Viewers Moving Things

Davesnave

PasturesNew wrote: »

When I was a kid we were never allowed to viewings. The house was viewed/chosen by the parents alone - and the first time we went in it was moving day.

Yes, but look at the bloody daft houses they bought, unsupervised! :rotfl:

cte1111

I think it's unrealistic to expect people to find childcare so that they can look at houses so that the vendor doesn't have to worry about children touching their things.

I've certainly opened curtains, kitchen cupboard doors, wardrobe doors (when they are built in), turned on light switches, even run the bath tap to check the pressure when viewing houses. I've had a light bulb shatter above my head (in a garage) and a wardrobe handle fall off in my hand. Should I be banned from viewing houses too? Quite possibly LOL.

When I was house hunting with my Dad, who was suffering from mild dementia, he would pick up and put down objects as well sitting down on whatever he fancied. I obviously stayed with him and he certainly wouldn't have broken anything (he collected antiques so was very careful picking anything up) but I guess the prospective vendors might have come home and wondered why their bread board had been moved or whatever.

He loved opening drawers too, my sister took him to Ikea once to choose a new desk and they were there for hours whilst he opened and inspected everything, well it was a different day out!

googler

cte1111 wrote: »

I think it's unrealistic to expect people to find childcare so that they can look at houses so that the vendor doesn't have to worry about children touching their things.

I think it's unreasonable for the decision-making adults to merely bring/take their children along to viewings for no good reason.

The children aren't paying for their house, they'll go where the adults go. They're not part of the decision process.

If, as has been said here before, the sellers should ensure their children and pets aren't around for viewings, then the viewers likewise shouldn't bring children or pets to the viewing.

Torry_Quine

googler wrote: »

I think it's unreasonable for the decision-making adults to merely bring/take their children along to viewings.

The children aren't paying for their house, they'll go where the adults go. They're not part of the decision process.

If, as has been said here before, the sellers should ensure their children and pets aren't around for viewings, then the viewers likewise shouldn't bring children or pets to the viewing.

Depending on the age of the children then I would hope that they are part of the decision process. I see nothing wrong with taking them to see where they may be living. If someone doesn't want children to coe on viewings then they should ake this clear.

LydiaJ

Any child old enough to be part of the decision making process should be old enough to behave appropriately with other people's stuff.

I did most of my viewings without my kids, but I did take them to a few, and I think I took them to all the second viewings when I had any. However, my younger one was 6, so both kids were able to understand the importance of not messing up the vendor's stuff. In fact, I remember my older one being mortified when he asked to go to the loo near the end of a long second viewing and then couldn't work the dodgy flush (which I've since had replaced). The only time I can remember them misbehaving at all wasn't the sort of thing that would damage anything - it was a house with a long corridor with laminate flooring. It was the sort of vendor where you all take off your shoes when you go in, and my kids realised they could slide along the corridor in their socks. I immediately told them to stop, which they did, but then the vendor said it was fine for them to slide, so they carried on.

There's no way I would have taken toddlers on a viewing - when I'm viewing a house, I want to give my attention to viewing the house, not controlling small people who can't be trusted for a minute.

Jangin

We had goldilocks viewers who viewed twice in a week at short notice and stayed for 45 mins each time. They sat on every chair, sofa, bed and stool and moved everything. I wouldn't have minded but it turned out that they were always viewing houses and had no intention of putting their own house on the market.

harrup

J_i_m wrote: »

Absolutely.

However, there's always a fair chance someone viewing a house to buy has a young family. That being so, then there is an equal chance of children being present at a viewing. Now even well behaved kids can be still be very excitable and anything within reach (and ocassionally out of reach) is viewed as a toy through those eyes.

It's just good sense at the end of the day.. The best way not to have the problem of valued processions becoming unintentional toys is to remove the opportunity in the first place, take them out of harms way prior to a viewing.

In principle, I agree with Jim's post.

Whilst I'm a bit doubtful that it would be wise to invite children to participate in the actual "decision making process" - I also believe that when viewing a potential new home for the family, it should include....well, the family. And if that family currently includes babies, toddlers, grandma and unmarried uncle Bob, all fine.

Where it stops being fine, IMO, is when common sense and respect for someone else AND their belongings go AWOL. To dispense of this because "gee, kids will be kids" is plain inappropriate.

jim, the definition of a "well behaved child" is a kiddie who has learned to control his impulsivity and excitability, thus your sentence above doesn't really make sense. If they haven't learned to do so yet, due to lack of maturity or whatever, its not on to put the responsibility onto the vendor...that they have to child proof the house to accomodate strangers children. It's ludicrous.

If people take their youngsters to view homes - groovy. Why not. As long as they are then prepared to safeguard that their children behave accordingly.

Years ago I had young families viewing our house and- bar one- they were delightful. Including the toddlers. The parents made sure that they didn't get into mischief and all was fine and dandy. One little one got pretty cranky because she presumably was tired and hungry...and one of the parents contined with the viewing whilst the other distracted the grumpy young bear with a forray into the garden and a biscuit. Its doable.

Just as I didn't expect people to generously and graciously tolerate that my dogs followed them arround and/or pawed them with the rationale that " they are just being dogs and they are just being curious and friendly"...and hey, after all its MY house and my dogs have every right and reason to be in it....I wouldn't expect that anyone assumes I would have to tolerate their kids unchecked excitability and curious fingers. If they do, I would get even grumpier than a tired, bored, hungry toddler...and that means VERY grumpy.

After they bought the house - and its THEIR house - kids can touch, break and explore whatever they like. But not before. Not whilst its still MY house.

londonTiger

G_M wrote: »

Why not accompany viewers yourself?

juddging by ops response, not a good idea. will scare the viewers off

Tinkaf1

Just a thought but if you were leaving the house and it was the estate agent that was showing the viewers around, have you not considered that it is actually the estate agent that is moving things?
From my experience the vendor leaves the house and the agent has about 5 minutes before the viewers turn up. I would say it is more likely that they removed the teatowel, put the cushions in a certain way etc as they thought it presented the property better? Maybe, maybe not.
The children thing. I have 3. Aged 13, 11, and 6. I always leave the eldest two at home when we view, if we have someone who can watch my son I leave him behind too. But we don't always have someone available to watch him so he has to come with us. I do have to read him the riot act before we go in, not because he runs around causing chaos, I would never allow that, but because he always seems to do or say something stupid! We always have a rule that he holds my hand. But he thinks the things in the house are actually coming WITH the house. So he will see a shaped alarm clock (strange i know) and say "ooh ooh look at that clock, can we have this house, please!?" lol! Last time it was the bikes in the garden workshop. He once pressed his foot on a pedal bin in a kitchen and said "well this works". The estate agent howled and I went bright red.
If we were really taken with a house and we doing a second viewing before serious offer I would want all of them to see it.