To expect people to do a bit of research before viewing a house?

[iswhois]

Had three people turn up so far and have turned the house down due to a "showstopper" which they could have easily for seen had they done some research on the location or looking at the floor plans.

I know they are entitled to not buy the house for whatever reason they wish but it just feels like a massive waste of everyone's time.

Maybe I'm just bitter and desperate to move haha

@LilLilLu

I completely agree. My old house had a downstairs bathroom, which was pretty standard for the type of house, and VERY clear in the description and floor plan. Yet people would still view the house and say that was what put them off.

It was so annoying!! As you said they had every right to not buy the house for whatever reason. But surely they could have saved everyone some time and energy by looking at the floor plan before viewing

I think it's usually the case that people make up an excuse for why they don't want to offer on a house that isn't something that sellers would feel offended by. If I hated a house I wouldn't say so.

So true @StrawberrySquash my perfect house is bigger than my own house, more luxurious, and closer to town. Can't afford those three improvements. So when I look around I will be unsure what I am going to prioritise and /or compromise on.

Someone once turned my house down because she said it was decorated exactly as she wants it (various shades of white and grey, very minimal and clean) but she needs somewhere she can do up to MAKE it look like my home so she can show it off on her home instagram... I was floored haha.

YANBU but I can see both sides.

Some viewers aren't familiar with your area and a map is basically meaningless.

I also find estate agents are so dishonest both in the listing description I.e amenities etc and also when talking to potential buyers they really over egg the pudding thinking if they can get folks to consider it that normally wouldn't they might get that illusive unexpected sale.

The EA are also about quality over quantity so the fault lies more with them than potential buyers.

In saying that I've known of fake buyers who go around looking at properties for inspiration for their own homes. Nightmare.

sorry: quanity over quality.

Someone viewed my house and loved it all, said it was perfect etc but wouldn’t take it because she wouldn’t fit her couch in!

@Bluntness100

Viewers are rude

I think this kinda sums it up, nothing the poster has written is rude, it’s simply they don’t love the house enough to over come th issues stated. The issues are the issues, so it’s not rude to point them out.

But some folks can’t take any criticism of their property, to say anything negative and not wish to buy it is considered rude by many.

I had a friend selling whose garden was tiny due to a large extension and it was over looked, folks kept giving the reason they didn’t wish to buy as it was a tiny garden and over looked, she could not understand how they didn’t know this from the pics.

The truth was the pics didn’t show just how small the garden was nor did they show just how overlooked it was from all sides, and the reality was the person who eventually bought it also thought these things, but overcame it as she loved the house. As did my friend when she bought it.

It was not rude to point it out, nor was it stupid of people to view it, in the hope they loved it enough.

We bought a house on a busy road many years ago, something which was a mistake and I should have listened to my instincts, but we loved the house, it was more than we could afford in a better location, so we overlooked it and bought. Others who viewed it and didn’t fall in love with it would have said, no sorry it’s on a busy road, something that they would have known prior to viewing.

If you are already over budget and didn't want a busy road then would you have compromised elsewhere e.g smaller house or worse area? I am selling mine and getting lots of viewings but I am struggling to understand criticisms as it seems like buyers need to up their budget by 100k to get the things they want.

To be fair I’m looking to buy my first house and have viewed quite a few. And a lot of them haven’t been the one. You can’t really tell by just looking at photos and actually estate agents encourage you to view properties. I like to keep an open mind and I want to find the right house. It may be annoying but it’s hard to visualise measurements etc. And the photos often make the houses look massive and when you turn up they are tiny. So I’ll keep looking and hope the people showing me around don’t mind too much. It is a massive commitment and it’s not like a house is cheap (well it’s not for me anyway) so don’t want to buy the first thing I see. I want it to be right. Sorry if that makes me a massive pain.

sometimes when asked for feedback it easier to give a reason than say we didn't like it

I've viewed houses where there was a potential issue because I've liked other things about the property and I wanted to see the house in the flesh to see whether there was the possibility of getting round the issue.

For example, a house with a downstairs bathroom isn't what I want to buy, but I would consider a property if I liked several other features and on looking round I could see a way to move the bathroom upstairs long term.

Almost every house involves a buyer having to compromise. The question is whether the other positive elements make them willing to compromise on negative element.

@Jenila

To be fair I’m looking to buy my first house and have viewed quite a few. And a lot of them haven’t been the one. You can’t really tell by just looking at photos and actually estate agents encourage you to view properties. I like to keep an open mind and I want to find the right house. It may be annoying but it’s hard to visualise measurements etc. And the photos often make the houses look massive and when you turn up they are tiny. So I’ll keep looking and hope the people showing me around don’t mind too much. It is a massive commitment and it’s not like a house is cheap (well it’s not for me anyway) so don’t want to buy the first thing I see. I want it to be right. Sorry if that makes me a massive pain.

I don't get this attitude either. House prices have gone up in the last few months so you will not be getting a better house than you viewed 2 months ago it will be worse. If you think prices will drop and want to wait then don't view houses. I am looking to sell my property, I have had many viewings but no reasonable criticisms. As soon as I get an offer I have already decided the property I want to buy even though I have not viewed it yet. You have to be realistic at what you get for your money and buy it or decide your not going to buy.

Sold are home to a Scottish couple from the highlands. We live in a town in the North of England there is a village with the same name in the southwest of the country.
On the morning of moving my Dh stayed to hand over the keys and was asked how far is it to Weston-super-mare. Dh said it's about 5 hours.
They had got muddled up needed the village in the southwest as the husband was starting his new job the next day.
The house went back on the market the next day.

My daughters feedback ‘ it’s on a main road’ Fuck sake did you not notice the cars.

It’s a “dealbreaker” not a “showstopper”, surely!

Anyway, we’ve had this.

“Hmm... My husband is only interested in somewhere with a garage.”

Well, we have no garage and nowhere to put one.

@Noidea2114

Sold are home to a Scottish couple from the highlands. We live in a town in the North of England there is a village with the same name in the southwest of the country. On the morning of moving my Dh stayed to hand over the keys and was asked how far is it to Weston-super-mare. Dh said it's about 5 hours. They had got muddled up needed the village in the southwest as the husband was starting his new job the next day. The house went back on the market the next day.

WTF?! How on earth do people make that kind of mistake?! I hope they paid any expenses you had incurred because of their stupidity.

I totally get it, had people tell me the house was too close to the main road, the map on the listing shows this. Or they don’t want to live in that town, why you looking at houses there then? It’s such an effort to clean, get the kids and dog out of the way for nothing.

I think YAB a bit U - people sometimes need to see somewhere to clarify their thoughts and their criteria. Maybe they are early in their search.
(I am surprised that many people don't know what showstopper means in this context - it always meant the same as a dealbreaker to me - until bake off came along)

@StatisticallyChallenged

I don't think you know what showstopper means op

I think she does - there are two uses

"1.
a song or other performance receiving prolonged applause from the audience.
"he wants every scene to be a showstopper"
2.
an obstacle to further progress.
"the subsidy limits proved to be a showstopper for other senior Democrats who refused to pass the bill with such restrictions"

I've checked 3 dictionaries, all show similar. Showstopper as a negative blocker is a totally valid use.

This (“senior Democrats”) seems to suggest that a negative “showstopper” is in use in American English, but not British English.

Here’s the Collins definition - positive only.

[ quote] showstopper
in British English
or show-stopper (ˈʃəʊstɒpə)
NOUN

1. informal

a stage act, etc, that receives so much applause as to interrupt the performance

1. to be a showstopper

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

showstopper
in American English
(ˈʃoʊˌstɑpər )
NOUN

1. a song or sequence in a musical theater production, show, etc. so exciting or impressive that applause from the audience interrupts the performance
2. anything so exciting, impressive, showy, etc. that it attracts much attention[/ quote]

The American definition here is from Webster’s 2010 edition which suggests that the negative definition is new - and people’s experience that it’s a tech industry term would seem to confirm that.

What a fucking stupid use to introduce, though. Let’s create a new meaning for a word that is directly contradictory to the original meaning. Cheers, tech nerds.

A poster upthread posted the Oxford English Dictionary definition, which includes it. It does undoubtedly have nerdy origins but it's a valid use these days and some of the responses were quite rude.

taherhubarbbrothers we moved, they put it on the market the next day. The husband moved down south into a flat, while the wife sold up.
It took another 5 months to sell. Small town so I saw the wife often. She blamed the husband as it's cheaper in our town.
They didn't realise when driving to ours as they had never left Scotland before. It was pre sat navs.

Macmillan only has the positive, British meaning.

www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/showstopper

I think it’s valid to suggest that the positive meaning is still broadly US/tech.

@YesINameChangeEveryDay

A showstopper means an amazing thing. I was so confused reading your op

I’m glad you pointed this out, to me showstopper means the wow factor like on bake off when they do their showstopper cake.

The negative meaning!

Yes, I think that people should do research, if local they can drive/walk/cycle past at different times of day, see how noisy that pub is, what the evening light in the garden is etc. Google maps allowed you to virtually walk round an area and most people now have computers and can check the area out. Potential buyers really should look at floorplans, check nearby sales, prices etc before booking an appointment. Then, the issue is a polite way of saying they didn't like it, sometimes an obvious fault enables then to give a reason which is polite - 'sorry, bedroom too small' sounds better than 'it's filthy and covered in mould'. We have been to properties and tapped the walls to see if we could change the layout without taking down supporting walls etc, that is acceptable. We have also dropped out of a sale as it took so long that the searches became so old we redid them, and something turned up. Buyers in some towns are only allowed to look at property if they are actually proceedable, so if you don't like 'hubcap kickers' ask that it's only open to viewing from people who are in a position to actually buy it. It's stressful at the best of times, at the moment it's manic and people are often just curious about that they'd get for their money, not all viewings are serious.

It is a massive commitment and it’s not like a house is cheap (well it’s not for me anyway) so don’t want to buy the first thing I see. I want it to be right. Sorry if that makes me a massive pain

Being cautious and taking your time to find the right house is NOT what people are referring to at all. That makes you sensible and not a pain in any shape or form.
We are referring to people who take the time to book a viewing, look round a house ( -in the middle of a pandemic mind!) and then use one stupid thing that THEY ALREADY KNEW ABOUT PRIOR TO VIEWING as a reason not to buy. Eg "Its rural, I dont like rural houses away from town!"- WTF did you view a rural house away from town then???
"Its only got one bathroom- thats such a dealbreaker for me!"- WTF did you view a house which clearly stated it had only ONE bathroom then???

THAT is what is annoying.