Ridiculous or amusing feedback

[Gyptian]

We lost our buyers recently so the house is back on the market and viewings have taken place since last Monday. We’ve not received any offers yet disappointingly, although most people have said they liked the house. Just looking at the feedback we’ve received, I think the most amusing so far is that they didn’t like it because it had steep stairs and so they don’t want a terraced house -newsflash-it’s a terraced house! The most frustrating feedback received is that they want to offer but wish to see what will happen to the property market first.

Anyone got any amusing/ridiculous feedback stories to cheer me up?

We had feedback that they didn’t like the plants in the back garden! Obviously weren’t bright enough to know you can pull up plants. Even the agent laughed at that one.

Our first property was a 1 bed flat, with an open plan living room kitchen and self contained stairway/entrance.

This was all explained in the property particulars along with pictures, floor plans and sizes.

The amount of people who said there werent enough bedrooms or it was too small was just so bloody frustrating.

It was a really popular location as on the same road as a very popular mosque so we had loads of viewings but many of them were families with 2 or 3 kids and it was just such a waste of our time.

Similar situation - mid terrace, yard and on street parking. Most feedback - third bedroom not big enough, wanted a garden, parking is an issue. All of these clearly obvious online, think our estate agent was sending us people looking for 3 bed semis. Switched agents and had an offer within 10 days. Was on for 9 months with first agent.

We've had a few who "need a driveway"... there's clearly no driveway on the photos, nor is one mentioned in the sales particulars

@Kahiki-that’s hilarious!

@zebrapig-that’s interesting. I really hope that our estate agents are a bit more pro-active. We’ve had feedback from one person who said the bedrooms were too small and yes, the floor plan is on Right Move. Another frustrating one was that they liked the house a lot, it just didn’t have the right vibe 🤔

@Kopsy- it’s not as if you can magic up a driveway! Just checked our vendor portal for new feedback. They don’t want to offer because they didn’t like the location 🙄

On the 'x is too small' feedback I do struggle to understand dimensions, so while I know on paper that a 6x7 bedroom is too small for a double I don't know if a 9x10 bedroom is until I'm in it and can picture where the furniture would go.

I recently gave 'it's too small' feedback as I felt the ceilings were too low and the photos didn't make clear that literally all you could fit in the third bedroom was a 3/4 single bed. It was smaller than it seemed.

I don't see what the problem is? They are telling you honestly why the property won't work for them. They aren't telling you to change the stairs or unterrace the house!

We are house hunting and have been to see a whole host of properties including ones we may have discounted due to a particular feature (eg terrace) because we thought it looked nice in the photos and maybe the feature wouldn't be an issue. We've changed our wish list because of seeing lots of different properties

We've also had agents suggest a property and we've pitched up and it's just totally unsuitable. Our requirements are that we have a sea view, 3 beds and a large outdoor area. We've arrived at viewings suggested by agents to find it's a flat with a view of the back of the supermarket...

And we recently gave feedback that we didn't like the location! Went to see a house very local to us in what we thought was the perfect spot. In fact it was in a dark dank spot with no sun, was too close to the road and other houses for us. Hence feedback on location.

I recognise there's nothing you can do about it but it's just the reason why they won't be offering. Should we have just taken the house because we went to see it?! Should the feedback only be about something you can change? Should viewings only be of houses that the buyer will definitely buy?

So glad to come across this thread! We've got a 3 bed semi, small kitchen, big garden. Not long on the market. Feedback so far includes: really wanted a 4th bedroom; kitchen is too small; garden a bit too big for us ... 🤨It's made me feel sorry for EAs who have to go to the trouble of measuring for floor plans, taking photos etc that nobody takes any notice of!

If you're going to reject a house because it hasn't got something that the description and photos clearly show it hasn't got - then just stop wasting everyone's time! It makes you look stupid.

Or, as they are known in the trade, wofters.

Would you sellers be happier if the buyers said 'we don't like your grotty property'? I imagine most feel pressurised by estate agents to make a comment, so any comment will do - afterall who could argue against needing 4 bedrooms when the property only has 3?

As for terraced property stairs perhaps the OP hasn't been in enough terraced houses, some can be very steep indeed and others quite well spaced treads and risers.

I know plenty of people who have said 'we'd love 4 bedrooms but realise they are hard to come by so happy to look at 3 beds which might have additional space/bigger garden etc'. Maybe it was your house that made them realise a 3 bed wasn't going to work?

Believe me it's bloody frustrating to waste a Saturday viewing an unsuitable property. There may be the occasional hobby viewer but most people are just trying to make a decision about where to spend several hundred thousand of their pounds.

Sometimes the agent demands a response. I wouldn't be so rude as to say 'I'm not interested in your overpriced, horrible little Damp and dark house' which is what I'm thinking. I'd say 'it's not big enough'. Yes the dimensions were on the ad but who the hell knows what that truly looks or feels like?

We had one viewer recently who fed back that we had put too much furniture in the house for her taste I'd much rather hear honest feedback like it's too dark, too small, or something positive or that I could actually use to improve our chances of selling, like maybe changing the garden layout.

@VelociraptorRex " I'd much rather hear honest feedback like it's too dark, too small..."

But surely that is what an estate agent should be telling you. They of course prefer not to.

Same here @VelociraptorRex. I think if buyers were put off by something that was potentially fixable, I want to know about it, so I can do something about it.

I do acknowledge however that it’s sometimes difficult to tell from floor plans whether a room is big enough and that you have to visit it to see how it feels. I’m just a bit grumpy today after seeing a perfect house that we couldn’t offer on and also finding the cleaning of the house and viewings quite stressful to combine with working from home, childcare and home schooling. 🙁

I think it’s fine to say you don’t want w terraced house because you might not know that for sure until you actually visit one. Stairs too steep is the same, that’s not obvious from photos. Same as waiting for the market.

The ridiculous ones are things like I don’t like the sofa etc. Which not only do people do, I’ve actually seen it on here. Someone posts a house and someone’s says, yes I don’t like it because I hate black sofas, or the sofa is in the wrong place, . And then everyone piles in with the sellers take the sofas with them..

It’s quite unbelievable. I think some folks look at it like a furnished rental.

@Gyptian I think a house being described as not having the right vibe is fair enough. You get a feel for a house the moment you see it/walk into it. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your home though... Just not right for those buyers. Good luck with the sale. Hopefully the offers will come soon xx

We were given feedback that the third bedroom was not a bedroom, despite having a full size but single bed in it plus furniture. They would only offer on the basis that it was a two bedroom house. We rejected the offer on the basis that it was actually still a three bed house.

Do you think it's better to hear these excuses than we didn't like your house, it smelt,was dirty, we got a bad feeling?

[quote sbplanet]@VelociraptorRex " I'd much rather hear honest feedback like it's too dark, too small..."

But surely that is what an estate agent should be telling you. They of course prefer not to.[/quote]
They should tell us, but presumably they just want to keep me sweet and get their money out of it

@nubeejinnings

Do you think it's better to hear these excuses than we didn't like your house, it smelt,was dirty, we got a bad feeling?

I'd want the honesty, if it smells I'd rather know however embarrassed I might be!

We sold a 4 bedroom house with a study. The study was basically a very small room that couldn't fit a bed, so we turned it into a study.
Someone's feedback was that the study was too small. Erm, it's only a tiny part of the house and any of the four bedrooms could be turned into a study!! Very annoying.

The most common feedback was that the garden was too small (it wasn't big but in that particular area you couldn't really get houses with bigger gardens).

Our agent always tried to get feedback. It was interesting to read, but ultimately it wasn't that useful as it was never anything where we could take remedial action. Mind you, the house sold very quickly..

Sometimes people just look for an excuse to write at least something. I always worry about offending and upsetting people - it is their home after all.

House buying is sometimes emotional and intuitive, as well as logical, so it's hard to pin point what actually is off-putting or just didn't click about a place. For a lot of sellers, the feedback that "it's just not my cup of tea" is not enough though...

Must say, as much as I like to browse Rightmove, I really don't like actual serious house-searching and viewings. Finding the right home can be hard and stressful - so many variables, so much investment and so much commitment at stake. I don't like the idea of moving into "someone else's" home with their stamps imprinted all over it - if I'm spending that much money I want to feel like "this is mine".

Maybe explains why a new build was so suitable in the end... lol

I had someone come THREE times to view a house I was selling and each time they said they weren't sure as the garden faced east. I said to the agent that the garden wasn't going to magically change direction!