Refused a viewing!

[ShellieEllie]

Do you think it's reasonable that a friend was refused a viewing of property as the agent didn't have any slots left to see it. They were told they would be called back if it didn't sell after scheduled viewings had occured if there was no offer. As a seller I would be outraged that people were turned away from viewing. Friend is a FTB with a good deposit and mortgage arranged BTW.

What else is the agent supposed to do?

As a seller I would be very annoyed - even if no slots on that day there are other days

What was the agent meant to do? I am guessing they were only allocated a certain amount of time for the viewings by the sellers.

If the viewing slots were all filled what do you think they could have done? They agents obviously believe the property will sell quickly. If it doesn't then there will be more viewings and your friend will see it.

It is also possible the vendors want to minimise disruption and only agreed to certain number of viewings initially.

What else is the agent supposed to do?

Do their job? Show the house to interested parties and get the highest price possible for the seller.

I’d be fuming if I couldn’t have a viewing as well as being the seller.

If there are no slots then there are no slots. Presumably, if she wasn’t then called, an offer was put on anyway so even if she had booked it may have been cancelled.

All our viewings were cancelled as the first to view put an offer in.

But if the vendor is happy to accept an early offer so as not to have to show the house any more what can the EA do about that? It is up to the vendor not the EA.

This is viewing houses in the time of Covid im afraid The sellers are probably happy that the EAs have a system in place that doesn't involve dozens of potentially infected strangers traipsing through their house per day. As per the agents instructions, if the house isn't sold after the first round of viewings your friend will be contacted and offered a slot for the next round.

It’s a busy market, they are no doubt rushed off their feet. Was it today they couldn’t see it?

I’m genuinely suprised that agents charging thousands of pounds needn’t bother beyond a handful of viewings.

To answer the question: in case of houses which get tons of interest, there will often be an ‘open day’. The agent stands at the door to greet people and answer questions. Interested parties are booked much closer together than usual, eg every 10 mins so there’s more than one set of buyers in at a time.

Not with Covid situation JoJo

Depends whether seller said they wanted all viewings done in 1 day which is why agent said that.

In normal times agent should tell the seller there are outstanding viewings.
If I were selling and didn’t get offer I was happy with I’d be upset at lost viewings.
Understandable at the moment though.

This happens loads - our EA have been really open about the fact that they're booked up a week ahead. We've done a few ourselves where the EA has phoned us and said they can't fit a viewing in, would we do it. But unfortunately otherwise they've got to wait and hope it doesn't sell in the mean time!

@ThroughThickAndThin01

I have been to several open days in the last few weeks. Agents just make sure that buyers are wearing masks, disinfect on entry or even wear gloves.

That’s not happening around here, just one viewer in at a time.

Ridiculous, they should arrange further slots!

@okiedokieme it is very likely the vendors agreed to the number of slots and don't want any more arranged at that point. The EA has to work on the wishes of the vendors not the viewers.

It probably won’t be the vendor blocking the viewings. Agents are supposed to accompany all viewings right now and the limited number of people they have working for them means there are only so many slots. I don’t agree with it, though. Maybe they could have a viewing day where (say) 10 lots of people come and if no offer within a few days of that, another viewing day could happen?
We are trying to move at the moment and it’s very frustrating. I can tell you, however, we would happily get the house ready and vacate it for any number of potential buyers and know our agents would oblige

Your friend should push a note through the door of the house she would like to buy asking if she can view.

It’s unreasonable to be outraged that an estate agents diary gets booked up. They only have so many hours in the day! If they can’t fit the viewing in because they are fully booked I’m not sure what else they can possibly do other than inform the seller and give them the opportunity to show the buyer themselves.

We're looking to move in the next 12 months or so having not moved for 20 odd years and it does seem very different now.

I can look online and get a very good idea about a place form the floor plans, photos, streetview, find out crime information, transport options, flood risks and even broadband speed without even stepping through the front door.

I would have thought that people actually booking and viewing a property have a good idea that it ticks the right boxes for them before they even call the agent so I don't imagine a house seller has to have many viewings before there is an offer. You will always get time-wasters but I would have thought there would be fewer of them in a pandemic.

If the agent already has lots of viewing on a property then it's not too surprising they tell other interested parties that they won't book them in until the current viewers have seen the place, that is more honest than making an appointment then cancelling it when the house has been sold.

The property is currently empty so I doubt it was down to vendors wanting viewing in one day. Personally I think it was well underpriced and that generated more interest than the agents could cope with.