Viewings today - no one is on the market!

[Tiger2018]

Hey everyone I'm totally pissed off today - went on the market on Friday and had 2 viewings through for today. All great! Both of them confirmed at the viewing though that they have houses to sell (fine) but aren't on the market yet?!?!

Has anyone else had this? I'm definitely going to ask future viewers for more details of their position before arranging viewings as it just feels like a royal waste of time otherwise. I'm using Strike estate agents so will speak to them too tomorrow to see what they recommend I can ask before agreeing in future.

When we sold with strike it tells you on the app when they request a viewing what status they are, e.g first time buyers, house sold etc. obviously people can lie on that but it helps to narrow it down, you can also send them a message and ask if they haven’t put anything for that option and refuse the viewing if they’ve not sold/not on the market.

We also had an offer on our house that we accepted from a cash buyer, 2 weeks later it turned out that cash was tied up in investments and they couldn’t provide proof that they had the money. People will say anything!

Is there a reason why you decided to use Strike? It can put off a lot of potential buyers as many are wary of using online agents.

Traditional EA would vet all potential buyers and can be worth their weight in gold when keeping chains together and keeping the sale on track.

Unless you’re in a very in demand area with an easy to sell house, why are you using Strike? Two viewings on open weekend isn’t brilliant from people who aren’t proceedable. As a buyer, I would wonder what else you went cheap on.

I wouldn’t automatically discount those who are still to market. When we were looking last year we knew that we ONLY wanted to move for the right house. If we had found it then we would have immediately marketed ours for significantly less than valuation for a quick sale, because it would have been worth it for us.

I’ll definitely be messaging before confirming viewings in future!

That’s terrible! I hope you sold it in the end

If you’d used a traditional estate agent that would have been much less likely to happen.

I’m using them for two reasons. First is they have been good all the way through where as the local agent just didn’t seem to care. I really value good customer service.

also I don’t believe the commission is warranted for what traditional agents charge.

It is a desirable location and I was chuffed with 2 viewings after being on the market for less than 48 hours. My house does need a little work which I’m not hiding in my pictures or description either.

I regret to say that everybody who I’m aware of who has used an online agent including ourselves has regretted it. It appears to happen in a few clear steps. People are convinced at the outset that the low cost and the very approachable and friendly behaviour right at the outset is enough of a hook to get them in and commit their small amount of money. What people miss and what we ourselves missed was that online estate agents have neither the network nor the manpower and human resources and most definitely not the incentive to actually sell your property. Once your advert is online they do not care what the property actually sells because there is no incentive for them. Often they are nothing more than a CallCenter and a one person sure really and not a historically established estate agent with very very wide networks of buyers and lists of buyers that are one person sure just does not have. Long story short we two did this and like you to veto were very convinced that it was the right thing to do last year when we used an online agent.

A couple of months later with very similar issues to yours and no progress we realised what foods we had been and then spent more money listing with a High Street agent who got our house sold through their networks within a month and lesson has been learned forever.

It is a desirable location and I was chuffed with 2 viewings after being on the market for less than 48 hours.

Obviously I can't comment on your area, but 2 viewings from people who aren't proceedable doesn't sound great. My friend lives in a desirable location, they had an asking price offer before going on the market and 20+ viewings in the first week. In many areas EA have lists of potential buyers who are desperate to buy and will pay over the asking price to secure a property.

This.
We dropped our buyer after we lost patience with their online estate agent

I’d disagree with this.

I used Purple Bricks and the allocated agent was brilliant. I chose them because I resent paying the commission when my local EAs do absolutely nothing to sell the house or proceed sales. I also knew that I wanted to be the one to show potential buyers round as I believe I’m the best person to sell my house.

I sold it immediately, although that fell through because I hadn’t found. Then I sold it again more or less immediately.

In contrast, the EA for the people I was buying from was an absolute pile of shite. If I’d been paying for that I’d have complained.

I would not view a house via Strike

And having had 18 viewings booked in less than 12 hours, I don’t think what you’re saying about 2 in 48 hours (who haven’t been vetted) is anything to write home about. Frankly I think it’s poor if you say it’s a desirable area!

2 viewings in a desirable area doesn't sound very positive. You need to look at your EA and see exactly what they are promoting and advising potential buyers, and see if they are doing enough to promote your property.

Friends recently sold their home, desirable area. The first weekend they had two full days of viewings and everyone was already on the market, with most being ready to proceed having already sold or being cash buyers. So 2 seems very low as they had loads. Literally two full days one after another.

Two viewings in a desirable area is crap.

You absolutely need to vet people before they view and don’t stop viewings until you have seen proof of funds/mortgage in principle to prove they are proceedable if they do put in an offer.

I’ve found Strike annoying as a buyer. It takes longer to confirm viewings as they have to go back to the owner, who actually conducts them. We lost out on a house because the owner stopped doing viewings after having an un-evidenced offer. Lo and behold that fell apart but it took over two weeks for them to work out the buyer was hopeless, by which point we’d had an offer accepted elsewhere.

It takes longer to confirm viewings as they have to go back to the owner, who actually conducts them.

Traditional EAs have to do this too though. I actually found it better as you can liaise direct with the viewer. I always confirmed viewings straight away - much quicker than waiting for a third party to ok it.

I am sitting in the house I viewed last year when I wasn’t on the market!

I viewed this house, quickly painted mine, put it on the market the next week and three months later I moved in here😊😊.

I'm inclined to agree. 2 viewings is pretty poor.

We have been on the market for 10 days and have had, to date, about 60 people requesting viewings. 20 of those were on day 1. Obviously not all of them were procedable so were refused, but we had 20 viewings yesterday (6 offers) and we've accepted an offer. There are still people requesting viewings now.

We went with Purple Bricks and tbh, they really sold themselves at the valuation, made lots of promises and it all sounded promising. We also didn't think the usual £2-3k estate agent fees were worth it but they've been pretty poor in all honesty, we're not happy with the level of communication and later found out that they were badgering our buyer to increase their offer (we sold to someone we know so negotiated and accepted the offer ourselves - bit annoying we could have saved ourselves the fees by selling privately!)

We are in the process of viewing and haven't put ours on the market yet. We are looking for the right house and don't want to be rushed into choosing one because our house has sold so I see absolutely nothing wrong with it

We asked to view a house before we had put our own on the market. They cancelled our viewing at short notice; I wondered if it was because, like you, they didn’t take us seriously.
Shortly after, we found a house we wanted and marketed and sold our own within a week. We are now in a complete chain but the original house is still for sale and has in fact been reduced.

I would take every viewing seriously for your best chance to sell. Good luck!

I think it depends on the area/market. Round my way the high street EAs pre confirm the slots when viewings are available and you work around that. Everything goes so quickly that vendors aren’t going to hang around for a buyer who wants to view at a time of their choosing.

If the house is right for them, you can get your house on the market and sold quickly (especially at the moment) I definitely wouldn’t turn viewings down from someone not yet ‘on the market.

I have been to three viewings, I'm not on the market yet. There's f'all coming on the market here & I don't want to agree to a sale on mine then let my buyers down. Mine will sell very quickly if I decide to sell it. The local agents have people who want to buy one of them as soon as they become available. It's very silly to turn away people from viewing it.

2 viewings in 48 hours, in this market, is pathetic - your 'agents' at rubbish, you need a rethink!