take their shoes of if the place was filthy? I would keep mine on to protect, socks/feet from the grime.

I think you’re unreasonable, partly because it has irrationally grossed me out when estate agents have come round and just taken their shoes off- I know they’re being polite by taking them off but I prefer the feet of strangers safely enclosed in shoes!

YABVU

Asking is polite! Everyone has different expectations and the only way to know the rule in a particular house is to ask

Jesus. This forum is depressing at times, what an absurd way to view a perfectly reasonable question

I ask automatically if they have light coloured carpets and the homeowner doesn't have shoes on
But my default is leaving them on

AIBU to think the question, "would you like me to take my shoes off?" is rude?
It's a perfectly polite questions n and if you're taking offence at it, that's your problem.

I'd never make an estate agent take their shoes off!!! I think they were very polite to ask you.

He was being polite.
Some people like shoes off in their homes, some dont care.

I've never been asked to take my shoes off in someone's house, and I've never had visitors who took theirs off. So YABU.

As pp, i grew up with wooden floors and no one ever took shoes off. Even now i’m an adult with carpets to worry about i find it a bit odd that people actually care about this for more than about 5 nanoseconds of their day. The chap sounds like he was just being polite, i’d probably ask the same thing in a stranger’s house.

Not this AGAIN!