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Original poster

Why would a vendor insist on being at viewings?

87 replies

anyname123 · 11/01/2017 12:20

Just that really, seen a house that looks great, with an EA. Called to book a viewing, was told that viewing's are between 5-6pm only as vendor wants to be there, consequently I can't view the house. Good luck to her, she may well sell the house to someone more flexible, but why would you insist on being there? I'm looking to buy a house, not make a bloody friend!

OP posts:

TwitterQueen1 · 11/01/2017 12:22

Why can't you view the house? It's nothing to do with you. I suspect the vendor doesn't trust the EA to do a 'proper job' so is insisting on being around to ensure all the relevant information is given to prospective buyers.

I think you're over-reacting somewhat.

Wolfiefan · 11/01/2017 12:22

Maybe she's concerned they estate agents will let people walk about on their own and something may get stolen?
5-6 is pretty restrictive though. Why not have an open day or allow just evening viewings?

MilkTwoSugarsThanks · 11/01/2017 12:23

I would always insist on being there. People are less likely to open my cupboards and mess with my stuff if I'm there.

OddBoots · 11/01/2017 12:25

There are lots of reasons, maybe they have been messed about by buyers before so want to meet prospective buyers and decide if they trust you, or they may be worried that viewers might poke through their cupboards and drawers, or there might be something they want to cover up.

Depending on the area she might feel there are enough potential buyers that she doesn't need to worry about suiting all of them.

TinklingTheIvories · 11/01/2017 12:25

We've seen lots of houses recently, and also had loads of people round. Some vendors prefer to see the clients themselves and have a chat to see circumstances etc. Every time we've sold and brought, it's been a vendor we've met who knew our circumstances for moving and we knew theirs. It can be hard though with timings. Some people prefer not to leave keys with estate agents though. Ours have got our keys, but our vendors keep their own keys. It can be difficult to get viewings in if the estate agents don't have a set. It's all down to personal preference really though

MorrisZapp · 11/01/2017 12:26

Totally normal in Scotland. Vendors doing viewings is the default, we don't really have estate agents, it's done by solicitors. Her times are annoyingly restrictive but I can see why a seller wouldn't want strangers in her house while she's not there.

JaneAustinAllegro · 11/01/2017 12:26

1001 perfectly simple reasons. Old people not trusting strangers in the house / not trusting the estate agent to sell sufficiently.

Last couple of times I've bought the vendors have done the showings and were fantastic as could answer every single question about the house / the area / the neighbours / how they used the property. Far more effective than an E A

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 11/01/2017 12:26

They don't trust estate agents, whether to keep an eye on their property, or to be as positive about the house as they would. Most likely due to a previous bad experience.

BusterGonad · 11/01/2017 12:26

There are a million reasons why they'd be there! . Not everyone wants strangers traipsing through their house! I admit the one hour window is a bit crap but surely you can come to some arrangement?

MilkTwoSugarsThanks · 11/01/2017 12:28

Of course it's also possible that she's not the vendor and she's renting it... in which case she can be as restrictive as she likes!

bibbitybobbityyhat · 11/01/2017 12:28

Yes, of course the vendor can insist on being present if he/she wishes.

But one hour per day is very restrictive! What about at the weekend?

bonjovigirl · 11/01/2017 12:29

I would imagine they don't rate the estate agent staff (perhaps too inexperienced) to tell viewers about the house and area. As a buyer I wished sometimes I could have spoken to vendors directly rather than the junior estate agent who seemed to have no local knowledge or just answered "I don't know" to any question about the property!
Maybe if you like it you could push for a second private viewing afterwards to have a more in depth look around? Agree that it's frustrating that they don't have more availability for a first viewing- they're not making it easy to sell

chemenger · 11/01/2017 12:33

I came on to say this is normal in Scotland. Usually the vendor will show the buyer round then retreat and let them wander round on their own. Usually here there are a couple of viewing sessions per week, one on an evening and one at the weekend. If you are trying to buy and sell at the same time it can be a pain if the viewing sessions for your house clash with the one you want to view, otherwise it works well.

Bluntness100 · 11/01/2017 12:35

When we were buying we had a couple of these, the vendor wanted to do it, we also had a couple where the vendor left as soon as we turned up, one even went and sat next door , another sat in the garden, and we could see them leave.

On balance I prefer it when vendor not there for first visit, as uou feel you have to be very polite, kind of "oh what a lovely house" . Second visit i think it's beneficial if the vendor is there though, it's good to meet them and develop a relationship.

Bobochic · 11/01/2017 12:36

I quite liked the EA I used recently to sell my parents' house but, tbh, I would not have been at all happy had the house been my own with my things in it (we had already cleared a lot of personal effects out of my parents' home before putting it on the market). I would rather show people round myself and not have them set off the panic button!

Gentlelope · 11/01/2017 12:36

I hated it when the vendor was in when we were buying. We saw about 40 houses and it was much harder to get a sense of the space and feel of somewhere with the vendor there. Especially the one who were irritatingly intrusive and kept asking 'do you have children?' over and over again, even when I'd said 'no, not at the moment'. Another vendor was racist.

When the vendors were there it was really hard to be objective about the house. If I liked the vendor, I found myself warming to their house. If the vendor was irritating (which quite a few were, unfortunately), then it tainted the house.

TheCrowFromBelow · 11/01/2017 12:42

They can be there and they can specify times- it's their house.
They do risk putting potential buyers off but that is up to them.

On another note, assuming they are built-in, why wouldn't buyers open cupboards? It's the most expensive purchase most people make in their life. Buyers should look in the cupboards. I wish I'd poked around our kitchen a bit more.

CotswoldStrife · 11/01/2017 12:43

Completely normal for the vendor to be there and rare for it to only be the EA unless the vendor doesn't live there.

I am a little taken aback that the OP has dismissed the house straight away on the viewing hours! Yes it is restrictive but you don't know the circumstances and if it's the same at the weekend (eg 7 days a week) then surely there is a day you can do? Why write off a house for that reason?!

LouiseBrooks · 11/01/2017 12:44

I twice put off viewing my current home for this very reason. (I was moving to a new town so there was a massive inconvenience in not getting there till 6.00pm). However, eventually I set up a whole day of (exhausting) viewings and decided to tack the house on at the end of the day. As soon as I walked in, I knew it was the house for me.

I have no idea why people insist on showing the house themselves (unless they are a SAH parent and would be there anyway).

Equally when I sold my previous property, apart from the fact I didn't want to take time off work, I had no desire to meet the potential new owner either.

cheekyfunkymonkey · 11/01/2017 12:45

When we sold ours the estate agents refused to do the viewings and so if we were not available they had to be rearranged. We often asked them to just show people around but they wouldn't do it

MilkTwoSugarsThanks · 11/01/2017 12:45

TheCrow - nope! Wardrobes. And the fridge.

It was actually my ex that was the one looking... and I swore blind there and then I would always be in when I sold a house!

HelenaGWells · 11/01/2017 12:47

I've never sold a house I've been living in but if I did I would want to be there as the throught of strangers going through my house when I'm not there gives me massive anxiety. I'm also far better equipped to answer questions as I actually live here. When we bought our house I often found it more useful if the vendor showed us round.

Her times are insane though. If you are going to sell you need less restrictive times. Surely she's in the house at other house apart from 5-6? Most vendors in my experience did evenings from 5/6 until about 7/8 depending if they had kids and/or worked and mostly flexible hours at weekends.

alltouchedout · 11/01/2017 12:49

They don't want strangers poking unsupervised around their home?
They want to be sure viewers are not timewasters who just fancy a gawp- such people are unlikely to make the effort to fit in with restrictive viewing arrangements?
They've had instances in the past of EAs being crap/ untruthful/ ill prepared and want to be around to counter that?

Mindtrope · 11/01/2017 12:59

Yes I;m in SCotland too, it would be unusual to have an EA at a veiwing, that's normally done by the vendors/

BobbiTheCynicalPanda · 11/01/2017 13:04

I've bought and sold several homes.
I don't enjoy the selling aspect of having complete strangers wandering around my home. Just because a property is being sold that doesn't mean it's no longer 'home'. It's not just a brick construction.

Also have had bad experiences with EAs. It's much easier to answer questions direct to the potential buyer than have EA phoning on 400 different occasions because they're not asking the questions the buyer needs answering.

That said, the vendor in this case is being extremely restrictive and therefore IBU.

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