Viewers who can't buy?

missile

I had a friend who used to regularly go round houses for sale. She had no intention of buying. Said it gave her ideas of how to decorate her own home. She had nothing better to do and did not feel the least bit guilty about wasting other peoples time.

PasturesNew

When I sold my house, there were a few women who came round who hadn't even told their husband they were looking. They were either bored housewives (should get a gardener in then), or were manipulative sorts that would be "telling" their OH that they're moving if they find something they want.

I think some are just checking if you have a better house than they do. No intention of buying anything.

When I sold my house, it was to a couple who had just put theirs on the market 2-3 days before. They said it'd fly off the shelves (their agent told them so), still took them six months to sell. They kept offering me money for mine and I just kept saying we'll talk once you've sold.

TBeckett100

lay down some groundrules. I told my EA who I wanted looking around and made sure they were aware of the negatives before they even set through the door. viewings lessened as a result but was more targetted and we got a result. Nothing worse than three hours cleaning to showhome standard for someone to a) cancel at last min b) not even be able to buy

betmunch

I think you have two options here:
1. Accept that a lot of people will not be ready to offer and hope that seeing your place will entice them to put theirs on the market.
2. Tell your EA you do not want anyone round who has not confirmed that they are proceedable (you can even give the EA responsibility to check this)

Personally I would go with option 1 as you stated the EA does all the viewings. However if you dont like the idea of people coming round to have a nose then take option 2.

Remember the EA acts on your instructions. They might (or should) advise a course of action but its up to you to accept it. If you dont want time wasters tell the EA you want every viewer to confirm they could buy if they like the property. You will lose viewing doing this, but it seems from your original post you want the timewasters to stop coming round.

Like I said though, I personnally would want as many viewings as possible, especially as its being done by the EA!

geoffky

remember selling is a numbers game..the more that do view the more chance you have got...and where it is taking two years or more for houses to sell it makes it obvious to let all see your house...we have one near me that has just had its fourth birthday on the market..I bet some of their first viewers have bought and sold since

scooterpig

Thanks everyone for your views.

I am going to sit tight just now, but when we next get a viewer I will point out to the EA that there seems to have been a lot of non-proceedable buyers and ask them for their views on this, and take it from there. At least that way I can make them aware that I have noticed but but keep things cordial.

not_loaded

<ambiguity deleted on edit>

Just to contribute, in selling we didn’t restrict our viewings, and yes, we had some time wasters, but we’ve sold now to a non-proceedable who became proceedable.

In this sluggish market I wouldn’t restrict viewings.

moomaa

I agree witrh everyone else, carry on letting anyone view the house. We viewed 3 when we hadn't put our house on the market yet, we liked one, and were proceedable within three weeks, at which point we viewed again and put an offer in. We were not allowed to view one house because we were not proceedable but then were called to look when the seller got a bit more desperate (at which point we were still not proceedable). It was one of the three we looked at but I couldn't help thinking that I wasn't sure I would want it if the seller was being so picky about viewers.

jsh99

We viewed a house late October last year. Our property was not on the market at that point.

We liked it so much we put in an offer and were lucky enough to exchange on 12th December and were in for Christmas (about 9 weeks in total from offer to exchange).

So not everyone who views whilst not in a position to proceed is a time waster!

JSH

mrsmortenharket

My dh wants to sell & move. It's like banging my head against a brick wall with him...we need to put this on the market before we go around looking!!! We have looked at areas we want to go to.
With regard to looking at houses to see what you can afford, you don't need to go into houses, you can get details from estate agents & rightmove.
I am getting my house into a sellable condition...and shall then again proceed to bang my head against the wall convincing dh this needs to be on the market before we househunt!
Lisa