Page 3 | To want to view a house without putting mine on the market

Cornishbelle · 2022-02-04T12:48:35+00:00

Contacted estate agents yesterday to make viewing appointment for a house that has just come on the market. Was told would be called back but nothing. Rang again today and mentioned we would be interested in a price for ours so they are coming to value early next week then will arrange a viewing of other house. Is there an expectation that your house is on the market before you even go and look these days? We're not desperate to move but would for the right house, but it seems you have to be all in or nothing , what if you sell yours but can't find anything you want to move to?

SpidersAreShitheads · 04/02/2022 14:17

We are looking for a very unusual house because we’re trying to build an annexe for my DM. For our budget there are very few which come along. My DM’s house took about three months to go under offer, during which time we’ve not been able to view/offer about 3 amazing properties which would have been perfect.

We’re now frantically looking so we don’t lose our buyer but there’s absolutely nothing. One of the previous ones has come back onto the market as the sale fell through and we’re booked in to see it on Tuesday. But it’s top, top budget for us and others are interested so if it goes for more than the asking price we’ve no chance. And there’s nothing else around.

If we could have seen/offered on a property we liked in December, things would be well underway as DM received an offer in the first week in Jan.

Totally understand the position but both my DM and I have bought houses in the past and it was completely different then. It was normal to list/offer at the same time which in our particular circumstances now would have made life much easier.

Wish us luck for Tuesday…

ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 04/02/2022 14:29

If we could have seen/offered on a property we liked in December, things would be well underway as DM received an offer in the first week in Jan

You didn’t know it would go under offer in the first week of Jan though… you said it was up for sale for 3 months before going under offer, it could have been another 3 months.
Plus you could also have offered on another house in October thinking your mums would sell soon, then it didn’t sell until Jan.

ToykotoLosAngeles · 04/02/2022 14:36

This is why people sell and move into rented for a while until the right house comes up. With current prices I'd be doing that now myself.

TheApexOfMyLife · 04/02/2022 14:41

@ShallWeTalkAboutBruno

If we could have seen/offered on a property we liked in December, things would be well underway as DM received an offer in the first week in Jan

You didn’t know it would go under offer in the first week of Jan though… you said it was up for sale for 3 months before going under offer, it could have been another 3 months.
Plus you could also have offered on another house in October thinking your mums would sell soon, then it didn’t sell until Jan.

Nope instead @SpidersAreShitheadsis now running around like a headless chicken and is likely to pull out of the sale, leaving the buyers (and their buyers etc…) in the lurch instead.. Is that much better?

Now the question is: will the EA receive anything for finding the buyer but the seller pulling out because they can’t find a suitable property?

ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 04/02/2022 14:44

Essentially it’s a sellers market at the moment. Demand outstrips supply. So sellers will generally only want people in a position to proceed to view their property, as the likelihood is it will sell quickly anyway. Yes it’s inconvenient for buyers, but that’s just the state of the market at the moment.

ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 04/02/2022 14:45

Now the question is: will the EA receive anything for finding the buyer but the seller pulling out because they can’t find a suitable property?

That would depend on what contract the seller has with the EA.

Iamthedom · 04/02/2022 14:57

I know that the estate agent selling my house told me that anyone interested in buying needed to show proof of deposit and have a Mortgage in principle and if they were selling a property it had to be under offer .
Otherwise they weren’t letting them view
They had a list of people who wanted to buy in the area so had already been pre checked as far as being able to proceed
I’m pretty sure all the estate agents locally are the same

Peaseblossum22 · 04/02/2022 15:01

We are viewing a house tomorrow even though our house is not in the market . It could be pretty quickly but we don’t need to sell it to be able to buy . Agents haven’t asked for proof , I was quite surprised but then the system of house buying is so long and tortuous in this country maybe they are not bothered

3scape · 04/02/2022 15:02

I don't 'ike estate agents knowing my budget/ business to be honest. So I sometimes get told they won't book appointments.. I don't let it intimidate me, i quietly carry on. The sensible ones tend to get a bit more info out of me.

My uncle is an estate agent. He did have some frequent viewers who never seemed to buy, ok occasionally but it's keeping him from other work - so I do understand, at the same time I don't like constantly being chased about whether i liked the place etc.

Useranon1 · 04/02/2022 15:18

Do you have to prove it to them when they ask if it's on the market, or just take your word for it?

As long as you're truthful when the offer goes in, does it matter what you say over the phone to get in the door?

hauntedvagina · 04/02/2022 15:27

@RedPanda17

What about if you're buying to let?

Then the EA would want proof of deposit and DIP before viewing.

ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 04/02/2022 16:07

@Useranon1

Do you have to prove it to them when they ask if it's on the market, or just take your word for it?

As long as you're truthful when the offer goes in, does it matter what you say over the phone to get in the door?

I’d be pretty pissed off if someone had lied to get a foot through my door, and if I found out as a seller I’d go with someone else’s offer.

Surelyitscoffeetime · 04/02/2022 16:12

I wouldn’t let someone view unless they were on the market. When you have countless photos, video tours etc online, you can do plenty of snooping that way.

Thevalley · 04/02/2022 16:19

Its cheeky to think you can have a nose around with little intention of putting an offer in.
It would scream that you're not serious and in truth your not.
If you haven't even got yours on the market why would a seller wait for you to get an agent, get the photos sorted and wait for it to be listed This would take a good 10 working days.
I wouldn't want time wasters viewing my house.

When we viewed the house we've now bought even before we viewed it we knew it was potentially the one. Knowing the market we came with proof of funds, the mortgage agreed in principle, and solicitors already on board. We put in an offer there and then qnd because we showed we were serious the offer was accepted a day later.
Why would a seller choose someone who hasn't even bothered to put their property on the market over someone who is clearly sorted and serious

TheApexOfMyLife · 04/02/2022 16:29

@ShallWeTalkAboutBruno

Essentially it’s a sellers market at the moment. Demand outstrips supply. So sellers will generally only want people in a position to proceed to view their property, as the likelihood is it will sell quickly anyway. Yes it’s inconvenient for buyers, but that’s just the state of the market at the moment.

I would have thought it was inconvenient for sellers tbh.

Because they might well go through all the motions to get their house ready for sale, do the viewings, agree on an offer etc…

Only to discover that they can’t find what they want so have to pull out and do it all over again….

ChicCroissant · 04/02/2022 17:05

Nope instead SpidersAreShitheads is now running around like a headless chicken and is likely to pull out of the sale, leaving the buyers (and their buyers etc…) in the lurch instead ... Is that much better?

Which one of the three properties do you think should have refused their sale to wait for Spiders then, Apex? Because in the time that it took to get the offer all three properties sold by the sound of it.

Good luck with the viewing on the one that has fallen through Spiders, it's been a long haul for you!

OP, the trouble with saying we'll only move for the right property is that it immediately identifies you as not a serious buyer. That's going to put you at the back of the queue behind anyone who is ready to go with a mortgage (FTB or BTL) and those who already have a proceedable buyer for their own property.

TheApexOfMyLife · 04/02/2022 20:54

But then Spiders buyers (the whole line of it) needs to be happy to wait until she has found a suitable house, which could well take any many months if your needs are specific.

I know a friend of mines was looking for a house with a granny annex etc… it took her 18+ months to find one suitable and the right price.
Do you think buyers will be happy to wait that long??

BetsyBigNose · 04/02/2022 23:04

I don't know about it being a "new" thing, but certainly good manners dictate that you shouldn't be viewing houses unless you are in the process of selling your current home, or are a first time buyer.

I remember our home being on the market when I was a teenager, all the extra tidying, cleaning and 'staging' that had to be done before each viewing - it was a major hassle. One woman who had come for a viewing brought her 4 children along - they raced all over the house, helped themselves to the trampoline in the garden and one of them sat at my DB's desk and broke apart the Lego model he'd been working on! When my DM asked how far along they were with the sale of their own property, the woman replied "Oh, we haven't got our place on the market - it's just that my sister lives on this road and they were thinking about converting the loft, so she wanted me to come and have a look at yours so I can tell her if I think it's worth doing."

It was pretty impressive to watch my Mother respond "Gosh, how incredibly rude of you - get out of my house!" and to see all 5 of them, virtually pushed out of the front door within a minute!

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/02/2022 23:08

Yes, YABU.

Some people really need to move and spend hours preparing their house for a viewing with the expectation that the viewers are serious.
I wouldn’t accept appointments from anyone who wasn’t already in the market (unless they weren’t dependent on a sale).

Ricepops · 04/02/2022 23:13

Yep, we had to put our house on the market in order to view anything. It sold immediately, back in October. Since then hardly anything has been on the market for us to view, so we've only seen one house.

Kite22 · 04/02/2022 23:16

Yes, unfortunately in a sellers' market, as it is at the moment (and has been for a while), that is the way of things.

What about if you're buying to let?

You have to demonstrate that you have the deposit and the mortgage in principle (or, of course, the full cash amount)

What about ftbs

As above - they have to show proof of the offer of a mortgage in principle and the deposit you have.

Whoever you are, you have to show the EA you are ready to move.

zigzag56445 · 04/02/2022 23:21

@SeenYourArse

I wouldn’t even let you view unless you’d already had an offer accepted on yours! It isn’t fair to window shop you can look at tons of pics and usually walk through videos now online too plus have a look from outside driving past. You only need to view if you’ve done all that and are seriously considering the home.

Fair points, but we've been looking for a new house for years. There's very little in the area comes up other than 3/4 bed semi d's. Not a chance I'll be putting mine on the market until the right house comes up. Although, I get alerts of every house in a 10 mile radius that meets our requirements but haven't actually been to see one in about 3 years. Pics or prices haven't been right. I think we might have actually given up hope now...

MaeBrad1991 · 04/02/2022 23:21

Yes it’s the market at the moment, I’ve been told they won’t show us houses unless we have accepted an offer on ours. They certainly wouldn’t let us view anything when we aren’t on the market. Also I had one agent refuse us because the sellers want a cash buyer (who has £300k cash?!)

TheRealHousewife · 09/02/2022 11:12

@zigzag56445 I share your frustration and I hope you find what you are looking for. The market has changed so much that I actually find it intimidating. I've wanted to move for about 4 years (OH fluctuates between wanting to move and staying put for now due to the housing madness). I feel my life is on hold. My heart just isn't in this house and my soul needs to move. Like you, cant view unless proceedable. How on earth can you go to market and accept any offers if you cant find the one you want. Its crazy mad and I don't have the answer other than taking a giant leap of faith; I have seen about 6 other families do just that in the last 2 years, now settled in their new homes. Some were completed within 2 months.

I'm hoping this year it will happen!

DeeplyMovingExperience · 09/02/2022 11:22

When we sold recently, our EA would only allow viewings from people who could prove that they were (a) in a strong position to move and (b) that they could afford the price.

The EA was very strict about it - so for example one person who wanted to view was clearly hoping that they could get a price reduction because their maximum budget was 50k less than our asking price. The viewing was refused.