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Original poster

Estate agents working hours?

68 replies

Onaladder · 30/06/2023 10:47

My partner and I both work at companies. Different locations.
It's nearly impossible to find a good time to go view houses during weekdays unless after 6pm, even then it's tough considering commute time etc

We have been searching for a year and one of the key challenges to our house purchase is.....
Estateg Agents working hours! can you believe it, yes there are the crazy market volatilities, the fluctuating and rising interest rates...the doom of the UK economy, we might get fired etc etc but one of the biggest challenge we are having is getting viewings

I am not from the UK but in my country, Estate Agents work the hours that are more suitable for people who work, like they usually do evenings or early morning during the weekdays and longer work in the weekends but they take days off during the week.

Here it looks like they work exactly same hours or less. Mostly I get "We don't work after 6pm I'm afraid" or "Our saturday viewings are fully booked, you must book at least one week or two weeks in advance"

Sorry just venting because I am so fed up with the agents and the housing market in the past year...and still ongoing...

Do people take days off to view? how does everyone do this while working hard....

OP posts:
SilverGlitterBaubles · 01/07/2023 15:16

@XVGN I know the business and EA have tried all sorts of things like late opening, bank holidays etc but the thing is it is just not compatible with what vendors want. Vendors do not want people in their homes in the evening when they are usually there. It is also not compatible with dealing with solicitors and mortgage brokers who they will need to liaise with to chase sales through. Most people will find a way if they are really serious about viewing a property.

RidingMyBike · 01/07/2023 15:41

We had this problem and properties were moving so fast if you didn't get in with a viewing asap you didn't stand a chance. We didn't get to view several properties because of this. In the end I arranged more flexibility with work temporarily so I could drop things on a weekday and get the work done later but not everyone has that flexibility.

When we bought it went on the market on Monday. We viewed on the Thurs along with some other viewers. Offer accepted on the Friday and we got them to cancel the Saturday viewings.

Until they're struggling to get people to view EA are not going to offer more flexibility.

jodes88 · 01/07/2023 16:50

Could one of you not just view it and the other view it at a later date if you/he think it's a good option?
When we bought ours almost 10 years ago I worked 12 hour shifts and he had a normal 9-5. Our house came on the market the Thur and I was in work Thur-Tue so he viewed with his Dad and put an offer in.
I didn't actually end up seeing it in the flesh until we got the keys! Form offer to completion was 6 weeks though as no chain.

ohdamnitjanet · 01/07/2023 18:05

I’ve moved around a lot so have been on both sides, and the point made about sellers not wanting out of hours viewings is a fair point. But as a seller I am always happy to do the viewing myself and probably do it better than an agent. I wouldn’t say no to an evening viewing if the agent wasn’t free - I want to move!

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 19:43

We run an estates and my husband works literally all day until the minute he goes to bed 7 days a week.
if you’re that desperate to buy a house you will take time off work because estates can’t be expected to work anyone hours then they already are. Especially when alot of you are nothing but time wasters anyway and the work they do is usually for free.

RufustheSpecuIatingreindeer · 01/07/2023 19:46

One of my children works at an estate agents

she works 8.30 til 6 twice a week, 8.30 til 7 three days a week and every other Saturday so I think thats quite a bit

and as mentioned above i don’t think I’d be that chuffed if I had to let people view my house at 8 or later

CremeEggThief · 01/07/2023 20:12

You seem to expect everything to be in favour of the buyer, OP. You need to be more compromising.

Tooearlytothink · 01/07/2023 20:49

I worked in property for a few years and some sellers only wanted working hour viewing done by ourselves. Our view generally was that any serious buyers would make arrangements to make this work. If they wouldn’t take time off work to view then they’re not really that interested, as many viewers will make sure to be available. It might not be the answer you want to hear but that’s how we and many sellers saw it.

XVGN · 01/07/2023 20:59

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 19:43

We run an estates and my husband works literally all day until the minute he goes to bed 7 days a week.
if you’re that desperate to buy a house you will take time off work because estates can’t be expected to work anyone hours then they already are. Especially when alot of you are nothing but time wasters anyway and the work they do is usually for free.

I'm really not sure if I am supposed to be laughing or not. Any business who slates its potential customers really isn't fit for business. Sorry.

Messyhair321 · 01/07/2023 21:15

We've just sold our house & we had some people viewing that couldn't do normal working hours so we made exception & did evening or Sunday viewings ourselves.
I must say that the way you describe estate agents doing evening, early morning & weekend viewings makes a lot more sense

Messyhair321 · 01/07/2023 21:19

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 19:43

We run an estates and my husband works literally all day until the minute he goes to bed 7 days a week.
if you’re that desperate to buy a house you will take time off work because estates can’t be expected to work anyone hours then they already are. Especially when alot of you are nothing but time wasters anyway and the work they do is usually for free.

We have just sold our house & know what you mean. Lots of lolly pop lickers turning up who just weren't anywhere near able to make any sort of offer, just licking their lollys 😅

Ghosttofu99 · 01/07/2023 21:20

My only suggestion is to focus on one zone/area at a time and do multiple viewings. Often the agent will have several similar priced/style properties in the same street or nearby streets so don’t discount looking round those at the same time

escapingthecity · 01/07/2023 21:21

It's also when vendors are willing to have viewers in. We have two young children so evening viewings were not an option for us. They had to be during the day, and we'd arrange to be out of the house pretty much all day on Saturday to allow as many viewings then as possible. But after 6pm? Nope.

ChickenMacaroni · 01/07/2023 21:26

Round here (East Midlands) vendors do the viewings so there's not this issue. I always find it odd on here that it's almost exclusively EAs taking viewers round. I've probably viewed about 25 houses in the last 15 years and only 3 have been with the EA.

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 21:49

Swrigh1234 · 01/07/2023 11:58

Estate agents in this country are not qualified, hence the standard in this industry is very low. Anyone can put on a suit and call themselves an EA, unlike the US for example.

Rubbish you have no idea what work goes into selling a house.

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 21:52

XVGN · 01/07/2023 20:59

I'm really not sure if I am supposed to be laughing or not. Any business who slates its potential customers really isn't fit for business. Sorry.

Show quote history

Well alot of you are time wasters. We could spend 3 months visiting you and your house, spend hundreds advertising your home and you could just pull out at the last minute so that all that time and money is wasted. This is the case for all estate agents.

alwaysillyquestions · 01/07/2023 21:54

I know a friend and her husband's who are both teachers. Getting a day off is impossible viewings happen to fall in half term. When I bought it was so frustrating if you wanted a weekend viewing, it would be a 2 week wait and by time you had viewing a house would already be under offer. In a competitive market you stand no chance unless you literally drop everything and go and view. With the housing market slowing EAs may be more accommodating. I did all my viewings when I sold my house with an online agent £199 and had viewings evenings and weekends.

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 22:00

alwaysillyquestions · 01/07/2023 21:54

I know a friend and her husband's who are both teachers. Getting a day off is impossible viewings happen to fall in half term. When I bought it was so frustrating if you wanted a weekend viewing, it would be a 2 week wait and by time you had viewing a house would already be under offer. In a competitive market you stand no chance unless you literally drop everything and go and view. With the housing market slowing EAs may be more accommodating. I did all my viewings when I sold my house with an online agent £199 and had viewings evenings and weekends.

Estate agents are accommodating . We do viewings up to 7-8pm and at weekends. But we also have to eat, sleep, take care of our kids ya know. And there’s a small issue of everyone else wanting evening viewings and I don’t know about you but I’ve not Managed to clone myself yet.

alwaysillyquestions · 01/07/2023 22:12

Mumtothreegirlies · 01/07/2023 22:00

Estate agents are accommodating . We do viewings up to 7-8pm and at weekends. But we also have to eat, sleep, take care of our kids ya know. And there’s a small issue of everyone else wanting evening viewings and I don’t know about you but I’ve not Managed to clone myself yet.

Show quote history

Unfortunately not in our area, no way do they do viewings after 5pm! I've never found EAs particularly useful at viewings, rather both houses I bought were when the owners did the viewings. Just my opinion, but I know some EAs may be more helpful than others.

LaurieFairyCake · 01/07/2023 22:41

I've bought and sold at least ten times and I've bought in a hot market 3 times and once I bought unseen

THEN they let me go and view - once my offer was accepted and the agent confirmed I was under offer

I'm not sure that people realise how many utter time wasters there are out there

GB81 · 02/07/2023 07:29

My partner is an EA, he works at least 7am-7pm M-F and does a short day on Saturday so he’s home by 6!
He’s a lovely man but people think it’s ok to treat him like he’s scum of the earth because he’s an agent and for some deluded reason think that he is scamming them rather than charging for a service, which has high running cost.
Buying a house is one of the biggest purchases you’ll ever make, and getting it right will have an enormous effect on your life and lifestyle so prioritise it in your life now for your future.
If you thought the EA work short hours and were inflexible just wait until you go through conveyancing!

Wigglewigglewitch · 02/07/2023 07:40

No matter when estate agents work and are prepared to show homes, so much of it as others have said, is dictated by sellers. Evenings of course but even more so early mornings - when my kids were younger the idea of someone coming round between 7-8am would have been a nightmare!

when we bought our current house, I was WFH and DH was away a lot so I screened houses then we both viewed ones I liked. Even with WFH it was still a pain but I did have more flexibility.

crew2022 · 02/07/2023 07:51

I agree with @XVGN
As things get more challenging estate agents will be more flexible.

Jenandco · 02/07/2023 07:54

Interesting post and totally see where you are coming from but disagree that estate agents should work more hours at the weekend. I’m married to one! He does long hours and weekends already and made a lot of sacrifices and missed out on weekends with the kids when they were younger. They do much more than viewings and need to be available all day in the week for enquiries and many other things. It’s not easy and they do have to work hard and longer hours than 9-5 jobs. Unless you have done the job or know someone who has then you have no idea how stressful it is. Serious buyers make time to view a house and don’t expect the agent to do it on their one day off.

shinepud · 02/07/2023 07:55

I didn't know property agents in the UK work normal hours. In my country, they work unsociable hours (evenings and weekends) too.

I think the UK hours are better because at least property agents get to have normal lives. You only buy houses a few times in your life so it's minimal disruption (even if inconvenient) to you, vs the daily impact of normal vs unsociable hours.