Final property viewing before exchange: what should we ask the vendors?

[ErlingHaalandsManBun]

DH and I are going to view the property we are buying one last time before exchange of contracts. Its more just to refresh our memories over one or two things but we want to make sure we ask any questions about the house while we have the vendors there to ask face to face.

What kind of things do we need to ask our vendors?
What kind of things should we be looking at?

We have thought about things such as how the cooker/heating works, what day is bin day, and taking a mental note of where the power points and plug sockets are in each room.

Anything we are missing?

What things would you want to know before you moved in?

This is a good one, yes, thanks for that. Added to the list.

Are you sure you'll be seeing the sellers? When I did a final viewing the week before exchange, it was a estate agent who had no idea about anything other than that the last few bits in a cupboard would be gone. They were basically just there to unlock and relock. I actually never met the sellers before exchange, though they did leave a helpful note.

Things like induction hobs are usually easy to tell by looking, so even if they aren't there, you'll get that.

The only thing I'd wished we'd asked the sellers before completion had to do with the garden. We'd viewed in November, exchanged in March, and ended up surprised by a lot of fruit in August. They also took the pond pump by cutting the electric cord which has taken some work to sort out.

So the 'it's not nit-picking' - but it is. Doing this before exchange, how do you think that might seem to the seller?

Doing what before exchange? I don't get what you mean. How is going to do some measuring up nit picking 😂

We are literally going to do a handover viewing and to cast our eye over things so we know properly where everything is when we move in. To talk about the general running of the house and do some measuring up.

Our buyers literally came last week and did the exact same thing as we are just about to do. We didn't give a toss. If our sellers didn't want us there before exchange they could (and would) have said no to the final viewing.

Check your sofa can get through the door and be aware of sharp turns on the stairs. Does your furniture have to be dis-assembled? Do you need to measure for a dog gate and is there any escape routes for dogs etc that you need to know soon? Find out about detail for your future home insurance. What kind of door locks?

Ahhhh brilliant. Now this is the kind of advice and things I was looking for. Access in and out for the sofa etc is really good info and definitely something we will take a little look at when we go. If I remember rightly the access to the front door is quite narrow so we may need to go through the patio doors at the back. All stuff we can just have a quick look at while we are there.

We will need to measure up for a side gate for the dogs and its one of the things we will need to get done as soon as we can when we move.

Thank you for this.

You don't yet own the house, it's not yours. Anything could happen, read enough of the threads on here if you need to.
If I were the seller I'd be nervous about your motives, annoyed I had to keep tidying up and hoping you weren't going for a last minute pre-exchange 'Oh and could you drop the price £5k because I'll have to rewire as there's not enough sockets'.
I'm sure you won't do that (no I'm not) but some folks do do that.

Yes, we have been told the sellers will be there and are happy for us to go so we can do a 'handover viewing' and measure up.

I am hoping we will be able to tell about the hob by looking at it. But I will ask if I can't. It is just useful for us to know that so we can make sure we have the right pans straight away for it if we need to.

Thank you.

We have already told the Estate Agents to reassure the sellers that our motives for the viewing are simply to ask handover questions and to do some measuring up. We told them not to worry if they were in a state of disarray due to packing (as we are, and were when our own buyers came last week for a last viewing before exchange)

They know we are not going to pull out. We have had a million opportunities and reasons to have done so before now. And a lot of times when we could have asked for a price reduction and haven't. I think they have every confidence in us that we are not going to pull a fast one.

If there are not enough sockets we will add some. No big deal as we plan to reconfigure things anyway.

Going for a viewing before exchange is common place these days. Our buyers have done it, our sellers are going to view their purchase again on Wednesday, and we are viewing ours again tomorrow.

If you like the flooring and decor, ask them to leave any spare, flooring, tiles or paint/wallpaper or detail if what each product was and where it was purchased from. It can save huge amounts of money if you just need to touch up pain or repair a tile etc.

I sold to an estate agent. After the initial viewing when I accepted his offer, he and his family came round three more times before exchange. It was so stressful. I had to tidy and clean and was terrified that he'd find something to cause him to drop out or lower his offer. It's really unfair on the vendors to put them through this stress. If you need to measure up and ask about paint tins, you can do it between exchange and completion which will be kinder to the sellers. The only reason to have a pre exchange visit is to nitpick and it's certainly not routine.

Depends how friendly or how much time they have. Ask about neighbours / visitor parking etc. If the house has a garden, I would definitely ask if they have any favourite plants or anything that needs particular care.

This is next level questioning but if you are keeping their paint colours for the forseeable then ask what the paint shades are if you are touching up and can they leave you any spare paint?
Check your cutlery drawer to see if you need to buy a new infill tray?

if you are planning to add dishwasher or something it’s also good to know whether Howden or IKea kitchen etc.

Some good things here that we didn't think about such as the stop cock
This is on the info pack the seller has to fill in. Like all the items that are included in the sale and where the water meter is.

Our buyers are going to be doing this and I’m so stressed about it. Tidying and cleaning yet again, getting small kids out of the way (and making their bedrooms look vaguely presentable), worrying that the buyers are going to change their minds or raise new queries… I’d feel so much better if they did it between exchange and completion. And if they went round turning all the taps on and off and flushing all the toilets, and looking in all the cupboards, I’d honestly think they were total weirdos. That is not normal behaviour. And what are you going to do if the water pressure isn’t quite what you were expecting? Or the toilet flush is different from what you’re used to? What’s the point? If a family is living there, and everything is vaguely clean, I think you can assume that there is adequate running water!

I think its more common than you think. Certainly everyone in our chain has been advised by their Solicitor to do it.

As I have said, we have told our Agents to reassure them this is NOT a nit picking viewing and we couldn't give a toss if the house is clean and tidy and there are boxes everywhere. Ours was the same when our own buyers came for their final viewing last week.

We have been to see the house twice, over two days, last October when we initially viewed (we are moving to a whole new area hence the back to back viewings) So I don't think its unfair for us to want to go back and measure up and do a handover viewing and to have one last look before exchange.

Its a sensible thing to do when you are making such a massive move and spending so much money. To not, would be foolish IMO.

I didn't know people did this. I have only ever had one veiw of a places I have purchased.

Who said we were going to be opening and closing cupboards and turning on taps and checking water pressure etc? Others on this post may have suggested it but we have no intention of doing any of this. Check my posts, I am absolutely NOT going to be doing any of this.

We have even told our sellers not to worry about being clean and tidy and they have no dogs or kids to get out of the way (unlike us who have just done this for our own buyers)

At this point there are no queries and we have also made it clear that our viewing is just a handover viewing and to measure up, nothing more, to make sure we reassured our sellers of our intentions.

Yeah, it's one of those things that "everyone" on MN does but is less of a thing irl. Our buyers asked to come round to measure up etc just before exchange. I told them they could do this after exchange and not before and they would need to understand that the house was a mess because we were in the middle of packing. I would have been pretty cross if they'd come round with a list of inane questions like when is bin day etc.

PPs suggested the taps and toilets thing and looking in the cutlery drawer, all of which is insane imo, I was referring to that

Well I’d say Thursday, Green and black bins alternate. So you’d still need to check to see which one to put out on your first Thursday here anyway.

It’s very sensible to go for another viewing just before exchange as it’s your last chance to back out if the house has materially changed since you put the offer in (garage fallen down, insides trashed, suffered a minor house fire).

It’s really not! We have recycling bins picked up once a fortnight. Waste to landfill every 3 weeks, garden waste every 4 weeks and food waste weekly. I still need to refer to the website to find out the date which bins need to be put out when. Some weeks it’s all bins, some weeks it’s one, sometimes two… Honestly, I’d think you were bonkers if you asked me about bins. I’d just tell you it’s every Friday but to check the website for details.

OP - you sound very hard work, and almost certainly (doubt you will accept this) why it's taken from October to get to exchange in June. Justify your motives as much as you want, I am very pleased I am not selling or buying from you.

A pre-exchange viewing is sensible to ensure the property is still in the same condition it was when you offered. They could have had a massively flood in the mean time and replaced the kitchen with a cheap one and they wouldn’t be legally obliged to tell you. However, ‘handover’ viewing is a new phrase to me!