House viewers who are not on the market yet

[Timeoftheday]

We have been on the market for over 2 months. We have had fairly decent number of viewings, around 20. This includes week days and weekends but no offer. Half of them were people whose properties were not listed and weren’t on the market yet. I am confused as why so many people are booking house viewing even though they are not yet listed. Could someone please explain why is this allowed and could we speak with the estate agent about this. We are in north east London. Thank you

Because some people will view houses and then decide to put their own house on the market at a price which means it sells quickly. We did that (in 2007) - saw a flat go on sale in a block that looked interesting which needed a lot of work. We viewed and put our flat on the market the same day, then offered. Our sale was ready to complete before our purchase.

It depends what you’re selling and the price - the more expensive it is, the more likely they will have to se something first. You can speak to the estate agent but you may well be significantly limiting your potential buyers if you state only people with houses on the market can view. I wouldn’t be doing that after 2 months with no offer.

I'm afraid if it's a buyers market then you have to suck this up if you want to stand the very best chance of selling.

It will get you viewers and if they like it they will market their own.

It's not ideal but you'd be silly to turn their viewings down unless the market is red hot and you have power on your side.

Just be thankful people are coming through your door.

Lots of people will only put their house on the market if and when find a house they want to buy. If you restrict viewers to only those that have SSTC, then you reduce your chances of selling.

It definitely wasn't happening in the fast rising, seller's market of 20-22 but it has been since then as the market has slowed down a lot and has fallen in most areas. It's up to you if you want to allow it or not. Some people may market their house if they love yours and then be able to make an offer. If you only want buyers who can proceed immediately, just let your agent know.

We are looking to move in 3 years time when DD finishes school and college so we can move a little further afield. We love our area but want a detached house and they tend to be out of our budget. We saw a house local to us for sale in our budget so asked to view it as if it was suitable we didn't need to wait 3 years as it was close enough to DDs school. We weren't going to put out house on the market if it wasn't suitable so we asked to view even tho we aren't on the market. Unfortunately it wasn't quite big enough for us but we explained our situation fully and the estate agents were happy for us to view.

I’m looking for a very particular set of criteria in a very particular postcode and it would mean that I would sell my house for less if I had to in order to secure that property. I wouldn’t rule people out who aren’t on the market. Things can move very quickly.

I once tried to arrange a viewing for a house when we weren't on the market yet. The estate agent was very brusque and actually hung up on me when I said our house wasn't on the market yet. Our house wasn't on the market - but we would have been cash buyers, if only I'd been given a moment to explain...

We’re in your viewers situation. Can’t put ours on the market as there’s no where to move to. Have been looking for about 6-8months.In that time have viewed two despite ours not being on the market/having an offer.

For both that we viewed we were prepared to engage an estate agent that very same day and get moving very fast (have already had valuations and researched estate agents) if they were worth it. But they weren’t.

This is our first time selling so thank you everyone for your responses and making us understand.

Just ask estate agents to not allow such viewers or only allow them to tack on before/after viewers who are in a position to proceed, so that you aren't preparing specifically for non-proceedable buyers. That's what we did when we last had our house for sale. I had a toddler and a baby and it was enormously stressful tidying the house for each viewing; I wasn't doing all of that just so people could come for a casual look-see.

We bought 4yrs ago and were cash buyers- we didn't sell our other property. I don't even recall the real estate asking our situation just to view! There are many reasons someone might not be selling their current property!

-They might be currently renting
-Have received an inheritance payment
-Redundancy payment
-Sold a business
-Sold crypto
-Sold their yacht in Monaco (and no this wasn't our case 😆)

I'm sure there are multiple other reasons, but not everyone needs to sell a property to buy another. Best of luck with your sale.

If you want the best price you have to entertain the greatest number of potential buyers.

I wouldn't necessarily rule out someone who hadn't started looking. But I might impose some pretty strict deadlines as you can't afford to wait on people forever, and also make them aware that if a better prospect came along while they were trying to get a buyer that they would be given consideration.

The problem is you never know what the situation is. Some people might want to move really quickly, will market theirs at a low price and try everything they can to move things along.

Others will mess around pretty much indefinitely wasting months of time before finally dropping you for somewhere better.

If you’re are NE London then you’re not in a great position at 20 viewings in 2 months. So I wouldn’t rush to stop people from looking.

have you had any useful feedback from those who were in a position to offer?

We are in this position at the moment, trying to find somewhere before putting our house on the market. it's very common.

Not ready to move yet but when I am, my house will probably sell very quickly as it's an in demand style. I will, I think, struggle to find something suitable I like so I wouldn't want want to mess buyers about. Unfortunately I think most estate agents here only allow viewings if you are ready to proceed .

I'm not listed because I'm flexible with whatever comes up. If the perfect willing to die in property pops up but its big - I know I have to sell something and would like to get my parents in on it. If its small but perfect for my small immediate family - no need. If a good opportunity to upgrade a property pops up - will sell. Some people are flexible - but not willing to sell unless something they want pops up. There's so many different situations in life. It's up to you who you let view though.

Where I am unless you are ready to proceed you wouldn’t be entertained at all. Unless it was an open house type of viewing.

We asked our agents not to let anyone view who wasn't in a position to move. So no one who didn't have an offer, or cash. We still had loads of.the right people round and sold. Personally I don't understand wasting everyone's time looking if you can't actually proceed.

How is it wasting anyone’s time? Just because someone can’t proceed immediately, doesn’t mean they can’t get their house on the market quickly and potentially be ready to proceed within a week or two.

East London and our estate agent didn’t book viewings unless they were in a proceedable position, so house sold or ftb with a decision in principle to show.

We are going onto the market as we have unexpectedly found a house we love in the area we want. We were not on the market when we viewed it and if the agents hadn’t let us see it the sellers would have missed out on a potential buyer who genuinely want to buy the house! So, although I don’t love the idea of a non-proceedable buyer, especially in a slow market, I’d definitely allow it. If nothing else, it generates interest 🙃

So did you buy the house then?

I’m currently trying to sell. We have had several people who haven’t sold and one who wasn’t on the market yet. It’s really frustrating.

@Timeoftheday some people do it for research purposes only, to get an idea of what they can afford in different areas, because it's not always easy to tell from the photos on a website.

Personally, I wouldn't allow viewings from anyone whose own property wasn't at least on the market (first time buyers/cash buyers also welcome of course).

It's just too stressful having lots of people doing viewings who can't proceed even if they like the property. Especially if you take lots of time getting the house prepared for each viewing, which I do.

I appreciate you’re in England, but in Scotland, we as buyers with our house under offer are definitely in the minority. When we meet vendors for viewings they are surprised we’ve sold first without buying, and estate agents we speak to couldn’t care less that our house is under offer. But where we’re buying, it’s definitely a seller’s market.