Would you let your buyer come round to measure up for furniture in lockdown?

[SheWouldNever]

Our buyer wants to purchase new bedroom furniture and didn’t take measurements on their second viewing so have asked to pop in and do it now.

We aren’t at point of exchange yet, our onward purchase might not even pan out if the results of the structural report we just had done aren’t favourable. Not to mention I have three children doing home learning, and boxes absolutely everywhere as we sort through the contents of our loft and sort things for charity / Ebay. It’s not great timing.

They don’t want us to provide measurements, they want to do it themselves in case our measurements are wrong. When we’ve moved in the past I’ve always just ordered furniture etc once in the house, I never expect to move into a ready made house with ready made furniture.

I can’t tell if I’m just being a stressed grump and maybe it’s a reasonable request at this stage in a sale? Would you say yes to this request in the current circumstances? Also what if they buy new furniture only for our onward purchase to fall through? We’ve kept the estate agent fully up to date with what’s happening with our purchase property, but I have a feeling they are portraying a more positive / less realistic version to our buyers judging from several communications we’ve had recently.

I wouldn't say this was particularly reasonable, no. In the last lockdown, even viewings weren't possible.

I'd ask your agent to feed back that it's not possible at the moment, with lockdown and three kids at home. You are happy to provide measurements.

i'd make them wait until you have your exchange/onward purchase sorted tbh.

Would I personally if I was selling? Yes. Simply because I find a good relationship makes the whole process go that bit better.

If I were buying, would I think it unreasonable if the seller refused? No. But if they also didn’t offer to take measurements and send them over then I’d probably begin to wonder / guess that, as in your case, they were potentially going to terminate the sale.

We let our buyers do this a few years ago. We saw it as a good sign and really didn't mind.

Saying that, they ended up pulling out of ours a few days before completion so jokes on them.

If a buyer asked again in the future, I genuinely wouldn't mind if they were polite and it didn't inconvenience me.

No. We had buyers wanting to pop round ‘to measure up’ and obligingly we said yes. Turned out they just wanted to look round for (spurious) reasons to reduce their offer.

Your buyers have measurements from the floor plan - if they’re ordering built-in furniture where measurements need to be exact, it’s not unreasonable to wait till they’ve moved in.

No, but I'd be very helpful with giving measurements and videos as much as they needed.

@Justbetweenus Hmmm see this possibility of looking for last min things to ask for money off worries me as our buyers haven’t bothered with a survey on our 1920s house, which surprised me, as even though we extensively renovated quite recently, it’s still an old property and we didn’t update much on the exterior. We can’t reduce the price any further so the sale would be off if that is what they are hoping to do. Can a sale price be negotiated after exchange? If not, maybe after exchange is the best time for them to come over and measure up.

No but Im grumpy right now... ask me again tomorrow 🤣

We did let our buyers do this, but they only asked after exchange. Wouldn't have let then before exchange.

@BlueThistles Haha that was my feeling when I read the email tonight. Will sleep on it and reply tomorrow. Part of the issue is from past experience I know they will only be able to come at a time that is the most inconvenient for us as a family. For the last viewing I gave so many options, literally any time except 6pm weekdays. Guess when the only time they could possibly come was?

Yes.

I wouldn't believe the bedroom furniture story. Especially if you're nowhere near exchanging. They can wait til after exchange (obviously communicate this nicely!). But weird about no survey. And the 6pm thing. Are they testing you to see how far you'll accommodate them, testing the waters for a late price drop? (Warning: I may be over suspicious at the moment)

@Candleabra I wouldn’t say we are nowhere near exchanging, it could well happen this month if all goes well with the structural report on our purchase. I just think our EA hasn’t been giving them the full picture of where we are with our onward purchase, judging by the fact that the EA has encouraged our buyers to vacate their property before exchange (due to pressure from their cash buyer) and from the fact that last week our buyers asked we could exchange mid February which is completely impossible due to factors the EA has known since the very beginning. March is most likely for exchange, but buyers still seem v optimistic for Feb.

The 6pm thing - they don’t have kids, and they are probably just thinking 6pm is easiest as it’s after work hours. I don’t mind being accommodating IF it works for us, too. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of it is down to the EA, they have been truly rubbish with communication. But I know what you mean, I tend to always think suspiciously, too. If they do try a late price drop, the sale will be off. Pretty sure our ‘difficult sale’ chain free purchase property will be happy to wait for us to find another buyer.

I wouldn't let them. Covid or not.

I think "not yet" is probably the best answer to give.

That's absolutely ridiculous request!!!
YANBU to say no at all.
Is he bonkers or does he have some magic measuring tape?

No they can not renegotiate the price after exchange. Personally I'd have them exchange early and have a longer completion. But no I'd say wait until exchange unless they are willing to come at your convenience and only do the measuring in that one room.

Whenever we've asked to do this, we've always got a no. We would have been happy with someone else measuring so I wonder if its an excuse and having second thoughts / looking to drop price but it could just be someone fussy with measurements. If its really just for measurements then after exchange should be fine.

I think just say “not right now with the current situation” this gives you time to iron out your onward and calls their bluff a bit.

I’d accommodate this. They’ve only been twice before - that’s not excessive. But it wouldn’t be unreasonable to be assertive about a convenient time.

well, maybe they felt the exchange is near and wish to check the property before committing.

I would be very wary if you refused to accommodate the request.