Are you a snooper?

mr.broderick

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Housing-Market-Many-People-View-Properties-With-No-Intention-Of-Buying-Them-To-Have-A-Nosey-Around/Article/200906115297829?lpos=Business_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_9&lid=ARTICLE_15297829_Housing_Market%3A_Many_People_View_Properties_With_No_Intention_Of_Buying_Them%2C_To_Have_A_Nosey_Around

Doozergirl

No.

Well, I only look at the pics on rightmove

Generali

Yes I am.

We have an 'open house' system of marketing houses over here though so I'm not costing the EA money though and I'm always honest about it - I need to find out what my money can buy me in an unfamiliar market. EAs seem happy for me to look.

Really2

When we sold our house the old owner came to look (she was divorced so went back to her maiden name but I recognised her, it was a bit uncoftable really).

When I phoned the EA's she said told them it was not what she was looking for to which I "p!ssed my pants" and told the EA it used to be her house.

Nosey parker just wanted to see how much work we had done, In is not like we re-bulilt it since she came.

DKLS

I would only view a house if I was interested in making a purchase.
Is house viewing like a day out for some people?

halight

My wife is always looking on rightmove but she has never taken us around a house that she was not intrested in buying.
Still at the moment we are not in the posishion to sell our house and buy a bigger one as iv lost my job but she still goes on right move once a week to look!

Davesnave

Like Generali, we set out a couple of years ago to buy a completely different type of property in an unfamiliar environment (Wales!) We looked at a fairly wide range of houses before we'd sold, to see exactly what we might be able to afford, and also to learn about the different social & cultural norms in the areas visited.

There's nothing that can compare with sitting down at someone's table with a cup of tea to hear how they have found life in a particular place. Most of what we heard was very positive and, since conversation was natural, we thought most were only adding a minimal amount of 'spin,' as you do.;)

We also learned a great deal of useful factual stuff; things we'd not easily find in books etc.

Another thing I can recommend, especially when considering a country area, is to ring someone local. As a gardener, I find this easy, choosing somebody who opens their garden to the public. I start by enquiring about soils, but there's no telling where the conversation may lead. You get: 'Well, who's selling then?' You reply and they say: 'Oh them! They came here a couple of years ago and did the place up...blah...blah... ' Sometimes it's just tittle-tattle, but often you learn more than you expected!

Oops! giving all my trade secrets away.....

I don't think it's taking liberties; it's research. And yes, we had our fair share of window shoppers too, but we like talking to people. Don't you?
Goodness, we even spent two hours showing a couple around this rental a few months ago, before the vendor abandoned all hope!

Oh, and before I go, remember in those days, a couple of years ago, you had to move swiftly to secure a property, so it was quite normal to look before you sold! :rotfl:

JonnyBravo

We purchased our house after the death of the previous owner. He'd owned it for 50+ years. His daughter grew up here and was the one who sold it to us. Luckily we made friends with her as we were buying it and this stop us being gazumped.
Also it enables her to come round and have a look at what we've done to it. We told her of our plans for it and she thought it would be nice. She had stated right from the off she would have liked to have kept it and done it herself but having grown up here there were too many memories for her. She's been round twice now in the 5 years since we bought it.... no excuse needed..... just wants to see how it looks. Now it's finished I don't think she'll be round for a "snoop" again, but she'll be more than welcome if she wants to.

michaels

Its a fair cop - we went round the house in the street behind ours to work out how clearly they could see in to our house and garden from their upstairs windows - did check that it was the agent doing the viewings...

lostinrates

I'll have a look at things I think might work in a push: I neer go completely with no ntention. I quite often go without appointment and look at the outside from the road in a snoopy way, if I think its doubtful its right but want it to be,but not make an appointment to view unless I think there is a possibilty it will.

e.g. I'm gointg to look at outside of something later. I'll not bother agent because its out of budget and it would waste vendors time, but i can go and see if its as right as it sounds in case we win the lottery/inherit from long lost family/find buyer for kidneys this week.

ETA: I do snoop significantly for records and google earth though. Its amazing what you can find about houses from the internet, really.

JanCee

I might spend time looking on rightmove but I would never waste time looking around someone's home if I wasn't interested in buying. I confess to having looked around a new build showhome that I had no real interest in, but they are fair game aren't they?

When we sold recently the EA we went with told us they only allowed viewings from people who had their house on the market - to weed out the time wasters.