Would this put you off? Re: buying a house

[Anon2136]

I’ve had my eye on this house for a while now but not sure if I’m BU or if normal. Please help! It is literally my dream house and in our budget.

phoned up estate agent 2/3 months ago but got interrogated with questions like what job does husband do, what job do you do. Can you afford it etc. Etc. I left it and went to viewings with another agency that were lovely and still am with. The initial agency just put me off viewing it and made me feel uncomfortable.

I then noticed yesterday the house was reduced! I phoned up again and this time they didn’t interrogate me and booked a viewing. Couldn’t sleep as I’m stressed right now so checked phone and there’s an email from estate agent saying “owners are asking you to be 100% sure you are happy with the living room dimension and garden as they don’t want to waste their time showing you around if it’s not a comfortable living arrangement”.

It’s made me really angry. I already told estate agent we are looking for a small garden as we don’t have time to maintain and the garden is actually bigger than we have right now!

Is this normal or a sign of more problems to come if we go ahead? We’ve walked past this house many times and I love the area and can see us being very happy there.

What kind of problems can difficult owners cause? The house we living in we had no issues. Went to view it in a Saturday and put offer in following week. it was so easy and hassle free.

Sorry I’m not clear the email said owners want me to be clear the garden and living room is SMALL. But I already discussed with estate agent that we don’t want a HUGE garden we are happy with it. Estate agent really putting me off or maybe it’s the owner.

I know most people want massive gardens but we don’t.

Just say yes and book the viewing, the agent won’t remember you have already discussed it.

If the owner puts conditions to sell that are unreasonable send them flying.

That just suggests to me previous feedback has been on these two points specifically. So owners don't want to waste their time or yours.

We had this on a house we were going to view that needed a lot of work. It wasn't obvious from photos but was from the home report so the EA called because the owners wanted to make sure we had read the home report in advance. For the same reasons, not to waste anyone's time.

You've mentioned the garden being small not bothering you but I would have thought a small living area might bother people more.

I'd also think the owners have been given these points as negatives by everyone, so want potential buyers to consider these facts before they make the house viewing tidy potentially to be told the same thing again

Just go if these issues aren't an issue for you

Yep I'm thinking time wasters. When you say you walk past it and its lovely, is it lovely for specific reasons to you or would it be lovely to everyone? My friend lived in the most gorgeous thatched cottage when it went on the market, the sheer volume of people just wanting to peep inside was ridiculous, very few of them intended to buy. So yes her EA use to pre-vet people.
Add in a small garden and living space (check the measurements but also layout, maybe something makes it seem even pokier that the basic floor plan?) and I suspect they are just wanting to make sure expectations are being met

Thanks everyone for the advice. Yes that must be true regarding feedback. I just double checked the dimensions and they’re not small! I think people forget how limited space is in London. We live in same area as the house and I don’t understand the issue. The dimensions are fine. The living room has 3 sofas, one chair and a piano! It’s open plan leading to dining area.

@NameChangeNameShange the street it’s on is really peaceful and the house is detached. Whereas now my home is mid terrace snd in a very busy street. I can hear the neighbours turning off light when I’m in my living room with no tv on. We’ve lived here for 12 years now I really want some privacy. I feel neighbours listening in on everything, they’re really nosey lol! I like the area as all detached houses and there’s considerable distance between them plus garage as we don’t have one now

Hmm, if it can fit three sofas then my tosspottery alarm is ringing.

But that said, they might have gone through a failed purchase or two, so perhaps it's that. I'd still go for it if it's your dream house in a lovely area.

Is it possible the owners are nervous and the agent isn’t managing it well? You can only know by seeing the house. It sounds as though they’re putting people off so much that no one is viewing. It’s already been reduced so not much footfall, which puts a buyer in a strong position.

Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t overthink it but get an offer in if you really like the house. And if the living room is too small after viewing, I wouldn’t say that as the agent could peg you as a time waster.

EA are just screening. Don’t take it personally. Do your due diligence before and after viewing - upcoming planning next door etc( you can search this yourself). Ask directly to the vendor and EA if there are any issues with neighbours. A detached house with a small garden limits the family market so bear in mind whilst you are not bothered, it may be an issue when you come to sell it. If you want constructive criticism of the property, post a link to it in the Property/DIY section, lots of helpful advice there. Good luck!

I sold a gorgeous house 5 years ago. It was however "on a main road - with a shared drive". . . At least an hour of cleaning, tidying, getting kids and dog out of the house for each viewing. To be given feedback like "er, no, it's not for us, it's on a main road / no, it's got a shared driveway". Drove me Bloody Mad!! .... I'd imagine this is the same thing. I told the estate agent in the end to make sure people drove by, parked up first to have a kerbside viewing. Then if interested to make an appointment to view. This sounds like a similar situation. I am surprised they (the vendors) are accepting viewings if yours isn't yet on the market or under offer / sold? (Not sure if it is or not?) As they sound a bit fed up with the whole selling journey. Good luck with the viewing - do update us with the feedback!

Friends had to sell because the husband got ill and they needed to downsize when he couldn't work anymore. They needed to make sure that only serious buyers would view as they had enough on their plate and preparing a house for viewings is always a hassle. So the EA wouod check that people had their finances sorted and had done a bit of homework.

If you like the house, it will be worth a little temporary annoyance. I'd go ahead with your plans to give it a closer look.

@Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk that’s really annoying I agree! Why can’t people look on street view before booking an appointment. Right move has option to street view which is amazing. I noticed one house had a bus stop right outside (actually on the side more than outside) so I didn’t view. I’m sure it would be no problem but I didn’t like that.

@Pepperama so sorry to hear that about your friend

Yes I want to go ahead but EA email sounded like she has to check with seller again so she will contact me after receiving my confirmation I am happy with a small garden n living room.

Maybe they're worried about Covid and want to reduce their exposure by limiting the number of viewings?

We went to view a house once where the garden had been photographed in such a way that it looked so much larger in the photo than it was in real life. I said this to the guy showing us around and it turned out he had taken the photos and was very proud of how big he had made the garden, he had used some special lens.

We would never have gone to see this house if the photo had been more realistic, so it was a complete waste of everyone's time.

Wouldn't put me off - it's not a rude message, just matter of fact and to the point

It sounds to me like the sellers are fed up of time wasters, it wouldn't put me off.

Could be that the EA is a bit of an arse, or they've had lots of people viewing who aren't serious or haven't checked all the info properly before viewing. Maybe the buyers are not easily able to get the house ready for viewings for some reason.

Really, if you love the house and think you might buy it, I would just nod along with whatever you need to get the viewing booked in. You're buying the house, not the EA.

That’s so true everyone. Thank you. Yes I need to change my thinking and not take it so personally. MN Is great sometimes lol! I’ll contact them in morning and make it clear I’m not just looking I am serious about finding the right home.

@redtshirt50 interesting the way you’ve written that. How do you draw the line between just matter of fact and being rude? I really struggle with that generally.

Is your house on the market or SSC? Most EAs around here won't let you view unless you're at least on the market - there are so many time wasters around.

Years ago we were selling our barn conversion with 2 acres inc a wildlife pond, a paddock and a spinney. I'm convinced many viewers just wanted a trip out to see a nice house. We had some ridiculous offers - I remember one young man and his glamorous girlfriend (pottering around the spinney and paddock in her stilettos). He was all big talk, like he'd already bought the place and was planning alterations etc. Made out he was a cash buyer. His offer, on a 580k property, was 450. I'm convinced he was just out to impress his gf. Another issue was how close we were to the motorway. Constant feedback about they loved the house but too close to the motorway, so we instructed the EA to make it absolutely clear to potential buyers that unless they could afford on or near the asking price they couldn't view, and to ensure they were happy with the location near a motorway before viewing.

So if your vendors have been similarly mucked about I understand their EA being cautious about viewings.

When we viewed our first house, the owner was conducting the viewing. She opened the door and, without saying hello, said "the bathroom's on the ground floor, under the stairs, if you don't like it there's no point in coming in"!
I guess she'd had a lot of people not read the listing and wasted her time with viewing when they weren't willing to consider a downstairs bathroom.
We didn't mind and bought the house, though when we sold it 5 years later we began to see her point!