Intresting vendor led viewings - add yours!

k3lvc

Two anecdotes when moving from one end of the country to the other.


First drove the length of the country on a day trip to view what should have been 'the one' - turned up on doorstep at same time as EA only to find the place had had squatters for past 3 months and no sign of them moving on. Same EA pitched up to do a valuation some years later on the house we eventually bought and was surprised when he didn't get the business


Second was when moving back up north - house next door to the one we were viewing had just come on market - quick call to EA and he arranges to meet us there in 10mins but warns us it's not prepared as owners are on holiday. Downstairs is spotless with loads of pics of daughter growing up on walls up to point of graduation. Upstairs was a different matter as apparent daughter was using it as a shagpad whilst parents were away with main bedroom containing most of the contents of an Ann Summers spread on the bed/floor - struggled to look at photos in same way when we went downstairs :rotfl:

Penelope_Penguin

As a vendor, this is not at all reassuring Once I've sold, I will start a thread highlighting the terrible behaviour of prospective buyers that I've witnessed :rotfl:

jimbog wrote: »

You know you want to. So grab some yourself some popcorn...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2636903

Bit of relaxing reading for later :beer:

Marvel1

Slinky wrote: »

And here's that one

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2943078

I'm in stiches reading that thread :rotfl:

Callie22

When we were buying a while ago, we had some pretty odd vendor-led viewings. One of the strangest was with a woman who smoked roll-ups all through the viewing whilst spraying loads of air-freshener, refused to let us look upstairs because her husband worked shifts and was in bed (why not arrange the viewing at a better time then?) and spent the whole time telling us in great detail how they were desperate to sell because they'd fallen out with the neighbour who was, apparently, a bit of a nightmare. We crossed that one off our list.

Then we had the viewing carried out by the male half of a divorcing couple. It started off on the wrong foot when he refused to let us in at the stated time, saying that he was giving the children their dinner. After waiting about half an hour he let us and the agent in, but was just really, really difficult - rude, snappy answers to questions and just generally making us feel really uncomfortable. We actually did offer on that property and the offer was accepted, but he pulled out of the sale a couple of weeks later because he didn't want to move and didn't want to get divorced ...

Another odd one wasn't a vendor-led viewing (the actual vendors were out) but the father of the seller followed us and the agent around the house whilst we were there. He didn't say a single word (not even 'Hello', the EA told us who he was), just stood about a foot behind us whilst we walked around the house, which made it ever-so-slightly uncomfortable.

And I've just remembered another one - the house was absolutely, disgustingly filthy (you could literally hear your shoes sticking to the floor) and stank so, so badly - this on top of some truly shocking DIY. The vendor had lit a single scented tea-light in the kitchen and spent the whole viewing telling us how nice it smelt, whilst we crept around trying not to touch anything. We stayed just as long as was polite and then left, very quickly.

TBagpuss

The weirdest one I had were:
1. viewing a property with the agent but the owner was also there. The owner was very honest and was at pains to point out everything to me, including the rotten floorboard hidden under a rug, and the unresolved damp problem which they had tried to 'brighten up' by repainting.
I'd already decided I wasn't interested (the listing had hardly any pictures, when I saw the house it was clear it would need much more work than I was willing to take on) but it was absolutely hilarious watching the agent trying to get the guy to shut up! (It was an ex-council property and judging by what he said about how long he had lived there, I guess he'd bought it under right to buy, so probably hadn't ever sold before)

2. Another one where I was supposed to be going round with the agent and they were not expecting the owners to be in, so both of us jumped about a foot in the air when we walked into the living room and found the sellers sitting there! The whole place stank of dog so I asked whether they had one, at which point they said they didn't, anymore, but that their son did, and his dog hadn't really adjusted to son moving out and would regularly turn up back at the house "if the window is open he'll just jump through", they said, laughing. The idea of having a slightly confused German Shepherd Dog jumping through the window at random intervals didn't appeal, somehow, and was just one of the factors which caused me to decide against that house..

3. Going round with an agent, opening a bedroom door and finding that the vendor's teenage son was fast asleep, naked, on top of the bed. The room smelled extremely ripe. (I'm not an expert on teenage boys, but think unwashed teenager, unwashed laundry and bedding and weed..)

brodawel

We viewed a house recently, really sweet old couple invited us in and asked us "is the estate agent coming too"

We replied "not sure, do they usually come"

They said "don't know, your're the first to view"

It had been on the market 18 months!

wjr4

jimbog wrote: »

You know you want to. So grab some yourself some popcorn...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2636903

This has just made my day - thank you :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Kynthia

TBagpuss wrote: »

3. Going round with an agent, opening a bedroom door and finding that the vendor's teenage son was fast asleep, naked, on top of the bed. The room smelled extremely ripe. (I'm not an expert on teenage boys, but think unwashed teenager, unwashed laundry and bedding and weed..)

I've been to numerous viewings with teenage sons half naked still in bed. It really doesn't make a viewer comfortable, let them see the room properly or allow them to visualise themselves living there. So why so many sellers allow that I don't know. I don't mind a vendor led viewing but half the family in the lounge watching telly saying "ignore us" isn't relaxing either.

TBeckett100

Can't believe the dead dog thread is still remembered

WeAreGhosts

Weirdest one I had on my recent house search was an elderly couple who we chatted with for quite a while, they invited us to sit down in their lounge. But this was late winter and it was slowly getting dark. And as we chatted (it was more they were chatting AT us, really, we couldn't get away), it got darker and darker and darker in their lounge and neither one of them put a lamp on! By the end we were pretty much sat in complete darkness!! Had they not already had a light on in the hallway I would've thought they didn't have lecky! Was quite uncomfortable!

The ones I always love are those where the vendor is dolled up to the nines and looks down her nose at you. You'd think her home was beautiful if you met her in the street, but actually they are a filthy tip! Been to a few of those ...