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

@JammyHands

I viewed a house the other day that had very complicated access. This wasn’t made clear in the description, in fact it was carefully glossed over. The estate agent was grumpy with me but honestly, if your photos are taken at an angle that hides a problem, you only have yourself to blame.

I agree. Our last house had the only bathroom off a bedroom. This would of course be an issue to a lot of people. The estate agent decided to not mention it and not include a floor plan. I was young and it was the first house I sold so I didn’t have the balls to say that was a stupid idea. As soon as we could we went with a different agent who explained the problem up front in the details and it sold within a month.

Sometimes people ‘just don’t like a house / it’s not suited for them’ but rather than be rude they tell the agent something else, something more tangible. I.e ‘too close to the pub’.
Annoying yes. But that’s the nature of the beast when trying to sell.

I had one guy come round who didn’t seem that interested in the property when I was talking to him

I could tell he was burying to tell me something

When we had completed the viewing he told me with glee (he really was bursting to let me in in a big secret) my road was going to be widened and I was going to lose some of my front garden.

He had been to the council and got plans from them which he proceeded to show me.

“There” he said and pointed to a blue coloured in strip that represented about a metre wide strip that ran at the front of the garden.

“You are going to lose that amount of your garden”

I looked at the map then took him outside to the strip he was talking about and showed h the Man hole cover that housed the electric and BT wires. That was what the blue strip was.
He was a complete a**ehole. He had no interest in buying my house he just wanted to make himself look clever. Which failed completely as he was so up himself he failed to see what was in front of his eyes.

It was in the first picture. An enormous telegraph pole should have made him question the blue strip

Feedback’s completely pointless unless you can do something about it. I’d actively welcome “It smells of dog”, I probably am nose blind and it’s a very easy thing to sort out. Decor’s the same - a couple of days and some white emulsion takes care of that.

Do you not realise that, until they receive the answer, then the EA doesn't know what feedback will be given ?
I wouldn't be happy if the EA didn't pass on feedback - it isn't their job to filter it. In truth, if you get 30 people giving you the same feedback about something you can't change, then you need to look at the marketing of it and perhaps make it clearer in the blurb...... "Beautifully presented 3 bed house on a busy road, hence realistically priced at ....."
"Terraced house retaining a third bedroom as the only bathroom is downstairs"
and so forth, to perhaps highlight to people.

But I still maintain, that buyers are taking on a massive commitment - usually around 1/3 of their income FOR 25 years. They absolutely should look at several properties, including some that might not tick all their boxes, as - as so many of us have said - you often find 'the one' which doesn't tick all your boxes. However, you do need to kiss quite a few frogs to find that prince.

Yes, it is a pain when you are selling, but , when I sell, I want as many people to view as possible, to increase the chance of finding 'the one' who really loves your home.

Do you not realise that, until they receive the answer, then the EA doesn't know what feedback will be given ?

Of course I know that, not being an imbecile and all. The point I made was that “Perfectly nice house, just not for us” is OK. They don’t need to give a reason why it isn’t for them, particularly if it can’t be changed.

@Oliversmumsarmy
That's brilliant. I love that you handed his mansplaining arse to him on a plate.

The house I live in now was on the market for a few months before we viewed. We had dismissed it because although the right location. Too small for our needs and a bungalow. We had just lost out on another house and were fed up.. We viewed it on a cold November night so ignored how ugly and sad it looked outside. Walked in to the moat beautiful period large hall and rooms. I fell in love. Planning just gone through for extension to complement the back of the house. New windows at the front transformed the look into what is now beautiful. It was empty for 10 years before we moved in. Previous resident died after loving here happily for many years. Previous owner never moved in but put in new bathrooms and kitchens. If we hadn't taken that chance and viewed we would have missed out on what will be the perfect house for us in this perfect location. You just never know from ea details sometimes.

YANBU OP!

I sometimes think people have forgotten how to read or retain information provided to them PRIOR to a viewing.

When we were selling a house in Spain, this was particularly frustrating. Having received a very comprehensive info pack with clear indications - photos, words, repeated words etc making it clear that this was a rural property - 2 hours from the nearest international airport, in a beautiful, mountainous area, needing a bit of "finishing off" etc etc

We had idiots who had clearly not planned their journey from coast to house and were relying on a dodgy satnav. I had given them maps FGS!! Complained that they were on a mountain road - no shit Sherlock - in order to reach a house described and shown as a house "in a mountainous area" "surrounded by mountains" etc etc.

Expected a luxury Marbella villa rather than a spacious, but basic Spanish farmhouse. The price might also have been a clue! I despair of people's literacy and common sense sometimes ...

@Hardbackwriter Yes, admittedly in the 90s pre-internet and pre-google maps.

Visually I need to be in the house to see it. I can't work out 2 dimensional on a piece of paper. It is like 'theory' where as going to see the house, in person, standing IN the kitchen etc is practical/visual. I need to SEE the actual house, not boxes on a piece of paper that tell me nothing and just look like, well, boxes, which could be anything. I'm not an architect, so have never been able to read floor plans or graphs well. I think you need to have some mathematical/architectural skill to read them. I can't work out anything except lines and boxes. Even if it has things like 'kitchen' and 'bedroom 1' on the paper, I cannot actually VISUALISE it in 3 dimension.

I think you need to have some mathematical/architectural skill to read them

You don’t. I scraped O level maths and I can read them perfectly.

This 'feedback' (reminds me of ebay) thing, is it compulsory to give feedback at all? I know we, and my parents just.....visited a house the agent had listed on their windows or in the monthly catalogues. It never occurred to me to give any actual 'feedback', you're just looking. If you are interested in buying you offer the price or whatever. If not, you look and walk on or say you'll 'think about it'. Do people actually enter into formal discussions about why they are not wanting to buy a particular house??

People read things differently online to on paper.
Smartphones mean that people no longer need to retain information or learn to read maps.

People are truly amazing. When our house was up for sale we had a full description, floor plan etc. Buyers came to viewing wanting a utility, bigger bedrooms, integrated garage, larger garden etc etc etc!!! Wtf. Inform yourselves!!! Look at the info. Urgh.

We sold our second home about 10 years ago. Our lovely cat had failing kidneys and, bless her, the house stank of ill cat and cat wee. We rather optimistically hoped none of our viewers would notice.

The end of her cat journey came and she was put to sleep by the kindest vet nurse. She was incredibly lovely and caring whilst I sobbed over her and Puss.

We cleaned and de-fumed the house from top to bottom and it was only then that the estate agent mentioned very much in passing “oh, by the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that all the viewers have said your house pongs of cat.“ I thanked him for his (eventual) honesty and explained that neither cat nor pong remained.

A few days later we had an offer which we accepted. When we were nearing completion the vendor came round to measure for curtains etc. She greeted me at the door with “I think I’ve met you before....I’m a vet nurse at the practise up the road....I was with you when your cat died.”

An irrelevant story really but cockle warming and an example of the right buyer coming along at the right time. And estate agents taking a while to tell vendors the truth!

I get that's it's annoying but, for example, we came to view our house on a whim, just because we were visiting the town. I did look at the map, but the location wasn't that obvious. Google street view made it look like the only view was of a garage. Turns out there are sea views from four windows - that wasn't mentioned in the listing. The house has lots of downsides (and had been on the market for a while) but we fell in love with the location and made an offer shortly afterwards. Still happy here many years later. It makes sense for buyers to view places that are out of their comfort zone, annoying though it is for the seller

@CatkinToadflax

We sold our second home about 10 years ago. Our lovely cat had failing kidneys and, bless her, the house stank of ill cat and cat wee. We rather optimistically hoped none of our viewers would notice.

The end of her cat journey came and she was put to sleep by the kindest vet nurse. She was incredibly lovely and caring whilst I sobbed over her and Puss.

We cleaned and de-fumed the house from top to bottom and it was only then that the estate agent mentioned very much in passing “oh, by the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that all the viewers have said your house pongs of cat.“ I thanked him for his (eventual) honesty and explained that neither cat nor pong remained.

A few days later we had an offer which we accepted. When we were nearing completion the vendor came round to measure for curtains etc. She greeted me at the door with “I think I’ve met you before....I’m a vet nurse at the practise up the road....I was with you when your cat died.”

An irrelevant story really but cockle warming and an example of the right buyer coming along at the right time. And estate agents taking a while to tell vendors the truth!

Sorry for your loss of DCat, but what a sweet story 🥰

Timekeeper it's 10 years since I bought a house but many estate agents do push for feedback which is why you feel you have to say something, it's very hard to say you just don't like it'. I think it would be better if the agent / seller didn't insist on feedback ... if you like it, you make an offer, if not, you just keep looking surely .

I think the cat story is very true though, it's hard to say 'the house stinks of cat/dog' but if I see evidence of pet dishes in the kitchen, or a cat flap I wouldn't view a house. . Worse situation was when I was viewing somewhere to rent, I checked the details and it clearly said 'no pets allowed', when I viewed there was a cat in the house and the agent actually said 'we allowed this tenant to have a cat' ... as my DH is allergic to cats it was a total waste of our time (& a 400 mike round trip) to view the house.

A cat flap doesn’t necessarily indicate a cat. We haven’t had a cat for eight years (and all the carpets have been replaced since then). The cat flap’s still there.

@BeijingBikini

So, question to sellers - what feedback WOULD you be happy with? The only message I'm getting here is that any feedback other than "it's a lovely house but not for us" is seen as completely insulting or that the buyers are idiots.

Kitchen needs redoing - "yes we know, that's why it's priced low"
House is on busy road/only 2 bed/open plan/no parking - "WHY DIDN'T YOU READ THE LISTING"
Decor is ugly and I'd have to re-paint every single wall - "are you so thick you can't out-imagine the decor/so lazy you can't do a bit of painting"
I thought the rooms would be bigger "are you so thick you can't visualise what 3.52x2.96 looks like on a floorplan"?

What on earth do you actually want to hear from buyers then?

If the buyer wants anything extra such as more bedrooms, bigger garden, better location, sea view etc then they need to up their budget or move location. If the agent said the buyer has decided to look at houses 5 miles away where they get more for their money or the buyer has decided to look for smaller property in a better location etc then that's fine. Or if they can get a better property with the features they want in budget then feedback mine is overpriced etc.

Showstopper generally means an obstacle to further progress - use on GBBO as a remarkable cake is wrong

When i last viewed houses 17 years ago....i hated that the agent would phone asking for feedback...often it was a perfectly nice house but just not right for us...trying to explain to the agent that it wasnt 'the one' was awful...i used to dodge his phone calls.

I’m with you. We live on a main road (tiny town there is only 2 main roads) - 2 viewers decided they didn’t like the road. Try looking at the chuffing map!

The woman who turned up and as I opened the front door, told me she didn’t like 1930s semi’s - guess what I own.

Oh and the guy who was 7ft who said everything was too low! Including the shower head......because I was planning to sell it to a 7ft man when I put it in 6 years ago It doesn’t matter where he lives everything will be too low.

I am never showing people around again. Estate agents can do it.

2 viewers decided they didn’t like the road. Try looking at the chuffing map

I have just dismissed one house because of the road leading up to the area the house was in.

I had looked at the map and the street view of the house but nothing could prepare me for quite how narrow the main road was or how busy it was or how deep the gully’s were on the side of the road were if you came off the road.

Sometimes you can’t get a feel for a place no matter how many times you look at the street view or the map.

I've also looked - on-line - at houses near to me. I know where the road is, and don't need to look on a map to find it, so might go and look at a house. It might be, that whilst viewing, I found it was difficult to park, or much busier than I ever realised, or one of these ridiculous new estates where the roads are too narrow, or whatever else it is about a road that could put you off. If you think you know a road, you might not go and recce it before viewing the house, as, before you were thinking of actually living there, you had no reason to be conscious of that issue. A map wouldn't show you any of those things. Even knowledge of where the road is, if you were buying locally wouldn't show you any of those issues either.

A friend had feedback on her house, that as lovely as the house was, it wasn't in village A.
Surely if you want to live in village A looking at houses there would be a good starting point? You can change a lot about a house but transporting it 5 miles isn't one of them.