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Original poster

Would you buy a house without viewing inside?

168 replies

Longjohn33 · 03/02/2021 20:34

Due to corona the vendors aren’t allowing people inside to view. Given the current housing market I believe it will sell regardless.

We have driven outside it and really like what we see. It’s a new build (not brand new) 5 years old. We have plenty of photos.

It is well within budget and really the first house we’ve seen in a year that I think has lots of potential and a good price.

We were priced out of any other house we’ve been remotely interested in due to the demand when the housing market opened and restrictions were lifted.

We need to move ASAP for schools and so time is ticking. We were due to move last March but it fell through when corona struck.

OP posts:
Onandoff · 04/02/2021 08:30

If people won’t allow people in they should be taking their houses off the market until the virus is suppressed.

CaraDuneRedux · 04/02/2021 09:03

@Onandoff

If people won’t allow people in they should be taking their houses off the market until the virus is suppressed.
Why?

If they can find someone daft enough to buy sight unseen, why shouldn't they?

The whole property market is based on caveat emptor. That's why the buyer arranges for a survey. That's why the buyer's solicitor has to exercise due diligence in doing the searches.

OP has said this is the only house they've seen that ticks their boxes in the area they want at a price they can afford. Most of us have said "There will be a reason for that. Don't buy sight unseen."

I get the impression OP will go ahead and buy anyway. Her lookout.

The sellers may be morally dubious for taking advantage of OP's desperation to get something that would normally be out of her reach financially at what she thinks is a bargain price. But they're not doing anything illegal.

peak2021 · 04/02/2021 09:11

No way. I think the house should not be on the market at present.

Incidentally I think estate agent offices should be closed and all of their team members required to work remotely. Too many people are going to offices who could wfh and I would like the government to specify some roles that must not be done in an office. This is a simple one to choose.

middleager · 04/02/2021 09:28

Never.

HappyTimeTunnelDinosaur · 04/02/2021 09:34

We sort of did, we agreed to buy before seeing and got the whole process started. We'd seen lots of photos and a video tour and knew it was what we wanted. We drove past several times too just to get an extra feel. We did have a full survey done too and got to see inside before the final exchange though.

HighSpecWhistle · 04/02/2021 09:36

No I wouldn't.

And I find it shocking they are selling but refusing visitors. They should go to auction.

luxxlisbon · 04/02/2021 09:38

House viewings are allowed so I find it strange they are trying to sell but refusing viewings. Maybe they don't actually want to?

To answer the question, no I wouldn't. I almost bought my current place without viewing it but that is different as it was a full renovation anyway and I had a structural survey so the inside wasn't really relevant.

For a normal house absolutely not.

Excited101 · 04/02/2021 09:44

Not a chance!

Taylrse · 04/02/2021 09:47

No way. Usually the photos have been taken with clever angles and lighting which makes the rooms look much bigger than in reality

Camphillgirl · 04/02/2021 10:11

Buyer beware. I saw photographs of a house showing double bedroom. Seemed ideal. When I actually viewed the property, the bed was in fact a three quarter bed. Deceptive.

Fuckadoodledoooo · 04/02/2021 10:11

It would be madness.

Fuckadoodledoooo · 04/02/2021 10:12

I wouldn't even rent a house that I'd not been inside of.

Onandoff · 04/02/2021 10:19

People saying “buyer beware”. This defence has been successfully challenged in many a court case. Estate agents and sellers have been sued on many an occasion for ‘hiding’ information from buyers. I would be very wary about buying a house that couldn’t be entered by a buyer or surveyor. A lot of mortgage providers are back doing physical valuations so not even sure you could guarantee it would be mortgageable.

Sickofthesoapbox12 · 04/02/2021 10:51

We have bought 2 properties without actually stepping inside them first. One was pre-COVID and we lived 400 miles away, the other was during the first lockdown as I was relocating for work (with a start dat already set) and viewings were illegal at the time.

First time when we rocked up the place was disgusting but nothing a clean and redecorate didn’t sort. It was a flat.

Second is pretty much my dream home. So happy we bought when we did as we managed to benefit from the SDLT discount before the housing market went mental as it came in the day before we exchanged and completed on the same day.

Both times we got a good surveyor in and did a video viewing.

MoveAsideCherry · 04/02/2021 11:02

'Buyer beware. I saw photographs of a house showing double bedroom. Seemed ideal. When I actually viewed the property, the bed was in fact a three quarter bed. Deceptive.'

Exactly this. We saw a photo of a bedroom and thought bedroom too small as bed seemed to take up most of the room. When we viewed it it was actually a super king bed and not a king like we thought it was meaning it was actually a spacious room! There was a load of space elsewhere in the room too that the photo didnt show. Pictures are too deceiving!

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 04/02/2021 11:09

I kind of did. I was desperate to nab a local shared ownership new build. They were being snapped up while still being built. Needed to put £250 deposit to secure. Site still fenced in. Crap estate agent - little and inaccurate info supplied. We walked round the back and stuck phone I over high fence to take pics! Mainly wanted this one as perfect location. Looks out onto allotments rather than the back of a rather industrial looking care home. But slightly different as new build so covered with some warrantees and unlikely to have a dodgy smell!

anniegun · 04/02/2021 11:13

not a chance!

CaraDuneRedux · 04/02/2021 11:17

@MoveAsideCherry

'Buyer beware. I saw photographs of a house showing double bedroom. Seemed ideal. When I actually viewed the property, the bed was in fact a three quarter bed. Deceptive.'

Exactly this. We saw a photo of a bedroom and thought bedroom too small as bed seemed to take up most of the room. When we viewed it it was actually a super king bed and not a king like we thought it was meaning it was actually a spacious room! There was a load of space elsewhere in the room too that the photo didnt show. Pictures are too deceiving!

Wasn't there a case a few years back where one of the big firms of spec builders was taken to court by trading standards for deliberately furnishing their homes with miniature furniture? Rooms looked huge in the glossy brochures or on a casual walk-through but when you got normal furniture in, you couldn't swing a cat.
mindutopia · 04/02/2021 11:22

I wouldn’t. That said, there is nothing stopping you making an offer and then if it’s accepted, you require an internal viewing before you proceed. They can say no, if they want, but they’ll need to let people in for survey and valuation.

I feel your pain though. We were just about to exchange last year during first lockdown and vendors pulled out because they were shielding and didn’t want to move. Houses in our area now have been easily going for £50-100k more than they normally would. We even offered £80k over guide price and didn’t stand a chance on offer being accepted. Other house offer was accepted 4 days after went on the market and they cancelled our viewing. It’s been a nightmare.

But house prices are going to come down quite swiftly soon, so it’s worth waiting it out for a better deal, even when it’s a pain with schools.

awishes · 04/02/2021 11:23

Yes! I have done it! Desperation as house prices were rising and we had already sold, it ticked all the boxes, the location was ideal so we went for it!

mootymoo · 04/02/2021 11:24

I did, from overseas!

Siepie · 04/02/2021 11:37

No way! I’ve rented without seeing a few times, when moving country. It’s been a mixed bag. One looked lovely in the photos but was cold and damp and had mould on some of the walls. We moved after less than a year. I’d have hated to be stuck there trying to sell it!

gorillasinthemist · 04/02/2021 11:45

Absolutely no chance. I'm surpirsed they are marketing it at present if they are not prepared to allow viewings. Is the market still red hot where you are? It's falling a bit in lots of places now.

DisappointingAvocado · 04/02/2021 11:51

Yes but it was a new build and we were buying off plan so got a good deal. All of the flats were snapped up almost immediately and we got more for our money than we could have in the area. Very happy with it although as a couple of other people have mentioned we obviously could have taken it up with the developers if there were issues.

isseys4xmastinselcats · 04/02/2021 11:58

i wouldnt when we were looking there was a house in the area we wanted in pictures it looked ok, when we got there they had done some very creative photographing, the kitchen units which looked big in the pics was tiny , the conservatory which looked in good nick most of the windows were blown badly, the garage was falling down almost didnt look bad in pics, and the back garden which they had photographed at an angle turned out to be about 12 wide at one end and about 12 inches wide at the other end , it was wedge shaped, with tiny fence which about ten houses overlooked, if i had put my cats in a line down the centre there would have been no garden left, big front garden but who goes and sits in their front garden in a cul de sac no way

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