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Original poster

Viewing a property when yours isn't on the market

67 replies

mixedupmartha · 24/09/2010 21:12

We have our house on the market. We've had five viewing requests in four weeks, everyone who comes loves the house, we have two couples who almost certainly want to put an offer in once they've sold theirs.

Today I refused a viewing from somebody who doesn't have their house on the market. Cleaning and arranging the house for a late morning viewing takes me three hours from start to finish and DH takes the children to soft play.

I can't see why you'd go viewing houses when yours isn't on the market...we won't view until we've sold - partly because I don't want to set my heart on anything.

What does everyone else think? My estate agent mate says I should only take viewings from people who have actually sold but I think that's a step too far...

OP posts:

AliBaliBears · 14/07/2022 22:33

I'll definitely be doing doing viewings before putting our house on the market. Three houses on our road have sold in the past 2 months - all had sold signs up within 2 weeks. There's no way I'd risk ending up selling my house with no house to go to!

PeppaPigIsAnnoying · 14/07/2022 22:52

When we put our house on the market we specified that people couldn't view if their house wasn't already for sale

We don't have time for time wasters

ReginaFilange001 · 15/07/2022 16:40

We had to beg to look at houses before we put ours up for sale. We knew ours would sell within the week of putting up. In fact I could have sold on the day it went on the market. I didn't want the pressure of a sold property without knowing what was on the market. Cases should be taken on an individual basis.

notacooldad · 15/07/2022 16:45

I can't see why you'd go viewing houses when yours isn't on the market...we won't view until we've sold
I can see why.
I want to sell my house in the next 18 months. On the whole I am happy here so I only want to move if I see a house I love. I don't want to sell it and have no where to go or have to have a make do house. I am really confident my house will sell quick if I put it up for sale soon. However I haven't seen any houses that are grabbing me!

DomusAurea · 15/07/2022 16:55

This original thread was from 2010 so hopefully they have bought/sold/resolved😆

mixedupmartha · 24/09/2010 21:12

creativevoid · 15/07/2022 16:56

I've viewed houses without having ours on the market. We would like to move as our home is a bit too small but would only consider things nearby and very few properties suitable properties come onto the market. I know our place would sell in days and we are in Scotland so can't just tell someone they can have it but not actually go through with it. I can't risk losing my home and not having another one to go to. That has put us at a disadvantage - there have been a couple where we have offered but have lost out to a cash buyer. If we did have an offer accepted we could turn things around very quickly (no mortgage). And I suppose our interest has been helpful for the seller in getting the price they wanted out of other buyers in a better position to move. So I wouldn't assume that not having sold means you are a time waster. For us it means we are much more likely to be serious because we only look at places that fit our (very strict) criteria.

AliBaliBears · 15/07/2022 16:58

Yes, this is our situation @notacooldad and @ReginaFilange001 . No way I'd put my current house on the market without being sure there was something better to move to (so few homes on the market in our area at the moment, anything that becomes available gets snapped up).

I would however make sure my house was ready to go on to the market, agent lined up, finances arranged etc. before viewing.

LAS123 · 15/07/2022 20:35

The area in which I am trying to buy it is impossible to get viewings without being on the market, all agents simply refuse, I am now SSTC and in order to view anywhere I am having to show an AIP and they are confirming with my EA my position before booking anything, all viewings are 15 minutes of a 2-3 hour ‘showing’ where anyone who gets through all the hoops gets a brief look around then its on to the hell of bidding wars and offers over.

CharlotteOH · 15/07/2022 20:51

Vieweings should only be from people who have already found a buyer (preferably end of chain!)

I’d never let people into my house who weren’t in a position to make a proceedable offer. So many fantasists book vieweings out of nosiness. One of my friends has seen 40+ houses! She’s addicted 🤔

Aspidistra1 · 15/07/2022 21:03

There’s very little coming on at the moment so we are finding this really difficult. We have had our house valued and think it should sell very quickly, however if we have to put it on to view somewhere my concern is we sell it, offer not even made/accepted and then nothing comes on, we end up stringing our buyer along. If we saw something we loved we’d be happy to put it on with the same agent who was selling to make it happen quickly. We also have the very generous offer of an interest free bridging loan from family.

I am sort of coming around to the fact we probably do need to just sell though.

LAS123 · 15/07/2022 22:24

CharlotteOH · 15/07/2022 20:51

Vieweings should only be from people who have already found a buyer (preferably end of chain!)

I totally agree.
I wouldnt agree to viewing from anyone not on the market as its a total waste of my time, they arent in a position to make a serious offer so pointless IMO.

hoping2021 · 15/07/2022 23:22

Totally acceptable
you would never prioritise their offer over others who are much further down the selling line anyway. So why bother letting them view.
market is hot at the moment, so absolutely the correct decision.

sst1234 · 16/07/2022 10:36

If a viewer doesn’t have their house in the market, they are not serious about buying. They are wasting your time.

commonsense61 · 16/07/2022 12:21

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

ZooMount · 16/07/2022 12:30

I disagree, I'm serious about buying the right house but I won't put mine on the market until I have found the right one as I know mine will sell within a day (market hot here for my type of house) and I'm not moving unless it's the right one. We've been looking for over a year now and nothing has come up that comes close to what we want so I'm glad we didn't put the house on the market at the start as we would have wasted everyone's time. We are looking for that rare next house though so it's a bit different, we're not moving because we need to as such. If we saw something that really got us going we would put ours on right away.

DomusAurea · 16/07/2022 16:22

ZOMBIE from 2010 ffs

Kimcombbo · 26/02/2024 18:24

Tbh if they haven't even had their own house valued or on the market I wouldn't entertain a viewing.

What is there budget can they afford your home.

2.where do they live if they haven't been valued they could say anything.

3.Your own saftey if your alone viewing

4.If they were serious they will be getting valued or on market unless they are cash. They need proof of this to show agents

It takes about 3 to 4 weeks from initial app photos and adds to market your property.

6.These viewers not willing to have done this before as you have are a month behind anyway. Time wasters

Don't worry about viewers not on market. It's your house and you can say who views it .
😜 Estate agent of 25 years plus

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