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Original poster

Vendor is refusing us a second viewing

84 replies

Elasticatedwaist · 25/01/2022 16:09

Nearly ready to exchange on a house that is being sold by a man on behalf of his elderly mother who is now in a care home, so has been empty the whole time.
We initially asked him if we could go in a few days before moving day to clean it as there’s mould due to being empty for ages but he refused.
We’ve asked to view again before the exchange of contracts and the estate agent has said that he won’t allow any more viewings. We’ve been in it once for 10 minutes . Wtf ?

OP posts:
StarbucksSmarterSister · 26/01/2022 22:21

Blossomtoes I last bought in 2007. Yes, many people had second viewings, but it wasn't a thing to do it immediately prior to exchange, at least not for anyone I know.

Thirtytimesround · 26/01/2022 22:26

It isn’t a second vieing, you’re asking to clean ienuse chemicals in a property you don’t yet own and haven’t exchanged on.

By all means insist on a second viewing but if I was th seller no way would I let people start making changes, even cleaning, to the property, in case they cause accidental damage then refuse to buy it.

AssemblySquare · 26/01/2022 22:49

@Mrbob why poor vendors?? I let our buyers do the same! It’s the biggest purchase a person does - there’s no way I’d spend that kind of money after 1 viewing and nor would I expect my buyers to either!

If I was refused a viewing at any point in the process I’d be immediately suspicious and would probably pull out.

scoobydoo1971 · 26/01/2022 23:13

However you proceed from here, my advice is to park your car near the property on a few occasions...night, day, weekends. If there are neighbours from hell lurking, it is better to avert disaster now by observing the area. I sold a house from hell once, and prayed the buyers would turn up when the neighbours on one side were out. I had to bribe the neighbour on the other side to say positive stuff about the property in front of the buyers. I was desperate to get rid of the house, as the neighbours were awful.

BlissfullyIgnorant · 27/01/2022 00:10

When I sold my last house, the agent hosted the initial viewings while I took the dogs walkies. This was during lockdown. They also hosted a second viewing for the people who were very determined to buy my house. Once I accepted the offer things ran very smoothly because I did my best to help things along. As we drew nearer to exchanging, the agent asked if I would be happy to take the buyers round myself and answer any questions they had. He said it was his policy to encourage a good relationship between vendor and buyer. This was great for us as we could discuss any furniture the buyers might want and I even gave them a list of window sizes for the windows I was keeping curtains from. The place I was buying wasn't quite so good. The vendor seemed obstructive and when something was red flagged on the survey, their solicitor was shockingly bad. In the end, the vendor's solicitor was sidestepped by the agent and he managed to get the vendor to claim in the house insurance to get the problem fixed.
Sometimes, it isn't always as cut and dried as it should be, but certainly my sale was much better than my purchase

BurgerOnTheOrientExpress · 27/01/2022 09:38

Tell the agent that the bank require an internal and external survey, line up a friend with a tape measure and clip board, then accompany the 'surveyor'.

Namechangeforthis88 · 27/01/2022 09:42

In Scotland solicitors firmly advise no second viewings until the equivalent of exchange of contracts, it's in case they are indeed looking for an excuse to drop the price.

Intheopinionofourexpert · 27/01/2022 09:53

@onedayoranother

It's not new at all. When I stared buying in the 80s it was standard - you did a pre exchange viewing for all the reasons mentioned above. From exchange you are insuring it and basically agreeing to buy it in the present condition bar any formal agreements in case of repair. And 'swept clean' is open to wide interpretation- some sellers clean it some don't. You'll just have to do a proper clean once you get the keys., I'd insist on another viewing.
It didn't wasn't 'standard' in the 80s. I bought and sold 4 times in the 80s in different parts of the country and it was never suggested by any of the estate agents or solicitors.
Intheopinionofourexpert · 27/01/2022 09:54

definitely not didn't

Original poster
Elasticatedwaist · 27/01/2022 13:30

I have our buyer coming to view on Sunday. I’m more than happy to let her view for as long as she needs. This will ( hopefully) be her house soon and I see no reason why not.

Im upset that our vendor is being (seemingly) spiteful, I would have liked to have had a good relationship. When I asked the estate agent what his reason is for refusing she told us that she thinks he’s just sick of requests and said ‘ they can view it when they’ve bought it’
I don’t think our requests have been unreasonable at all. The first was that he get the house cleared. It’s full of furniture, pots still in the sink, clothes and medicines everywhere and he was intending to leave it all apparently. Then we asked that he either have the mould cleaned or let us do it. We took it on the chin when he refused that but I really don’t know what to do about his refusal to let us view before exchange.

My feeling is that he isn’t hiding anything, he’s just being obtuse . I feel that it would be stupid to just risk it and I should insist but on the other hand I really can’t lose this and I’m worried he might refuse to sell if we push it.
It’s unlikely we would find another house at the right price in this area.

At the moment the estate agent is waiting for us to get back to her 😵‍💫

OP posts:
Blossomtoes · 27/01/2022 13:42

It’s unlikely we would find another house at the right price in this area.

Then he’s got you over a barrel. It sounds like a doer upper anyway, how much worse could it be than when you first saw it?

cloudyrain · 27/01/2022 13:47

Are you sure he has cleared the house?

Original poster
Elasticatedwaist · 27/01/2022 16:06

It is a doer upper for sure. We’re on quite a small budget though so if the roofs fell in we’re buggered.
Spoken to our solicitor. She says he has a legal obligation to let us view again. Still , same dilemma. Suck it up or insist ?

OP posts:
SiennaSienna · 27/01/2022 16:10

Insist for sure. It's one of the biggest purchases you make so of course you need to be confident in your decision.

Blossomtoes · 27/01/2022 16:14

@Elasticatedwaist

It is a doer upper for sure. We’re on quite a small budget though so if the roofs fell in we’re buggered. Spoken to our solicitor. She says he has a legal obligation to let us view again. Still , same dilemma. Suck it up or insist ?
Sorry - I’m horribly invested in this thread! - but your solicitor isn’t telling you the truth. There’s no legal obligation - there can’t be given how many of us haven’t done it . It may be that the lender requests it.
Original poster
Elasticatedwaist · 27/01/2022 16:25

Yeah I thought that didn’t sound right.
It was dh who spoke to them.
Dh is nearly blowing a gasket. We’ve lived in the same house for 28 years, I don’t think he anticipated that moving could be this stressful.
We’ve packed a ton of stuff up. We’re ready to take on the challenge of the mould and the doing up of the place. It’s a massive deal for us So frustrating and unnecessary. Unless of course the ceiling has indeed fallen in…

OP posts:
Original poster
Elasticatedwaist · 27/01/2022 16:28

We have the vendors address and they aren’t moving. So, he probably is just being an arse rather than having us over with something.

OP posts:
CheeseCakeSunflowers · 27/01/2022 16:32

If the house is empty could you call round and have a peer through the windows. You wouldn't be able to see it all but at least it might give you an idea if he has cleared it or not.

Original poster
Elasticatedwaist · 27/01/2022 16:35

He hasn’t cleared it. He said he wants a
Week after exchange of contracts to do it and not before.

OP posts:
EmmaH2022 · 27/01/2022 16:35

OP when is exchange due?

EmmaH2022 · 27/01/2022 16:36

@EmmaH2022

OP when is exchange due?
X post I guess he doesn't want the effort before exchange but no excuse for not letting you view again
gogohm · 27/01/2022 16:41

Your solicitor needs to raise with his solicitor that the house needs to be left clean, you need to protect yourselves

Frauhubert · 27/01/2022 17:46

I have had this. Seller refused us permission to come and mesure up 10 days before completing despite them moving out a few weeks before. The estate agent also had keys so the sellers didn't have to do anything. It turned out they didn't want us to come in, as we might have realised there were very noisy neighbours living next door which we wouldn't had heard at 10am when we were originally viewing the house. Had we been allowed in, we would have come in the afternoon and heard all the noise and we might have pulled out at that point still. Be very careful, as the reason for him refusing might be sinister.

Santahasjoinedww · 27/01/2022 18:07

Go round one evening.. The nd may be out in their the sex pond /dc smoking weed in nd gardens /ddog fighting across the st.
You get the picture?
Turn Marple imo.
May save you a lot of money.

Bobholll · 27/01/2022 19:53

Are you local-ish? Deffo go snooping. Go at different times of the day. Even go look through windows! If anyone spots you & says anything to the vendor, just retaliate it was the best you could do if he wouldn’t allow you in!

Sounds like he’s being an arse but you never know..