To knock on the door of a house up for sale?

[Cassandra96]

Context: we live in the south and planning on relocating to the midlands. On Saturday we have a lot of viewings lined up, one being on the same road (literally opposite) another house we have fallen in love with. We rang the estate agents and they said they can't show us the property for another week which a) it's such a beautiful house, it will likely go quick and b) it is very hard and expensive to travel up again.

AIBU to knock on the door of the house and ask the seller if they'd show us around? I understand they might not even be there, but I thought it might be worth it a knock. And if I explained the situation I presumed they may show us around. What harm could it do? We could even agree a price there and then and get the ball moving with a sale.

Completely unreasonable. People did this to us once after the (unusual) house we were selling featured in an article in a weekend broadsheet
But why is it unreasonable of them to ask? Was it really that much of an impact on your life to have a 2 minute conversation in which you politely turn down their request. Bit daft of them to have made the trip certainly but I don't understand how it causes offence. Unless they wee aggressive about it of course but there's been no suggestion of that

I'd go for a note through the door as it looks like you will be too late to post a letter. It could go either way; the owners might be delighted by your keenness or they might be irritated at your bypassing the viewing arrangements. You won't know until you try. You will also get to see it from the outside so even if they say no, you will have a better idea if it is something you want.

I think a note through the door is your best bet. It is polite and respectful and leaves it up to the vendors whether they want to show you round or not. You have nothing to lose. The vendors may be cross that the EA refused to organise a viewing given you are very keen.

DappledThings

Not quite aggressive no, but very pushy about it. “Why not, we’ve driven a long way” etc.
You might not mind, fair enough, we did. That’s why we had an agent. 🤷‍♀️

I'd go for a note through the door and putting pressure on the agent, but also some people aren't honestly bothered about the virus and would be happy with a viewing (some people may be in financial difficulty and want to sell quickly).

If they're shielding or whatever then why would they have put the house on the market? They can't be expecting to sell it without allowing viewings

YANBU OP. But I think a note is more polite than knocking. Alternative is that you arrive a couple of hours early for your viewing in that street and stake out the house hoping the owner will come out to do some gardening or something!

Nrtft so apologies if I've missed anything . You only THINK you've fallen in love with it, you've not actually been inside, it's just the mere thought it MIGHT be the right one that got away. You shouldn't just turn up unannounced, especially under the current circumstances. If you piss them off they definitely won't want to sell to you. You have alot of other places to view anyway. On a practical note are they doing a video tour?

Someone did this to us. Coincidentally my house and the NDN’s house were up for sale at the same time. They viewed the house next door, saw our For Sale sign, knocked on the door and asked if they could look round. We told them that they should come back the following day having booked through the agent, which they did. They liked the house so much that they wanted to bring their teenage daughters for a second viewing so I told them to go home, fetch the girls and come back again immediately without going through the agent again. My reasoning was that the house was immaculate and I could get the second viewing sorted while it still remained immaculate.

They bought the house and paid the asking price.

However.... this was six years ago and things are different.

There are more checks, identity processes, money laundering checks as well as covid. You really can’t walk straight into someone’s house. The rules are that they need to leave the house which is why the agent has to show you around.

The only solution is that you can maybe jump the gun, say that you will pay the asking price or over the asking price, prove that you are a more serious buyer and can move quicker than anyone else.

Can you do this?

Given the expense of moving, extra travel at this stage seems a drop in the ocean.

Whereabouts in the Midlands are you planning to relocate to?

You can't just turn up on the doorstep for a house viewing. They will not be expecting you so the house could be a complete mess. Just because it is a day that it convenient for you doesn't mean that it will be convenient for them. They may have other stuff going on that will make doing a house viewing very difficult. Plus they can't just show you around. With corona virus, the process is that they leave the house, you go in and look around and then they have to disinfect everything after you leave. Can you be certain that you don't have corona virus? Maybe they have corona virus? You'll be putting yourself and them at risk.

I sold my house last year and if someone did what you are suggesting I would have told them politely but in no uncertain terms to come back at a later date.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. I’d knock on the door, keep your distance, explain the issue and ask if you can come back later that day at a time convenient to them to view.

YABU and selfish. If someone did this to me I would ensure I would not sell to them at all costs.

People pay agents to deal with this hassle instead of doing it themselves though, the OP already knows (and has contacted) the agents. It's the agent that can't fit them in as it is accompanied viewing for the property she has seen.

I would not knock and ask to view on the spot.

Under normal circumstances, then I’d say nothing ventured, nothing gained, but be aware that you may get things off to a bad foot with them.

But given the current state of things, and rules around viewings, social distancing etc, then I think think you’re better not doing it. You really should tackle it via the agent.

I'd do it OP, I think Mumsnet general consensus always seems a bit over the top about stuff like this. Just be clear they can say no or that you could come back in an hour or something so they have time to hide any personal things or quickly tidy

I'd put a note through the door. If we weren't still in lockdown, I don't see that knocking on the door and politely explaining your interest is a problem. If they're not interested, they won't let you in. I know someone who sold their house this way - a stranger knocked and said she'd seen another property in the area but was interested in my friend's house, would it be convenient for her to have a look. My friend agreed, they agreed everything between them (without an estate agent) and everything was completed within a few weeks.

Write to them first and explain your situation. Tell them how keen you are and give them your number. If it’s too late to post it, drop it through the door. Then leave it up to them.

I wouldn’t let anyone in just off the street like that, so a note is probably the way to go.

My brother posted a note through the door of a gorgeous cottage in a great location that wasn’t even up for sale and said if you’re ever thinking of selling, I’d be interested. They got back to him and said as a matter of fact we are planning to sell soon...so he bought it!

Put a note through the door with your number and situation and ask them to ring if they’d like you to see their house that day

We did it once when in a different area. We noticed it up for sale just before we traveled home and the estate agents were shut. We bought the house.

I'd try a note, or better yet a letter, and explination.

Our experiences of moving some distance and not being local was many estate agents couldn't grasp idea you were only around a limited amount of time.

If current owner here hadn't seen us milling around waiting for the estate agent who'd forgotten the key and let us look round we wouldn't have bought here.

The estate agent was all couldn't we just rearrange the appointment when we'd travel 100s of miles and where there for next few hours - they'd canceled a few other veiwings that day were most put out we wouldn't re-arrange or buy with out veiwing and with thsi one inisited he go and get the key from the office.

I will be the dissenting voice here. If I were selling my house and a couple knocked on the door, I'd make a judgement about whether I thought they were genuine or not. If their car was parked outside with a load of estate agent particulars on the back seat etc, and I was confident enough that they were not burglars sussing out what was worth stealing, I'd let them in.

XH and I did the 'randomly knocking on the door' thing at the end of a very long day of long-distance house-viewings. We had our children with us, who were then very small. The elderly vendors took pity on us and let us in, with the usual 'but we haven't tidied up' comments. We bought the house.

I would be happy if someone did this. I would personally put through a note in the door and say you have registered with EA and your full name and are very interested in the property but have travelled up from X. This is your only opportunity to view. If they agree give them your number and say if I don't hear from you by X then I'll assume that you would rather not which I understand.

Make it sound better than that

@heartsonacake

YABU and selfish. If someone did this to me I would ensure I would not sell to them at all costs.

I agree. If someone knocked on the door offered me £2 million for my house (which is worth massively slightly less than that), I'd not take it because knocking would be so selfish.

If someone did this to me I would ensure I would not sell to them at all costs

The very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Have you heard of coronavirus? Stick a note through the door.