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Original poster

Do if have to give estate agents our info?

29 replies

mosschops30 · 01/11/2010 13:57

We want to view four houses. Ours is not currently on the market and we are talking with our financial advisor this week about our options.

I just hate phoning estate agents and they ask [is your house in the market' and 'what property are you in' etc etc. I find it really nosey.

Is there a way of not giving this out wihtout sounding snotty?

OP posts:

Sarsaparilllla · 01/11/2010 13:58

Tell them you're a first time buyer?

thatsnotmyZOMBIE · 01/11/2010 13:59

Yes, just say, you are not currently on the market, and are interested in seeing in what is out there. Then say no more.

Original poster

mosschops30 · 01/11/2010 14:02

we'd be some first time buyers given the property we're viewing

ours would be on the marker within a week if any of these are suitable

OP posts:

scaleymcnamechange · 01/11/2010 14:05

It is not "nosey" of the Estate Agents. It is them doing their job properly. Even though its a buyers market its not a good idea to piss your vendors' agent off.

oldenoughtowearpurple · 01/11/2010 14:05

They are just trying to 'qualify' you so they don't waste sellers' time by sending you to the wrong kinds of properties eg sending people in a hurry to buy to properties where the seller wants a long completion or whatever. If you are honest with them on the 'just interested' bit then they can warn the people whose houses you are going to see, and those people can decide whether they are interested in you as a viewer (and can also decide whether it's worth spending 2 hours stuffing kids toys down the back of the sofa and hoovering the stairs for you).

scaleymcnamechange · 01/11/2010 14:08

EAs have to waste a lot of time and effort on escorting around people who are "just having a look" or "seeing whats on the market". They want to be concentrating on the people who are actually going to buy.

alfabetty · 01/11/2010 14:12

You can just fudge and say things like 'we've not decided whether we'll need/wish to sell our current home', so you don't have to give them the full '4 beds, three bathrooms, hoping for 600k' details.

Affordability etc is a matter for you. Usually they are asking as they want to know if they've a shot at marketing yours & getting double commission!

Original poster

mosschops30 · 01/11/2010 14:12

scaley we are looking to actually buy, but I dont like being made to feel that Im not 'that interested' because I havent got mine on the market yet

OP posts:

theyoungvisiter · 01/11/2010 14:14

You can say that you are in the process of putting your house on the market - which is presumably true.

But I have to say, as a seller, I find it DEEPLY annoying to go to great lengths tidying my place up for someone who isn't in a position to proceed now or possibly at all.

Why don't you want to state your true position and why do you think it's nosy? You may feel differently after you've put your place on the market and had half a dozen timewasters traipse round it.

They aren't being nosy - they're just trying to find out if you're serious or a timewaster. And I wouldn't recommend lying to them now because if you do want to put in an offer, you'll look like a bit of a shyster if you suddenly change your story and have to admit you're actually not a ftb at all.

alfabetty · 01/11/2010 14:15

I agree, it is a real chicken & egg when you are making a big move to a 'forever' house - the right sort of house might take 2-3 years to come up, and you don't want yours on the market all that time!

If you hint you might not need to sell in order to buy (i.e will let your current home) they will think you are Mrs Moneybags and you may actually get some attention when more desirable/expensive properties come on the market!

theyoungvisiter · 01/11/2010 14:18

The thing is, no-one's going to accept your offer if you haven't got your place on the market. And probably they won't accept your offer if you haven't got an offer on yours.

So you aren't just wasting their time, you're wasting yours too. What if you love one of these places but it goes under offer to someone else while you're getting your act together?

Think of it from your own POV - if someone came up to you and said "I want to make an offer on your house but I've got to sell my place which isn't even being marketed yet" - would you think they were serious? Or would you say "come back when you've got a buyer for your place" and feel pissed off that you'd wasted 2 hours tidying and getting the kids out of the house?

scaleymcnamechange · 01/11/2010 14:20

But you're not that interested in moving if you haven't got your house on the market yet. Don't take it personally. You are not being made to feel anything.

alfabetty · 01/11/2010 14:37

I disagree - we looked to move, but there are lots of our type of house on the market. Our feeling was and is that we'd sell quite quickly - typical family house in a good area, good schools etc.

We were/are looking to move to a large detached house with lots of land. The sort that people buy and live in for 25 years. So if one comes on the market and we like it, we'll market ours. But I've been looking for 18 months, and nothing suitable yet. I'm very pleased I haven't had my house up for sale all that time!

it is different if you are moving from a fairly common 2 bed house to a fairly normal 3 bed house, as you'll have a decent selection to choose from at any one time. But for something more unusual, you might have to wait years for the right place to come on the market.

Original poster

mosschops30 · 01/11/2010 14:43

thanks alfa we are in the same situation. We are selling an easily marketable 3 bed detached, in a good area, with good amenities and good schools.
We are buying a larger, far more expensive house which we will grow old in over the next 50 years (hopefully )

OP posts:

oxfordlass · 02/11/2010 16:10

Our house was just about to go on the market, and we requested to view a house. When the vendors found out we were not yet on the market, they refused to let us come around. We were really annoyed at the time.

We are now on the market, and realise how stressful it is to get the house ready for viewers (we have 2 children under 6 and a baby!!)

Having said that, we won't be going back to look at the original house..

ElbowFan · 02/11/2010 16:41

If you're not actively looking to buy - why do you need to look inside the house? Estate Agents details give room sizes, photos and a floor plan. A drive by/ walk past gives you information about the neighbourhood and noise levels etc.
Looking inside used to be the only way to see how the rooms fitted together (dimensions always being max) and whether extensions created dark inner rooms. You can see that now from the particulars - so I cannot see what else you hope to gain from seeing inside?
When you are on the market you may appreciate that it is more than frustrating to receive people into your home who actually only comment on your furniture, have no interest in the efficiency of the boiler or how low the council tax is, and appear just to be there for a nosey around.

virgin · 02/11/2010 17:26

We have recently sold and prior to selling, refused viewings from anyone who didnt actually have their house on the market. Would have been a waste of time IMO.

redhollyberry · 02/11/2010 19:31

Everyone that I know who has recently moved have actually not sold their previous home(3 couples). They have just bought a bigger home and let their smaller house out.

So would they have been classed a waste of EA/ vendors time?

Everyone has different financial circumstances so why would an EA assume that you have to sell one house to buy another.

I would just say that you are interested in viewing the properties and if you were interested in buying one of them you would put your house on the market asap.

nikos · 02/11/2010 20:00

Disagree aboout needing a look round. We've been doing lots of viewings and have yet to see a house which 'matched' the pictures. Usually the house is better, it has to be said. You can narrow down your choices with rightmove etc but you still have to view.
We always ask the agent before people come to view our house, what the potential buyers position is. We didn't refuse anyone but if I was hassled and couldn't get house tidy in time would probably delay someone who wasn't proceedable.

theyoungvisiter · 02/11/2010 20:39

redhollyberry - the example of your 3 friends is totally different. In those circs you say "I do not have a property to sell" and you go to the top of the list as being someone able to proceed immediately.

If you DO have to sell your property in order to proceed and you haven't even bothered to market it, then that puts you right down the bottom in terms of favourability.

Even if someone allows you to view their property (and it's their prerogative to refuse, because any EA worth their salt will flag that up with the vendor) they are unlikely to consider your offer. It's all very well to say "oh I'd put it on the market straight away" but in most areas the market is fairly sluggish and they won't want to wait around while a buyer gets an offer and puts their chain together.

Mooos · 03/11/2010 02:10

EAs have lots of time on their hands just now so not to worry about wasting their time. Also be very careful what you tell an EA - MOST of them are lying scumbags.

PS Why do you want to buy now when the market is tanking?

nikos · 03/11/2010 10:24

I think the primary qualification for the job must be to be able to lie with a sincere smile. Don't know how they sleep at night really, so does make me feel a little bit sorry for them. No one could enjoy doing that job for any length of time. And they probably won't as there is very little movement in the housing market up north. It's like everything is just frozen.

oxfordlass · 03/11/2010 11:21

Everything is slowing down here too.

Our EAs have done their fair share of lieing, ie. "oh, yes, we have put an A3 advert of your house in our window. It's been up all weekend" When I told them that we had walked past the window that very weekend and no, it hadn't been displayed - they looked quite surprised that they had been caught out!!

elastamum · 03/11/2010 11:32

I dont thin it is unreasonable for the EA to want to know your status.

Having been messed around at weekends for over a year by 'property tourists'. I eventually point blank refused to let anyone who wasn't on the market view at all.

I live in a stunning old house with some land and people saw it on the internet and just thought they would have a nose at the weekend as they had nothing better to do. It regularly ruined our weekends and I could count the serious buyers on one hand.

We also had people trying to negotiate who hadnt sold and I told them to come back when they had a buyer - still waiting!!!

elastamum · 03/11/2010 11:34

Oh and we had loads of people who said the didnt need to sell. Given how expensive our house is, mostly, I think they were lying.

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