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Original poster

Buyers want to meet us?

75 replies

MarieLondon123 · 28/02/2019 15:23

We sold our home just after Christmas, is had only been on the market for a short period so we where lucky. Our buyers came and saw the property twice over a week period, 2nd time my partner done the viewing after the EA's done the 1st! We are a few weeks from exchanging now, they have just been to us a 3rd time to do some measuring up etc, the Estate agents let them in as our lives are a bit hectic at the moment and we where never keen on doing any viewings in the 1st place.
But they have said they would like to come back a 4th time to meet myself ( cause we haven't met ) and also my partner again?? I find this slightly strange. It's annoying that need to come back a 4th when we are so close to exchanging but also I find it uncomfortable they want to meet us? We used a good EA and paid a good rate as we didn't want to get involved in the sale our property too much.
Am I allowed to refuse this as I am worried it will open a can of worms??? We would just like to get on with the Exchange now!

OP posts:

BasiliskStare · 01/03/2019 18:12

Sorry meant @windingstreams - rubbish keyboard

FrozenMargarita17 · 01/03/2019 18:22

Don't do it OP. I'm sure they won't be like our buyers but they absolutely took the piss once they had our number etc - tried to manipulate us and guilt us and muck us around. It honestly was the worst. There's no need for you to meet them at all.

wowfudge · 01/03/2019 19:13

Meeting you does not oblige you to exchange numbers or email addresses.

BasiliskStare · 01/03/2019 19:27

OK so I shall only say this one more time - I wouldn't spend ££s on something I had only had a chance to look at a couple of times before I had committed to it. I may not actually ask to see the vendors but it would be nicer to know you were dealing with someone reasonable. ( And equally from the vendors' side )

And as @Wowfudge says - no obligation to exchange phone / email numbers

I am honestly astonished how many people would not meet a buyer. I did with mine - & her problem was parking - I told them the options The EA sort of knew & once I had explained - sorted it out. but they just wanted more of a feel & their two little girls went to go and look at "their" bedrooms . It was third / fourth visit prior to exchange.

Oliversmumsarmy · 02/03/2019 09:59

My question would be why they want to meet.

What difference is it going to make

What happens if you are not what they were expecting.

What happens if you were getting a divorce and couldn’t bare to be in the same room as your stbexh

I think your buyers are being very presumptuous that you are happily married (not saying you aren’t) but they are being incredibly nosey.
They are buying bricks and mortar. You are not the hired help that comes with the property.
If they don’t like you will that be a factor in whether they buy the house

wowfudge · 03/03/2019 08:38

I think you are assuming a huge amount about the buyers and their motivation for meeting the sellers. Presumptuous and incredibly nosey?? How on earth have you reached that conclusion?

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/03/2019 09:23

wowfudge

The sellers aren’t living in the house when they move in.
They will probably never see them again in their lives.
Any questions can be asked through the estate agent.
There has been no exchange of contracts so after meeting them they could just walk away.

I have bought and sold a number of properties and I have seen every trick in the book.
Maybe I am being cynical but no good can come from this meeting.

If they are buying the property they will buy it. If not meeting the sellers is going to make them walk away then they weren’t going to buy in the first place.

Only other reason I can think they want to meet the vendors is to find out how desperate they are to sell and want to judge what the reaction would be if they reduced their price at the last minute.

wowfudge · 03/03/2019 09:41

Oliversmumsarmy that is conjecture in the extreme. And if there is something they want to ask the sellers together and they don't like the answer then so be it.

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/03/2019 09:46

that is conjecture in the extreme. And if there is something they want to ask the sellers together and they don't like the answer then so be it

Exactly. No good can come of this meeting.

IndigoDream · 03/03/2019 09:52

Do you have a date set for exchanging contracts?
I'd bat their request back to the estate agent - why do they want to meet both of you? As you've said already, you're both busy etc. They won't have a good answer. As previous people have said, you don't need to explain why you aren't available (divorce, health, work, other commitments...)
If they want to see the house again, or they have questions, that's something the EA can deal with. If they just want to meet you - EA can ask why?

bevelino · 03/03/2019 09:58

@Oliversmumsarmy, I completely agree with you. The buyers want to meet OP in order to guage how desperate they are to sell. There can be no other explanation and OP should ask the buyers to direct any further enquires via the estate agent.

Windingstreams · 03/03/2019 09:59

Our sale almost fell through because of solicitor shenanigans. Estate agent was rubbish too. If we hadn’t been able to directly contact the seller (exchanged details when we met) and convince them it could all still go ahead the chain would have collapsed.

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/03/2019 10:03

Windingstreams
There is a difference between ability to contact someone and having a formal meeting

wowfudge · 03/03/2019 10:05

It's caveat emptor so any prudent buyer gets the questions they have answered. Those people who say the buyers want to guage how desperate the sellers are to sell are reading far too much into the situation.

wowfudge · 03/03/2019 10:07

Who has said it's a 'formal meeting'? For all we know the buyers asked the OP's husband something and he said he wasn't sure, his wife normally deals with that. If you want to sell then JDI.

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/03/2019 10:08

But any questions can be directed through the ea.

Caveat Emptor. How will meeting the vendors help with that.

Squickety · 03/03/2019 10:09

We had FTBs and they asked to come back a few times before exchange, to show both sets of parents, measure up, ask questions etc. No problem at all, and we had an online EA so one of us had to be there, sometimes me, sometimes DH, on one occasion we went for a walk for half an hour to let them get on with it. Bit of a PITA but we understood it was necessary for a smooth sale. However if they'd asked for a meeting with both of us present I'd have been , there really isn't any need, it's a bit odd IMO and makes me think perhaps they have a specific motive for it.

JassyRadlett · 03/03/2019 10:32

It’s the bit about wanting to meet OP specifically, along with the timing, that rings alarm bells for me.

If it was an innocuous case of wanting to know some of the more personal info about the house and the area, meeting OP’s husband (as they have already done) would have done the trick, and you’d expect that to happen much closer to when they offered.

If they’d missed some things they should be happy to meet one of the parties again to talk through, rather than demanding both.

This far through the process it sounds a bit like the double glazing salespeople who insist on seeing both spouses together because it helps with the hard sell.

Bluntness100 · 03/03/2019 11:08

Well Oliver's mummy I'm thr proof that good can come of it, as are other on this thread. So that kind of debunks your theory

Op you need to remember on mumsnet there is a range of people. From the socially isolated who dislike any interaction with new people, to thr outgoing and gregarious, and everything in between. Only you can say where on the scale you fall.

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/03/2019 11:25

But Bluntness100 are you saying you would have walked away from the sale if you couldn’t get to see the vendor

Bluntness100 · 03/03/2019 14:40

But Bluntness100 are you saying you would have walked away from the sale if you couldn’t get to see the vendor

It was the vendor wished to meet me. And no, and there is nothing to indicate the people in thr op would either.

Bluesheep8 · 04/03/2019 07:14

We sold our house to a man we never met. That suited us. We then had an offer accepted on a house (met the vendor several times and exchanged phone numbers) then found that our lender (We wanted to port our previous mortgage) refused to lend on the new house when an issue came up with the floor plans. It was an issue with the deeds that we had not been made aware of by the vendor, despite asking the right questions (They answered no to a question when the answer should have been yes, simple as that, pre offer) Anyway, we had to pull out and the vendor repeatedly contacted us to try to pleadingly rescue the sale. It all got a bit uncomfortable....

Oliversmumsarmy · 04/03/2019 09:12

Bluntness100

Completely different scenario

waterandlemonjuice · 04/03/2019 09:33

It is a business transaction. It’s irrelevant whether they like you or you like them. They either want to buy your house or they don't.

I’m completely confident meeting new people but I’d say no to this.

They can ask questions through the usual channels, i.e. the estate agent or solicitor.

another20 · 04/03/2019 09:59

Would a phone call suffice?

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