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Original poster

Coming for a viewing but house not on the market?

20 replies

Marshmon · 08/02/2021 10:04

We’ve got someone coming for a viewing this afternoon. Obviously I’m jumping the gun a bit and they might not be interested.

But they had an existing property but it’s not on the market yet. They have a mortgage in principle. What would you think?

I’m kind of assuming they are just doing the viewing to get an idea of what’s in their budget and it’s a bit of a waste of time

OP posts:

OneForTheJourney · 08/02/2021 10:39

I wouldn't have someone view my house if theirs wasn't on the market. Would'nt waste my time.

makingmyway10 · 08/02/2021 10:54

I agree with Oneforthejourney I would not have someone view my property if they were not on the market yet. We sold our house last year and had a few of these viewers, we had been clear with the agent that they were not to view but some people were not very honest! It is a waste of time as they can not proceed even if they love it!

HiPieInTheSky · 08/02/2021 10:54

I have had a family viewing my property a number of years ago before it was on the market, but the estate agent recommend them whilst he was doing the valuation, however their property was on the market otherwise I would of said no if it had not been, I like the above poster would not waste your time

They bought it the same day, and are still there,

Thatwentbadly · 08/02/2021 10:57

If they need to sell their first (some people don’t) then they I would’nt be allowing them to view.

wibblewombat · 08/02/2021 10:59

Family have just viewed & bought a house, then put their place on the market (good reasons to do this). It's how proceedable they are that you need to know.

Jobsharenightmare · 08/02/2021 11:00

I wouldn't agree to this during the pandemic for sure. I instructed my agent to make sure any viewings were immediately proceedable, which this isn't.

trilbydoll · 08/02/2021 11:01

We looked at our current house before we were on the market, we viewed on a Saturday. We offered and they accepted on the condition we sold our house in 2 weeks. The estate agents pulled out all the stops, it was listed within 48 hours and we had an open day the next Saturday which I think had about 12 viewings and 3 offers.

It's not necessarily a waste of time but it depends on the market in your area and how saleable their house is.

MaggieFS · 08/02/2021 11:02

I think it's ok to have people round of their house is on the market but not under offer, otherwise you can end up a bit chicken and egg on timings, but I wouldn't have people round who haven't even put their house on the market yet. Are they serious? Could they possibly be ready to move if you found somewhere to move to? It's a faff getting ready for a viewing so I wouldn't.

Original poster

Marshmon · 08/02/2021 11:07

We are in a position where we could hold on to our house for a few months for the right price. I suppose if they did make an offer I’d def do some more digging.

Thanks for the opinions. It’s my first time selling a house so I don’t know what’s normal or not

OP posts:

Veuvestar · 08/02/2021 11:08

No-one would ever be able to view if they had to have an offer on their house.
I’ll never understand this.
My house sold on first viewing after I’d put an offer in 2 days before. Estate agents can move quickly. They already had potential buyers lined up.

Jarstastic · 08/02/2021 11:29

A house came up early last summer which we rang up and viewed the next day.

Got back, phoned an estate agent and we priced it lower than her recommended price. She contacted people she knew and 5 viewings a few days later (before photos) and 2 of them offered.

The agents on the house we wanted put us in a bidding war with another set of buyers, then once they'd got the price up said the other buyers were 'cash buyers'.

We decided we would sell anyway and go into rented. After we exchanged, we touched base with the estate agents and the property we wanted to buy had still not exchanged. It was about 6 weeks later before the sale completed.

eurochick · 08/02/2021 11:33

We've viewed several places without our house being on the market. When it was on we had several offers in the first few days (and accepted one) but then couldn't find anything to buy. We've decided to do it the other way around while the market is quiet. Our photos are all ready to go do as soon as we see something we like it can be marketed straight away.

Original poster

Marshmon · 08/02/2021 11:42

@Veuvestar the potential issue isn’t that it’s not had an offer accepted it’s that it’s not on the market.

OP posts:

LemonTwist · 08/02/2021 11:48

We did this recently as we saw a house that really caught our eye. It has been on the market for a year.
We were very open about the fact that ours wasn't on the market yet and wanted to see if the house was worth pursuing before we went through the hassle of marketing our house as we were not looking to move otherwise.
The vendors were perfectly happy with this. The house is sitting empty so viewing during covid not so much of an issue.

BigBadVoodooHat · 08/02/2021 11:55

Wouldn't bother me at all if they weren't on the market.

We bought our current house long before we were on the market (put our previous home o the market a year after we'd moved, for various reasons) .

They may be planning to retain and rent out their existing property. They may have the finance to proceed without selling their existing property first. They may put theirs on the market if they like yours and get an offer in a day (happens with certain streets in my local area).

lovemirage · 08/02/2021 11:57

We put on offer to house before ours was on sale. We weren't in a hurry to move so decided first to find house we like. Our offer was accepted and we put ours on the market. But then sellers vendor pulled off and we had to look elsewhere. We found a new house and this time our house was already on the market.

Veuvestar · 08/02/2021 12:16

Yes, I know, mine wasn’t on the market
It can still be sold in a week.
Sometimes finding a property motivates a buyer to get theirs on the market and sold. Estate agents can spring into action and often already have buyers on their books that are ready to go.

Hazel444 · 08/02/2021 12:51

I wouldn't let them view - it's such a hassle getting your house ready for a viewing and if they are not even on the market then they are total time wasters - unless they are looking to buy a second property? You need some more info from the estate agent before you decide whether to let them view..

Chihuahuacat · 08/02/2021 12:59

Depends on the market and how unusual your house is.

When we bought ours, we weren’t really thinking about moving and a perfect house came up - we’d only have moved for that particular house.

We made an offer, got it accepted, and had an offer on ours within a week.

So they’re not necessarily time wasters, they might just love your property so much it’s made them consider a move they wouldn’t otherwise do.

(Less likely if yours is a new build and there’s others on the estate available....)

MarthaWashingtonsFeralTomcat · 08/02/2021 14:24

Snap, @Chihuahuacat

We viewed the house we are buying in mid October, by the first week in November we'd sold our current home and made an offer.

Our current home was similar - viewed it, wanted it, sold ours with the week and made an offer that same day.

Both times we were very honest that our needs were specific and that we didn't expect them to accept an offer until we'd sold ours. We also asked to be kept informed and marketed our existing homes at the lower end of valuations and accepted the first reasonable, proceedable offer.

It totally depends on them, their circumstances and motivations, their finances and how happy they are to "lose out" on cash on their sale in order to secure the home they want. We've been very motivated and very able to move quickly (literally threw all our clutter away within minutes of getting home from the viewing each time, booked a valuation on ours within hours and at that valuation, signed papers instructed our local agent to start marketing before photos were taken).

It works for us.

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