We've exchanged and complete in 2 weeks - buyers want YET ANOTHER viewing

[MoominFeatures]

We've exchanged contracts on the sale of our house - completion is in two weeks (we're in England).

Pre-exchange we accommodated multiple viewings - of course. We felt it was just part of the process and seemed fair enough.

We exchanged at the end of July. Since then, the buy has asked for (and we've accommodated) two more viewings, one really last minute while they knew we were on holiday and away (but we figured it out so they could come) and the second time one afternoon on a day they knew was a working day for us but was the only day/time that worked for them. We accommodated. They were here for four hours (the house is a pretty regular 4-bed detached house in a village - not some pile somewhere with a million rooms and corridors).

They're coming again today - for the third time. They've even asked me to push out a work call I have in case they need longer than 90 minutes here (I told them about that to try to get a sense of how long they'll be here for).

AIBU for feeling really quite put out??! The house is utter chaos - boxes everywhere, dust all over because we're actively packing. It doesn't look good at all and it's really stressing me out. I have been up until god knows what our the past two nights and up with the sparrows the following mornings trying to make things look a bit neater (not sure it's made a difference) but the more i do the angrier I get about it all. To top it off, the buyer sent us an email last night essentially saying "see you tomorrow" but jibed that "I guess you're more relaxed than we are". Well that's set me right off. I'm absolutely raging - they have no idea of all the shit going on in our lives at the moment (the house move is only one element and probably the least stressful one).

Please someone tell me I'm not being over-sensitive and they're truly CFs. Being tired and cranky isn't helping me no doubt, but we wouldn't dream of heading to our sellers' house now, when we'd been twice post-exchange already and when completion is in two weeks, so this is really pissing me off. I really need to not lose my shit at them when they rock up later this morning. Eeeeek.

They are being CFs and you know it.

Frequent visits are annoying, I’ve experienced it, but staying for 4 hours and requesting you move work meetings is way beyond anything reasonable.

Hi!

My elderly neighbour bought a bungalow because she was struggling in her house with the stairs. Her Son viewed the house 2 days before completing to measure the doors for the removal company, she had an adapted bed.
On the day of completion they went there and the previous owners had removed all the light fittings and plug sockets. There were live wires exposed. And they had taken the tap from the kitchen. It was awful for her, especially being elderly. Luckily we have a few trades people on our street and they all went over to sort her out. I know they can’t do that but people do. Some people are selfish bat holes.

@wheretolivehelp Yep, totally get that - which is why we acquiesced to their requests (realistically we weren't ever not going to). However, I felt quite put out by the last request so the point of this thread was (a) to try to benchmark our buyers' reasonableness against the experiences of others in relation to their respective buyers (and, with sincere thanks to the many contributors to this thread, this has been a really useful resource) and (b) to vent a bit in the hope it stopped me being a cow to anyone irl (which worked!).

Appalling. I'm so sorry! (We obviously won't be doing anything of the sort!!!)

sorry this happened to you, one reason why i don't really sympathise much with sellers. btw you can sue the prev owners for things like this.

note to anyone buying: make sure you specify what condition the property is expected to be in when you formally exchange.

i would happily sue the prev owner and make them pay for the works, distress and time spent on this . suing will be more frequent in the future and it's a good thing!

I realised after I posted that you might think I was implying that you would do that, which I wasn’t. 🤦🏻‍♀️
What did you decide? Did you let them? I exchanged and completed on the same day so I have no idea what can and can’t happen in between times.

Given the number of utter pushovers that apparently are unable to utter the word no one comes across on this site (not digging at you OP! I know how stressful it is getting and hanging onto a buyer just now which is I suspect why you've been so accommodating), and given that most of them will be firmly in the millenial and early Gen Z category, I somehow highly doubt that there will be a tidal wave of bolshie property buyers. I suspect OP has just been unlucky and got herself a pair of entitled fuckwits, which can occur in any generation.

They've already exchanged. That means if they pull out they'd lose a shit load of money since they'd be in breach of contract... So, as you say, a business transaction that would cost the buyer a shit load of money to pull out of at this stage.

i totally understand and see where you're coming from. i think MN is a good place to vent. just be careful and keep your professional face on. give them this viewing but politely remind them you've gone out of your way, it may be a simple case of they don't know it, estate agent might not be communicating as you think, they also want their commission. good luck

it's no different for the seller and them losing their money. but there is no way it is ever a good idea to piss off your buyer, especially when you don't know their financial limits (they may be in a good position). and don't be naive, lots of people pull out of house sales.

@CalMeKate You know, I didn't realise until fairly recently that same-day signing and completion in a resi property transaction had become a thing! Wow, that must have been mega-stressful (unless no chain, which would help I imagine, though would obvs still be stressful). Wow - and congrats! And in the end we just let them come and do their thing - I don't anticipate moving again for a lonnnnnnnggggg time so figured it was better to suck things up and just think that in a fortnight we should be done. And I wasn't rude to them either so could sleep ok last night, too. Ha!

As a millennial, I am offended by your proposition that I would find it perfectly acceptable to request a person selling me a house moves their clients for the day and loses money/gets in trouble with their employer just because I want to inspect the "product" I am buying over the course of multiple visits each lasting several hours. This behaviour goes beyond what would be reasonable for a business transaction.
If I was in a position of the buyer and desperately needed to "measure up" or whatever I would be expecting to visit at the time that is convenient for the seller and for my visit to last a reasonable amount of time respecting the fact that this is someone else's house - not mine!
If I happened to forget/miss some measurement, I would certainly be able to wait 14 days until completion.
Manners, is what it's called and we - millennials - have them too.
As sellers, we had multiple visits from our buyers between exchange and completion but I can honestly say that if they ever suggested I moved my patients for the day to accommodate them, they would be firmly told that their request is inappropriate and can they please come and leave at the specified time instead or wait until they get the key to the house.

You are not being unreasonable, that's ridiculous, once I could understand if wanting to get stuff on order or something, like new bed or a cooker etc but 4hrs what were they doing?

We only came round once post exchange and that is because the people we brought from, their estate agents went bankrupt and it was the only way we could contact them to arrange times etc.

When they could be firm that they need to gone in time for your work call and due to stress and amount that needs doing between now and completion you aren't able to facilitate anymore viewings, maybe wait till they are out the door to say that though in case they want to take even longer!

Not yet they haven't

Yes, but it's very, very rare to pull out after exchange. Because there are v. high costs in doing so. You clearly don't understand the house buying process. It would be different for the seller because the seller wouldn't have breached the contract, so the buyer would lose out financially, and could be sued. The seller would only lose out because it would then delay the chain if there was one.

They are not just buying a "product" - they are buying a house that until completion is still OPs home.

Are your buyers on here OP ? 😁

Peak Mumsnet! 😂

I’d have told them to check their contact because there’s no way I’d have agreed to that or signed a contract with that stipulation. You want a professional clean? You arrange it for after completion and pay for it.

There are a lot of people on this thread who don't seem to have realised that:

(a) the OP and the buyers have already exchanged contracts;

(b) there will be plenty of time after completion to take measurements etc.

If I were selling and the buyer said they wanted to check one particular piece of furniture would fit, I would accommodate that (by measuring up myself!)

But otherwise a buyer can wait.

It does seem like there is a culture of buyers demanding things before they move in now - even when it was more of a sellers' market. I always thought it was caeveat emptor and you bought the house as seen.

But eg when my neighbours moved in, the outgoing neighbour had to replace some broken fences. Of course she went for the cheapest option as she was only there for a matter of weeks and now they are all falling down again. Complete waste.

@wheretolivehelp are you the buyer?? 😂😂

4 hours is absolutely ridiculous time to be in a property viewing unless it's a country pile that's got some mega square footage.

As a solicitor (not in property) advice would always be to work through your estate agent to avoid such unnecessary visits and stick to what you're contractually obliged to do.

Visits can also be used against you in practice, generally you have a small window to identify and request rectification of any issues (faulty plug sockets etc), they may be using this time to collate a "list" of frivolous rectification matters (as happened to a friend of mine when selling a period property!)

Going forward I'd just go with the "sorry doesn't suit" or arrange a viewing with your estate agent for one final time if they need access. Good luck @MoominFeatures

@wheretolivehelp and don't be naive, lots of people pull out of house sales.

That's simply not true and a massive misunderstanding of the way house sales work in England. It is a vanishingly small percentage of sales that fall through AFTER exchange due to the massive costs associated with breach of contract.

I work in this field and have completed a dozen or so sales in the last 3 months, both at first time buyer level and several hundreds of thousands of pounds above. It is really unusual for buyers to ask for more than two viewings and uncommon for there to be any more than a brief visit to measure up for curtains or furniture after exchange.

OP you have been massively reasonable so far and I wouldn't accommodate any further viewings. The buyers have signed a contract committing to purchasing your house as seen, they cannot back out now without massive financial consequences for themselves so you don't need to be any more accommodating than you've already been.