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Original poster

What happened to only being able to view houses when yours is already listed??!?

86 replies

Chancingtheirarm · 14/11/2023 16:31

We’ve been on the market since mid October. Not a huge amount of viewings but a second viewing today from an interested party.
It was all very positive, just had a call from the EA. They’ve offered 30k under asking price (final offer). When I asked are they able to proceed I was told no, their house is going on the market in the next day or two.

Eh?? So you want us to accept your offer, remove our property from the market and wait for you to sell yours?

Have I missed something here? I’ve not sold in many years but previously you couldn’t even view a property unless you’d sold, had a property on the market or was in a position to proceed. Certainly you wouldn’t make an offer unless you could proceed?

Is this normal now?

OP posts:
Hollyhead · 14/11/2023 16:33

The market is dead, you could accept the offer in principle but say you’re not removing yours from the market until sold? Very normal strategy in a stagnant market, although not one everyone wants to do which is fine - you’ll just have to wait for a buyer who is acceptable to you.

Afteropening · 14/11/2023 16:33

i stipulated to my EA that i didn’t want any viewings unless their house on market

You clearly didn’t

Afteropening · 14/11/2023 16:34

Hollyhead · 14/11/2023 16:33

The market is dead, you could accept the offer in principle but say you’re not removing yours from the market until sold? Very normal strategy in a stagnant market, although not one everyone wants to do which is fine - you’ll just have to wait for a buyer who is acceptable to you.

not in my SE lovely market town!! on fire

Sarvanga38 · 14/11/2023 16:35

I was home from a hospital appointment yesterday and feeling a bit battered, so watched Escape to the Country. The couple loved the house and were all chomping to put in an offer - as soon as they'd sold theirs?!?! How on earth can you get to the stage of being on an actual TV programme to find the perfect house when you're not in a position to proceed?

Newusernames · 14/11/2023 16:41

It’s the same in quite a lot of places. We’re currently looking to buy but won’t put our house on the market until we’ve found somewhere. Places that we are viewing are the same - only gone on the market as they’ve offered on somewhere else!9

EasterMummie · 14/11/2023 16:45

Some people wait till they find a property they love then put theirs for sale at a really sellable price so it goes quickly, I think thats a normal practise. Obvs only suits people to do this who don't have to move desperately.

Hollyhead · 14/11/2023 16:50

@Afteropening fair enough if that’s what you stipulated and if you live in one of the few bouyant areas it makes sense. I live in a popular area which during the covid boom saw things selling within 2 weeks, most houses in our area have been on the market longer than 6 months and some of them have reduced their asking price by 100k already.

JustWimpy · 14/11/2023 16:52

Obviously you just make a note of their offer and don't comment on whether it's being accepted or not until they are able to proceed. So continue with viewings and marketing.

CardamomGarden · 14/11/2023 16:56

I offered on my current house before my previous place went on the market. We weren’t even planning to move, but saw the ad in the EA’s window and it went from there. The offer was accepted in principle, but the house wasn’t taken off the market until we had buyers lined up for ours which happened in the space of about a fortnight.

Although I fully understand why having a buyer who already has their own buyer in place is preferable for the vendor, I’m always surprised at how outrageous people seem to think wanting to view or offering at an earlier stage is. Makes perfect sense for a buyer who has very specific requirements that only a few properties can meet and the vendor can always say no.

TheLonelyGoatTurd · 14/11/2023 17:04

I’ve never sold a house so maybe this is a stupid question, but if vendors will only show to buyers who already have offers, doesn’t everything just freeze up? Surely somebody must be ‘breaking the rule’?

Applesaarenttheonlyfruit · 14/11/2023 17:09

If you’re inclined to take it, say you’ll accept their offer once they are on the market and then give them a window e.g. 6 weeks.

We hadn’t marketed our house when I happened to see one we wanted. We got it on within the week and priced it to sell.

Coconutter24 · 14/11/2023 17:14

When selling our house we had a couple of people wanting to view who did not have their house on the market. When EA ring to request viewing I asked for their circumstances eg. House on market, under offer, first time buyers etc… anyone whose house was not yet on the market did not get a viewing. A lot of times there are chains but ideally you want people looking who have actually started the process

PinkRoses1245 · 14/11/2023 17:16

You can say that in principle you can accept, once they are under offer. But they have to understand you need to keep yours on the market, and can accept another from someone who is in a better position

Makemydaypunk · 14/11/2023 17:18

You are being very shortsighted, they may get an offer on their house straight away. I don’t need to move house, however if a property came onto the market that caught my eye I would view it and then out put my house up for sale if I wanted to buy it. That is exactly what I did last time I bought and sold, saw a house I liked, viewed it, my house went on the market the next day and sold to a cash buyer by the end of the week. You have to bear in mind that there are two types of buyers, people who absolutely need to move for extra space/ relocation so they will be geared up and on the market,or there are people who don’t ‘need’ to move at all but a particular property might come up that they would like, many people fall into the latter and certainly wouldn’t put their house on the market with no house to go to.

DrySherry · 14/11/2023 17:18

Just tell them straight that you would like to consider their offer once they are proceedable - and to please keep you informed of any progress. I wouldn't stop marketing your house, the agent can use this offer to encourage any other interested parties.
Don't close the door completely because they may be proactive and be able to move forward promptly. That really will depend on how realistic they are with price...

Makemydaypunk · 14/11/2023 17:19

Although I fully understand why having a buyer who already has their own buyer in place is preferable for the vendor, I’m always surprised at how outrageous people seem to think wanting to view or offering at an earlier stage is. Makes perfect sense for a buyer who has very specific requirements that only a few properties can meet and the vendor can always say no.

Totally agree

TheCompactPussycat · 14/11/2023 17:25

20 years ago, we did just that - viewed a house and put an offer in before putting ours on the market. Then we told the estate agent that if ours didn't sell quick enough to get the one we'd offered on we would be pulling ours off the market and staying put. They certainly pulled their fingers out. Ours sold 3 days after going on the market and we'd moved 8 weeks later.
Our sellers had had theirs on the market for a while and accepted every offer and whichever buyer was ready to proceed first would get the house which meant we all got a move on. We were quickest.
(Admittedly the housing market was very different 20 years ago)

DiaNaranja · 14/11/2023 17:25

It really depends, and is up to you whether you want to proceed, and put stipulations on time frames etc, but I don't think this has ever been a universal rule as such. When we saw our current house for sale, we weren't actively thinking of moving, saw the photos online and fell in love. I rang up and asked for a viewing and was asked about our position. Told them ours wasn't on the market yet, they said we could view but asked me to get a mortgage in principle sorted, which I did that very day. Viewed the house day after, definitely wanted it, so put in an offer which was accepted, and put ours on the market within two days, and it sold to the first viewers who looked around the day after it was listed. So from seeing the house online, we'd managed to get a mortgage approved, and list and sell ours within less than a week. I'm glad our sellers took a chance on us, as I know we could have been seen as "time wasters", but we obviously weren't. It depends if you want to take a chance on them or not. I'd personally not take it off the market, but as you've been trying to sell for a while, I wouldn't turn down an offer at this stage.

cyclamenqueen · 14/11/2023 17:27

This used to be the norm. I would much rather sell to someone who is only putting their house on to buy mine than somebody who is only buying mine because they have sold and can’t find anything else. The former is likely to stick with it the latter might get half way through the process and then find something they like better . Plus in the English system no one is really ‘proceedable’

we have been in our house over 25 years , I am not selling until I have found what I want. Plus we don’t have or need a mortgage so we are pretty good quality buyers.

KenIsAnAccessory · 14/11/2023 17:31

I wouldn't put my house in the market unless I found something I loved to move to. Plus DH is mega fussy. Done it this way twice- viewed and offered without being on market and sold mine within 2 weeks.

AgaMM · 14/11/2023 17:31

What are your plans? As in, you’re selling your house to move somewhere else? Presumably you have done the same then - not put an offer on another house until you have a buyer for yours?

LolaSmiles · 14/11/2023 17:37

Some people wait till they find a property they love then put theirs for sale at a really sellable price so it goes quickly, I think thats a normal practise. Obvs only suits people to do this who don't have to move desperately
This will be us when the time comes to move from our home. We like our home and like the area. When we move down the line it will be because we've seen the specific type of property we are after.

I'd not be putting my home on the market and messing potential buyers around just because someone down the road might decide that the only people who are serious are the ones with a sign in the garden.

itsalongwaybackfromsorry · 14/11/2023 17:47

CardamomGarden · 14/11/2023 16:56

I offered on my current house before my previous place went on the market. We weren’t even planning to move, but saw the ad in the EA’s window and it went from there. The offer was accepted in principle, but the house wasn’t taken off the market until we had buyers lined up for ours which happened in the space of about a fortnight.

Although I fully understand why having a buyer who already has their own buyer in place is preferable for the vendor, I’m always surprised at how outrageous people seem to think wanting to view or offering at an earlier stage is. Makes perfect sense for a buyer who has very specific requirements that only a few properties can meet and the vendor can always say no.

Agree.

I wouldn't put my house on the market unless i had an idea about where we were going and if there were houses I liked and available for me to purchase.

CrystalMaisie · 14/11/2023 17:57

We put a house on the market in September, had 2 offers from the first two people who saw it. Neither had their house on the market (so we declined), they went straight off to do so. We then had a near full asking price offer 2 weeks later from someone who had sold their house (not either of the first 2). Also in the SE.

BooBooBaloo · 14/11/2023 17:58

It tends to depend on what the market is doing - it used to be very normal to find something you liked before you sold yours, in fact a lot of people only decided to sell because they had found a property they wanted to buy.

It's only when houses had a lot of interest and started turning over quickly that it switched to having to be proceedable before you could offer