Buyers want access to measure up

[CantStartaFireWithoutaSpark]

Hi there, I’m not sure what is acceptable when it comes to selling our property.

We have sale agreed and are going through the legal aspects of the sale.

2 things that have come up:

• the buyer wanted our email to contact us directly if they have any questions
• the buyer wants access “for a couple of hours” to measure up and show it off to their families.

My partner doesn’t mind this. But I do. They have have had 2 viewings, one of which was after the sale agreed.

They have DP’s email and did ask him directly a 2nd time to see the property the week we are packing up. Even though we said no to the agent already.They want the couple of hours the week we are packing up, and also juggling WFH.

We are moving out and the property and it will be left vacant for maybe 2 months.
DP suggested we give them access after we leave, but I don’t want them knowing it’s vacant. Am I being unfair? Does anyone have any experience?

Note we are not nearby once we leave, so we can only rely on agent to manage access.

any advice? Is it ok to let them in? Am I being mean saying no?

But they aren't really. Room sizes are, but not alcoves or window heights or placement of radiators, power sockets and tv points, all of which affect furniture placement.

I think you are being overly concerned. I wouldn’t let them bring family but fair enough they want to measure up for an hour.

I totally agree with @MmedeGouge and @MarthanotMarfa and would approach this with caution.
We sold our flat in spring and the buyer wanted our numbers and wanted tons of viewings to measure up. For me it’s a firm no. We were also house hunting and if you need to measure up for furniture that’s tough - you do it once you get the keys and own the house or have exchanged contracts, not prior.

We only agreed to viewings once we’d vacated and just before exchange (mistake from my part as I thought we’d exchanged). CF immediately tried to get money off as mortgage rates had gone up and other things in the flat weren’t as he remembered. Of course the place looked completely different without our furniture and decor! We pushed back hard against any money off, and luckily the purchase went ahead, but this did delay us a month which was annoying and stressful at the time.

Bear in mind that all this talk of house prices going down will spook buyers that have made offers, so even more chance of cheeky buyers trying to get money off, than in previous years when OPs may have been happier to have the buyers pop round to measure up.

ohhhh this is a fun game to play: what could complete strangers do, without any legal contracts in place do in a completely vacant unsupervised home?

Our house was vacant when we purchased it and we were allowed to come here a few times before completion to measure up and yes I brought my mum over to have a look.
Our buyers came to our house whilst we were still living there to take measurements etc . It never entered my head that it was a problem.
House buying is the biggest purchase for most people and you want to get it right.

I wouldn’t mind measuring up. I would mind showing off.

I had a second viewing after my offer was accepted on my first flat, which was super helpful as the vendors went through things like the boiler and stuff.

When we bought our current house, we had a standard viewing (as in, one of several people, had about 15 minutes in) and made an offer immediately after. We then asked for a second viewing once the offer was accepted to have a proper more detailed look - which was agreed and off the back of that we commissioned an electrical survey. Then after we had exchanged, we asked if we could measure up for curtains/furniture - which the vendors agreed to. Only took about 20 minutes and made our lives a lot easier.

Be careful about direct email access. I got a lot of pestering about things like dates to exchange when I did that with our buyers and ended up having to get everything to go via the estate agent.

Don’t do it @CantStartaFireWithoutaSpark !!

We once let buyers have access to measure up after we had moved out (house was vacant as we were moving into rented down the road during the sale) and it was a right headache.

They complained:

• floors weren’t vacuumed
• bins outside were full
• we’d left boxes in the house
• oven wasn’t cleaned
• picture hooks left in walls
• our mail was on doorstep
• furniture still in garden
• bathrooms weren’t cleaned
• and more!

WE STILL OWNED THE BLOODY HOUSE!! We hadn’t even got an exchange date at this stage so we were still storing bits there and obviously hadn’t cleaned it yet.

It was like as soon as they got access they basically acted like they owned it already making demands like us getting professional cleaners in, professional painters, redecorating to their tastes etc. Utterly bizarre. As a PP said, the house looks so different without furniture in it!

I get that it's your house until you exchange, but I really don't understand why people aren't prepared to be a little convenienced by letting people get what they need from a new property. It's unkind, actually. It's not just a business transaction really.
If I was your buyer I'd also want to know how long the property is sitting vacant. It should be properly insured especially over winter, there are minimum temperatures for the boiler and maximum time unoccupied rules for insurance, please do note this. I really hope you've told the buyers it'll be unoccupied for months.
I agree with other posters that you sound slightly angry with the people buying your house. In this instance, if I had a bad vibe, I wouldn't be giving direct contact details. All communications through agents and Solicitors.

It's very much becoming a buyers market atm. I would pull put if the vendors were not accommodating. You want to sell, so you now depend on your buyers. They are your customers. If they no longer like what you are offering, or they get a 'bad feeling', they can pull out. A house thar comes back onto the market is always tarnished and is less likely to sell at the same price.i would just try and make them happy, within reason.

'Sellers market'!! No edit button on Mn

We measured up in our new house, but not until after we had exchanged. Pointless otherwise as you can’t buy anything.

I’d avoid email contact if possible.

For the visit, 2 hours is excessive. I’d say an hour max for measuring for carpets, kitchen units, letting mum ooh and ahh over the view. They may very well want to order appliances etc now, seeing as lead times can be several weeks. I’m dreading living in our new place for a month without a fridge and washer.

I personally am asking for a final inspection before exchange. This is actually pretty common advice for buyers, as it’s often a long period between offer and completion. A lot of damage can happen in five months (as it has been for my sale). I also intend to ask if we can send in professional cleaners between exchange and completion for an end-of-tenancy clean at our own expense. We have to move in on completion day and the current occupier has been there for 20 years. It’s going to be dusty.

I expect our sellers will say no, because they have been petty arseholes throughout the entire process (their own agent even thinks they’ve been unreasonable). I’m not going to use it as an excuse to knock money off, but I want to deter any shenanigans.

@MillennialFalconer goodness that sounds stressful.

I never realised that people would knock value off later in the process. I’m hoping that the approach we have taken, we are in no rush to sell and if we don’t get what we want we will just rent it, they became very keen and almost begged us to take it off the market!

So what is the rule of thumb with cleaning as the seller. Our house is cleaned every week professionally.
is kept in very very good condition throughout.
we will leave it clean, Hoovered, clean oven, nothing unpleasant at all. But do we need to leave it pristine and pay for a deep clean or who does that?

@CantStartaFireWithoutaSpark we are in the process of selling our family home at the moment and will be doing our own clean. I hope that the vendors we are buying from will leave everywhere clean and tidy. I would expect a professional deep clean but it would be nice if we don’t find grease and grime everywhere.
i have already started emptying cupboards to give them a thorough clean and on the tops of the kitchen cupboards. Will clean oven myself but it’s only a few months old anyway.

i would consider a professional clean if it was an ex rental but it’s a family home that’s been loved and lived in. It’s not a perfect new house but I will make sure it’s clean.

a few years ago my cousin bought a house and I helped her move in. I think it was a probate house and apparently they had paid for a professional clean. It was utterly filthy with black greasy grime all over the kitchen units 🤢

Meant to say I wouldn’t expect a professional deep clean

Nooooo. We made this mistake once, they wouldn’t leave us alone before eventually pulling out because they couldn’t raise the financing.

My solicitor advised me to view the property again, shortly before exchange. The vendors weren’t that keen, but agreed. The property was in a worse state than I remembered, as the vendors had done little or nothing to maintain it over the past few months.

That said, it would have been difficult to re-negotiate the price at that point (no one would have wanted to get a new mortgage offer based on a revised sale price), so I just had to let it go.

To clarify, my purchase took over a year, due to the vendors and me ending up in the chain from hell.

@CantStartaFireWithoutaSpark If you're having cleaners in as a matter of course, then it's probably way more than a lot of people do. In reality I wouldn't expect the sellers to do a professional end-of-tenancy clean or anything, just not leave the place gross with piles of rubbish and broken furniture everywhere (like the seller of my current place did).

Measure up, yes. Family show off, no.

We had exactly the same with our buyers 2 years ago - then the cheeky fuckery started with wanting to send new furniture to our house. Nope. Wanting us to accept delivery of a shed. Nope. Wanted us to get prices on demolishing of a garage 😂

They had DHs number and were a nightmare post sale - as they didn’t have a full survey kept claiming we’d hidden things from them. We hadn’t. I did warn DH not to be nice.

@AssumingDirectControl

its not pointless, you can still
order somethings, which you're able to cancel or change after exchange.

OR maybe people want to sell their existing furniture if it doesn't fit.

lots of reasons

I wouldn't expect a professional deep clean - it's not like leaving a tenancy.

We did pay for one last year but we moved out before it sold so we're still having viewings and didn't want potential buyers to be put off by lots of dust etc (which is inevitable once you move furniture!).

Remove all rubbish and possessions including sheds, lofts etc. Don't leave anything unpleasant to find eg clean the loo before going. Don't leave nasty sticky mess in the kitchen.

But why would you sell your furniture if the sale could still fall through, that would be bonkers!

This. I don't want to get there on moving day to find out that in the past 5 months since I last viewed the property (at a 10 minute viewing) that something extreme has happened and caused a lot of damage.

I used to work as a conveyancer and we always advised our buyer clients to view the property just before exchange to ensure they were still happy and there were no changes since their last viewing. It always worried the buyers if the sellers refused or appeared reluctant as it looked as though there was something to hide.

From a personal point of view, some buyers are just WAY too much and would visit every week if you’d let them. I’d probably allow this visit to keep on good terms (and give them a bit of a break, they are excited, love your house and want to show it off - it’s not a big deal) but then email the agents and explain that due to work/family commitments you will not be able to accommodate any further viewings until just before exchange of contracts.