Would you knock on the door ?

moneyistooshorttomention

There are people who have an even greater wish for privacy than my "standard normal level" intention to have it.

You never ever know what someone's circumstances are and just who they are and I am certainly thinking of one poor woman I came across once who had escaped to another part of the country from a wife batterer husband and she was absolutely terrified of any of the nearby cameras/tv cameras catching a picture of her. I can just imagine how someone like that would feel if they had bought a home for themselves somewhere else in the country and then decided to sell on and were faced with a buyer determined to meet them face-to-face. That poor woman was positively white with terror and shaking and I was keeping a very good eye out for her to ensure she didnt get spotted once she confided just why she was shaking like a leaf to me.

That's one just extreme example of why some people might be determined to keep themselves back behind a protective EA barrier - quite apart from a prevailing train of thought going "Its a buyers market - I want it all my own way" and anyone who hated conflict would want that EA barrier up to protect themselves from such an aggressive mindset.

One comment recently from another poster who doesnt like this "my way or highway" attitude that some have recently certainly made me think "Some of these buyers arent doing themselves any favours being like that - because a lot of potential vendors are being put off putting their house on the market in case they encounter people like that". There are places where there is a shortage of property coming to market and this "Want all own way - its a Buyers Market" attitude might be one possible explanation for that..

EDIT: Re "eccentric" - when I get old I'm gonna buy a purple hat.....LOL

Dan-Dan

an extreme and rare occurence thankfully , i dont think it paints a true picture of the house selling and buying process

Dan-Dan

In my view , saying "its a buyers market" doesnt mean , if i say jump they should ask how high , for me it means , reasonable requests should be met , and if the seller come across as too cagey etc , then we would consider moving on

I mean , be realistic , the EA isnt going to tell me anything BAD is he , nor is the vendor , in all likelihood , but at least i will be able to make a judgement after talking to the actual OWNER not the guy who just wants his sale and commision

phoebe1989seb

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Hmmm....:think:
The implication is that this guy was some sort of !!!!!phile? Thats how I read your post...

Let me guess...being a lone woman as well....he wouldnt have got over the doorstep or would have got back the other way again fast (depending on how soon I recognised him). Theres a fair chance I would have sussed him on the doorstep even if I hadnt recognised him....and prompt excuses would have been made for him and me not being alone together.

The school next door and him being a !!!!! (I am guessing?) - no-one can say for sure unless they are in that position - and I am no "child person" (not a maternal bone in my body:rotfl:) but I am inclined to think "If I sell to him, then I'd feel scared and guilty about it for the rest of my life" and I probably wouldnt do so - as I would worry that I had landed some innocent child in it...

I have a viewpoint generally in life that goes roughly "If they dont deserve it/havent earned it then they arent getting it from me".

No, not quite - he was a very high-profile (in Southern counties at least) convicted child-killer who had been retried twice after pleading his innocence and eventually found not guilty after both juries were unable to reach a verdict. Many people still question his innocence......DH and I certainly remain unconvinced, having both met him more than once after this.

When the appointment to view was booked the surname meant little to me - it being a common enough surname - and of course as the EA was doing the viewing I might never have had cause to meet him. When we did meet as detailed above, I recognised him instantly but wasn't sure why. He and his wife were already in my kitchen when I arrived, having already spent the last couple of hours viewing our house with our EA so I could not really have prevented him from stepping over the threshold.......and nor would I have done had I been there to greet them.

Once I googled his full name as soon as they'd left our house, the penny dropped as to why I had recognised him - a few years back his face had been splashed across all the national papers, TV etc :eek:

I later had cause to receive him whilst on my own at the property - after their offer was accepted - and whilst I was slightly unnerved by the experience, again I wouldn't have chosen to refuse him entry to our house and risk losing the sale!

Sorry, but as he had eventually been released from prison with an 'innocent' verdict, I don't think it would have been moral - whatever my own feelings on the subject - to have refused to sell to him.........:o

We moved away from the area completely so don't know what impact his presence had on the immediate neighbours, but I do know he has since been featured in the local and national press, as well as being the subject of at least one TV programme. Anyhoo, six years on the house is now up for sale again so I guess it won't be an issue - if indeed it ever was - for much longer......

cbrown372

Dan-Dan wrote: »

an extreme and rare occurence thankfully , i dont think it paints a true picture of the house selling and buying process

Absolutely and as money has bought one house some 20 years ago and felt very hard done by on that occasion and has never sold a house, she hasn't got a clue.

On hearing the name of her one viewer she immediately decided he was from "elsewhere" and even made a guess on where he works?

As I live in Scotland we sell our own house very seldom via an EA generally with open viewing on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoons, when the house goes on the market initially you can have several viewers in the house at the same time. All offers and legalities go via the respective solicitors and you can fend off any questions regarding what you are expecting buyers to offer to the solicitor and equally a buyer can ask their solicitor what they think the house will go for.

Letter through the door is probably your best move as its now up to the vendor to decide who they answer the questions to.

moromir

I think you were right just to leave a note. As a woman with a young child, if I'd been at the property on my own and a strange man turned up and started asking invasive questions about my house and lifestyle I would be quite frankly terrified because I would feel vulnerable - you could be any crazy who has just seen the board outside my house, you'd have been swiftly redirected to the EA and any attempt to protest or continue the conversation would make me think I was at risk!

mumps

I find this confusing, so people want privacy so give EA a key and let him/her walk round their house with other people? No one gets entry to my house without me/husband being present. What would the insurance posiiton be if one of the viewers pocketed something? Wouldn't the insurers say you shouldn't let strangers into your home without you being there.

googler

cbrown372 wrote: »

As I live in Scotland we sell our own house very seldom via an EA generally with open viewing on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoons, when the house goes on the market initially you can have several viewers in the house at the same time.

High time that changed, IMHO.

The solicitors and their 'estate agency' staff run a 9-5 Mo-Fri operation, leave the owners to sell their own houses on Thurs evening and Sun afternoon, then charge the owners for effectively selling their own houses .... ?

mrsmchapman

Me, I would drop a note through the door with a few questions and a brief reason for contact, and leave and email address or mobile number with them if they wish to reply to you.

seven-day-weekend

mrsmchapman wrote: »

Me, I would drop a note through the door with a few questions and a brief reason for contact, and leave and email address or mobile number with them if they wish to reply to you.

And if they did not bother to reply, I would not bother to buy their house.