to be annoyed by not being allowed to view a house unless my house is sold.

[LemonSwan]

I found a house I potentially really like, although its very unusual so absolutely have to view it to be able to be certain. It could be a disaster.

Apparently I need to have sold my house to view it!?

Our non negotiable requirements are very unusual and do not come up regularly (c. once every 3 months). I have been looking for a long time and only viewed 3 houses which were discounted because one was riddled with damp smell, another the seller was just pretending to sell (trying to get the agri tie removed), and the other looked bigger in the pictures.

What would you do in my shoes?

Voting:

YABU - Put my house on the market and sell it just so I can view this house which may be a complete non starter.

YANBU - Or just forget it and move on.

[DoThePropeller]

We are in same position, love our house and don’t want to move for sake of moving, needs to tick lots of boxes. Probably seen one or two things in the last six months that I wanted to view but they wouldn’t let me.

My house is desirable due to location and school catchments so I know it will sell quickly - it went to sealed bids and write a “pitch” when we bought it a few years ago.

I think the market is very hot at the moment with not much supply so agents and sellers don’t need to be flexible.

Like you I’m not willing to put mine on the market to go under offer and then withdraw house from market if post viewing the “dream house” isn’t the one. That would seem really harsh for the potential buyer of mine.

I’m just going to sit tight and see how things develop in the next few months.

[Redwinestillfine]

Moving house is a leap of faith. You have to jump first.

[Mosaic123]

Ask the agent that's selling the one you want to come round and value yours for sale?

Also have you looked at the new one on Google Maps? If you look at it via the Satellite level of mapping you might get a good idea of how the outbuildings look.

[SeaToSki]

Can you just tell them that you are a cash buyer and go see the place. If it doesnt suit then no harm, if it does suit you will probably sell yours quickly enough that it wont matter and you can say you just changed your mind and decided to not hold both properties

[PurBal]

We couldn't view without being under offer and mortgage in principle. We ended up putting in a blind offer just to get the viewing on the house we are in the process of buying. No room for negotiation afterwards either.

[Rupertbeartrousers]

@LittleBearPad

Put a note through the door with your number. Let the sellers decide.

Ooh good idea, explain your position... especially if your house is in a popular location and priced to sell, they might consider it

[Rupertbeartrousers]

Or if you could get a bridging loan?

[DurhamDurham]

We've always refused viewings unless the potential viewer was in a position to make an offer and had an offer on their house.

It's stressful enough getting a house ready for a viewing without having people traipse around it who aren't in a position to make an offer.

[Ellpellwood]

It's not new. We bought a new build in 2013 and although of course we could view a show house they wouldn't accept an offer until we had sold. It took 3 weeks and we just beat a guy who was selling his flat.

And no, it isn't self defeating. Plenty of FTB at the bottom of chains.

[ChristmasAlone]

When we sold we instructed to only allow 1st time buyers or people that had received bids. I don't know what their house is like, it may take months for it to receive a bid. We got a first time buyer which was nice.

[ChristmasAlone]

@DoThePropeller

We are in same position, love our house and don’t want to move for sake of moving, needs to tick lots of boxes. Probably seen one or two things in the last six months that I wanted to view but they wouldn’t let me.

My house is desirable due to location and school catchments so I know it will sell quickly - it went to sealed bids and write a “pitch” when we bought it a few years ago.

I think the market is very hot at the moment with not much supply so agents and sellers don’t need to be flexible.

Like you I’m not willing to put mine on the market to go under offer and then withdraw house from market if post viewing the “dream house” isn’t the one. That would seem really harsh for the potential buyer of mine.

I’m just going to sit tight and see how things develop in the next few months.

I'd guess the opposite 5% deposits and no stamp duty plus people not being able to spend as much so have additional savings have created a lot of supply

[Slippy78]

I know about 5 or 6 people that have bought 'specialty' properties similar to what you're looking for (either smallholdings or business suitable properties).

All of them have ended up renting first so they're ready to make the move when something suitable does come onto the market. It really is the best way to approach such a purchse.

[crunchiebabe]

I was permitted to view property without mine being on the market ....I actually even made an offer.
I did tell the agent that mine was ready to go on which it was.
Mine sold very quickly and I'm completing on that property soon.
I was just lucky because the property I'm buying is vacant and needs renovation.

[Flamingolingo]

Ugh. This is such a tiresome attitude. We had an offer accepted on our current house before we had ours on the market. Our old house was very desirable (sold in 24 hours), and there is no way I would ever put it on the market with nowhere to go, unless we were relocating. Again, when we leave this house, it will likely be once we have found somewhere to go.

[Mylovelyhorsee]

Your house isn’t even on the market? They will let you view if it’s on the market. It’s not unusual for vendors to refuse those who’s property isn’t on the market.

If I was serious I’d put my house on the market.

[Alsohuman]

@SeaToSki

Can you just tell them that you are a cash buyer and go see the place. If it doesnt suit then no harm, if it does suit you will probably sell yours quickly enough that it wont matter and you can say you just changed your mind and decided to not hold both properties

Any agent worth their salt will ask for proof of funds.

[Littlegirlplustwo]

I don’t agree about under offer but your house needs to be on the market. Or be one of those very sought after locations where it will sell quickly.

It’s actually very reasonable to view a house when yours isn’t sold yet, as you will be able to know what offer you can then accept on yours. It’s what keeps the market moving. My estate agent pointed this out to me when we were sceptical about accepting viewings from unsold properties- she was totally right.

It’s what we did with ours to successfully sell in a chain, viewed our dream home without having sold and we then had a price that we knew we could accept on ours to put in an offer!

[Taborlin]

You are being very unreasonable if your house isn't even on the market. However if yours is on market and has some viewings then I think the seller is being unreasonable. If you don't even have your on the market, which is what your YABU suggests you are a time waster

[Umbivalent]

OP, if you do go on the market, are you going to be happy having daytrippers coming round your home in the middle of a pandemic?

I'm sure you'll let just anyone march around your home, spreading germs!

[TenaciousOnePointOne]

Your house isn’t even on the market? I wouldn’t let you view either been stung by that beast before. She wasted so much of my time, it wasn’t just one viewing.

[GinaJaffacake]

It’s difficult. We’re in a similar position. We would move if a house on a certain street came up but don’t want to move otherwise. Trouble is they only come up every 3 or 4yrs snd I don’t want to spend 3 or 4yrs in rented.

I also had this a few years ago when we relocated here. They wouldn’t let me book viewings for a couple of houses I was very interested in as my house wasn’t on the market despite me explaining my house would sell immediately. I called on the Saturday to try and book in and they refused saying to call back when I was serious. I called my local agent, my house went on sale by the Tuesday and had 3 offers by the Friday. I called back and he was all condescending telling me he’d explained the situation. He was gobsmacked when I told him I’d received asking price offers within 48hours. The frustrating thing was that I didn’t like those houses yet had agreed an 8wk turn around on mine so ended up in rental. I really want to avoid that again. We always get out house very ready to sell and put it on somewhere between all 3 valuations. I want to move but I don’t want to rent. Very difficult to find a high quality 5 bed to rent locally. I understand the stance with Covid but not at other times.

[LemonSwan]

OP, if you do go on the market, are you going to be happy having daytrippers coming round your home in the middle of a pandemic?

Which is why this all seems a bit self defeating. I am a serious buyer if I find the right house (even though I appreciate they have no proof of this). I am not a serious seller if I put my house on the market tomorrow with only one suitable option in a 30 mile radius.

Its just a silly game which I have no interest in playing regardless of a pandemic.

[PerspicaciousGreen]

@LemonSwan

You must know whether it’s a goer or not from videos, floorplans, photos etc?

We are not really buying for the house per say. Its the land, the drive, the outhouses etc. (have a business which needs to be accommodated). Its the package we are excited about. The house itself is OK, not amazing in the pictures but with a refurbishment could be lovely (possibly slightly small in an ideal world but we cant have it all when we have these other requirements) - if we get a good feeling about the whole thing as a package then we would jump in both feet. But I really cant tell you that unless I went.

TDLR - has everything we require on paper - which is a lot and unusual. House is a bit weird but could be lovely in an exciting quirky way.

Can't you just turn up and have a look at the outside from the street? Obviously it would be a bit weird, but you'd at least get a sense of whether the outside was right and could then make a better decision about whether you want to jump in or not.

[Cattitudes]

Do you have an agent in mind who might be willing to talk to the other agents to reassure them that your house is likely to sell quickly? Or if their agent has a nearby branch would you be willing to list with them? If it has been on the market two years it is either over priced or they are reluctant to sell.

[Chattercino]

It's a chicken / egg scenario. In order to put yourself in the best position, you need to be under offer, otherwise you are considered "not proceedable"