Is this rude or am I just old fashioned?

[KnackeredBack]

We're on the market now - terrible sellers market where we are and we've dropped our price hugely to try and generate some interest, after being off the market for 6 months. We've had about 8 viewings in 2 weeks and 2 of them have been second viewings (one 10 days ago and the other 3 days ago). Neither second viewers have come back to the EA - no contact, despite chasing. Is this rude, weird or what? I remember only doing 1 second viewing and that was for the house I now live in, but even if you don't like the house, surely you'd tell the EA that?

Oh I hate the concept of 'feedback' on a house.

I've not put an offer in - that's your feedback.

We had one woman once feed back that our perfectly standard stairs were 'too wide' 🤨 Just don't buy it, it's fine!

@HappierTimesAhead it hasn't worked that way for me. We've had random viewings at random times at buyer request. No issue with that I want to sell and could always just say no if we couldn't do a time.
I also don't begrudge someone going in my loft. I just think that if you're going to ask for access to somewhere that's a bit of a pain - and they wanted to go in and walk about not just peek, on a second viewing or ask us to dig out docs for you, so you know, more work than the average viewing, you could just answer the phone to the agent and say "no thanks" or even just say it to the agent at the end. It's not like I'm standing over and they don't want to offend me. They just can't be arsed.
I do the same in return!

And yes I don't want "feedback" particularly, I just want to know if it's yes or no. And obviously if there's no offer then it's a no, but it's how long do you wait before you can safely assume it's a no. One of the second viewing couples, I'd assumed didn't want a second after the first because we heard nothing back. Fine. Don't really expect to after 1. But then called a week later to ask for a second. So do they take a week to think about something? Does that mean up till a week later they're a "maybe"? It's a head fuck.

I think also last time we bought was a super hot market so we were trying to be great customers with agents and if you wanted it you basically had to say then and there. It's a buyers' market now so I guess that changes the dynamic and people think they don't need to get back.

You would have thought the agents would be trying a bit harder though!

Obviously happy to get the loft ladders down but if you're going to bring a builder round that's a reasonably big level of time investment.

But selling your house is fir your benefit. You're nit doing a massive favour to prospective buyers by letting them view your house.

So do they take a week to think about something? Does that mean up till a week later they're a "maybe"?

That doesn’t seem at all unreasonable to me. They could be waiting until they’ve seen one or more other houses, or until they’ve had time to discuss it properly, or they like to think things through rather than make knee-jerk decisions.

Asking for a second viewing a day or two after you’ve had a first viewing seems more weird to me. Did you have your eyes shut?

I would hope for some basic feedback after a second viewing because that’s twice I’ve tidied the house for the same people.

I would also feel more inclined to offer feedback after a second viewing because I can empathise with the fact I probably got their hopes up so if it’s a No I could at least frame it politely.

So I'd typically give some indication during the viewing itself on what I thought. I rarely answer unknown numbers so if they phoned me afterwards to ask for feedback I'd likely not answer (and I certainly don't bother saving EA numbers in my phone). If they emailed me to ask I might drop a line back to them.
But ultimately it's a numbers game, as a buyer I'm viewing lots of properties and I don't have time to be giving feedback on all of them

Some examples of things sellers could change if several viewers commented on them

Astroturf replaced by grass/ garden made more appealing if the feedback was the garden was uninviting. Astroturf is unfashionable now & bad for the environment so lots of buyers hate it.
Massive decluttering if the feedback was that the house was too cluttered & full of owners junk
Basic renovations if the feedback was that buyers were put off by rotten window cills/ tatty decor etc
If the house smells of dog or smoke, tackle that.

Even things you can’t change like a busy road, better to know that is the reason than be wondering about all sorts of factors

That would assume the agent wasn't too busy sucking up to their client, falling over themselves to tell them how wonderful their property is. They're not the type to tell you to make useful changes, they want you on their books and on the market quickly.

Not if it involves too much work/time. More chance of the vendor going elsewhere and longer for the agent to wait for their commission.

I was meaning more the astro turf/ decorating. I didn't mention expense, just time.

Can I throw another hat in the ring: I viewed a house I really liked yesterday. I've sold mine, and this one has been on for over a year so I think they'd be keen. Owner and agent on viewing were both lovely. Today I've tried to make an offer. Nothing. No one picking up the phone.

They have a call centre that covers their out of office, they've sent them a message. So that nice vendor yesterday is probably sitting there thinking oh well, another one bites the dust. And I can't make my offer. This is not entirely surprising as when I booked the viewing the head estate agent was really rude - I asked him how long the house had been on the market he said "that's weird, why would you ask that, very odd, why are you asking" and then refused to let it drop!

When my house was sold, I found out by accident that the agent had received a low offer a few weeks before and just said "nah" to the buyer. So it was too low, but I thought they were obliged to give me all offers. Anyway, that's by the by its sold now. But yeah I think agents have a lot to answer for.

I'm not talking about price, I was giving my opinion about why I don't think estate agents are often very good about giving tips on improvements a property might need.

It's not a matter of rudeness / politeness.

The people who did the second viewings are very likely keeping their powder dry until after the election. They very likely have people looking at their own properties who are doing likewise.

Making an approach to an EA or contacting to give feedback often results in pressure from the agent.

Try not to be anxious. The country is in a state of uncertainty right now. There's a lot 'on hold', especially wrt education. If you're selling a family house and your potential buyers are families with children, there is more to their decisions than the house itself.

For me, I like to have the feedback, even if just a no so I can move on mentally, the waiting to hear is worse than just a no not for us. I spend hours making sure the house is pristine, a simple few words of no thanks shouldn’t be too much to ask.

Do agents not give the option of text feedback, that would be very quick to provide. Can understand why you wouldn't want a phone call if you’re busy but a text or email should be easy enough to fire off.