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?

It’s completely normal to pop in to measure up sometime after exchange and before completion, I’ve done that and also had buyers do it to me, but it should be one person for 20 mins, and after exchange. Helps with ordering slow stuff like curtains and sofas.

They can fuck off re. giving show-off tours the time for that is after they move in.

Up to you re emails, I’ve usually wanted direct communication as had bad experiences with lazy estate agents nearly causing deals to collapse, but as you have cheeky buyers you may prefer coms through estate agent.

Absolutely no to giving them your email address - this is never a good idea and all enquiries should come via the estate agent or solicitor.

But a definite yes to letting them in to measure up and get excited about their new house, if you're serious about selling you want do everything you can to encourage the sale to go through to completion!!

I think you're unreasonably irked.

Yes the wording was a couple of hours to measure and show it to family who are visiting on a specific week.

I think it’s the showing it off that has irked me.

I am guessing you are quite easily “irked”?

They are excited. Huge purchase. Opportunity to show family. They needn’t have told you they’d come with family when measuringup. But they did

No. Also why is exchange 8 weeks away and then there going to be gap where its empty for 2 months.

I would agree a short supervised visit for measuring but no showing off to family unless say a parent lives abroad and is over and definitely not until after exchange.

So we always had a leave date, regardless of sale which was before Christmas so we can get set up and settled in our new home before Christmas.

to the comments about being “irked” easily. Yes. Maybe I am. I am sad to sell it so that’s likely heightening my annoyance.
But that’s who I am!

Ok well follow your DP’s lead on this

Oh and further to my point above. Sale agreed is still maybe 3/4 weeks old, so it will likely take that long according to our solicitors to complete. Additionally the new buyers asked that it’s after Christmas, before wasn’t suitable.

I'd only say yes to the measuring after exchange. The 'showing off' they can do once they own the house. I wouldn't give them my email address.

What if they change their mind and pull out after this walk around with family who may point out things they hadn't realised needs done ?

When I was selling my house my solicitor advised me not to let the buyers in until the missives were signed. That was in Scotland, I think the process in England is different and people can pull out right uo until the end. Whereas in Scotland as far as i know, as soon as the missives are signed its a done deal and legally binding... for me this was 6 weeks or so before moving day and I was more than happy to let them (and a few members of their family) in to measure and get excited! Depends on the system where you live tho... if there's a chance they could come in and then say to their solicitor they want to reduce their offer because they inspected a window frame and its draughty or something like that (just an example), I'd just say no, they can measure up when they move in.

I think the 'measuring up' is a bit dated now. They're bringing all their furniture whether it's fits or not and do people really have to urgently measure for curtains and blinds?

Huh? How do you know? I really benefited from being able to measure up as knew that in new place i wanted a corner table; new dining table, and a new double from a single in my son’s room etc. these items sometimes have months lead time.

We had to buy a new bed so we did want to measure up. It had a 3 month lead time.

It's not always about new furniture but the placement and arrangement of existing pieces. I need to know where my piano and large Victorian dresser are going to go.

We had an offer accepted on a house in Feb and completed in July. We wanted to make huge changes (converting part to an annexe) so needed to apply for planning permission. As planning permission takes 6 months here at the moment we didn’t want to wait til moving in. Technically anyone can apply for planning permission even if you don’t own the property. We applied for planning permission in April, long before we completed.

Our seller knew, and our plans were why we were picked in the initial bidding war. They bought the house for similar reasons 20 yrs previously so they loved the fact we were going to do the same.

They gave us access to meet with builders to get a quote and also for the architect to go round and measure up. Later on the seller also obliged me when I texted to ask if he could measure a gap and the height of a step. He was so lovely and said he didn’t mind at all.

But then we were really flexible too and changed things around re exchange/completion etc to suit him.

The seller was the one to suggest swapping numbers and it was really useful. He texted me quite a few times and it really sped up the process.

The seller and his ex-wife left us the loveliest note when we got the keys so I’m assuming they didn’t think we were CF.

I might be pessimistic but I would say that they are time-wasters.

• They asked for a delay already
• now they want to bring family members and take some measurements
• you have not exchanged yet
• they made the odd request to have your personal email.

I would be concerned that they want their family member to have a look to get their opinion on the property and that they might either change their mind or contact you directly about making a lower offer.

I hope I am wrong but that would be my fear based on their behaviour.

I would only allow them access to measure after exchange.

We asked if we could come measure up and the sellers thankfully agreed. We were excited and wanted to start planning furniture and decor. Estate agents measurements are pretty basic and wouldn't have helped us price up curtains and blinds or even figure out if our wardrobes would fit where we thought they would. We'd do the same when it's our time to sell.

As buyers we found it really useful to have the email and phone details of our seller (they were happy to give them to us after we asked the estate agent) - we werent (we hope) unreasonable just sending one or two emails about flooring and an attempt to clarify their timelines in advance of exchange. They contacted us to ask if we wanted to have their wardrobes and some other furniture which was useful.

I would advise setting up a new gmail address and getting a PAYG mobile number specifically for this purpose - that way you can discard both after the sale

I’d be very suspicious if sellers didn’t want me in the house for a reason like measuring up between making an offer and exchange. When we had a big gap between offer and exchange previously the sellers stopped doing any maintenance or cleaning and the house ended up a bit of a wreck by the time we moved in. I’d assume you were hiding something as I think it’s a reasonable request.

This TBH ..we were very accommodating with our buyers requests.

It’s very normal to have a viewing just before exchange of contracts to check that nothing much has changed.
But apart from that, it’s up to the vendor. Personally, I would allow one more short viewing supervised by the estate agent.

As buyers we found it really useful to have the email and phone details of our seller

yes, I bet you did!

but agents strongly advise you do not give your email address to the buyer. And with damn good reason. “Is the back door usually tricky to open?” “Do you know a good window cleaner” “how do you refuse spin on washing machine?” And so on

Sometimes you do need to contact the buyer. We found out through National Grid and energy supplier there was no record of the gas meter. We had to contact the seller to resolve the issue.

I never realised that people would knock value off later in the process.

My buyer asked for a reduction the day before exchange. It’s a highly likely tactic in the current market. I’d play nice if I were you, particularly once the house is empty.