Seller has disappeared!

armstrong1955

Hi all,

I am trying to buy a flat in London. One which looked perfect appeared on Rightmove on 2nd December, but when I phoned that day to arrange a viewing the EA told me they didn't have the keys yet. Fair enough, but I phoned back a couple of times after that, most recently the week before Christmas, and got the same response - apparently the sellers have gone away without giving the EA keys or any further information e.g. about the lease, and the EA don't know when they will be back!

Does this suggest that the sellers aren't really serious and it would be best to steer clear of this place, or should I continue trying to get a viewing? I've found another place I like (although it's less convenient for work), and I'd hate to miss out on it because I'm waiting on these sellers to get back from wherever they are!

Thanks for any insight!

Bossypants

I would tell the EA of the first place to give you a call if they do ever get keys, but proceed with your plans as if it's not going to happen (i.e. move ahead with this other place if you like it enough).

[Deleted User]

armstrong1955 wrote: »

Does this suggest that the sellers aren't really serious

In my opinion yes, walk

ThemeOne

I think you've answered your question really - don't miss out on other properties hanging around for these sellers.

Mossfarr

The vendors might just be waiting until after christmas to start viewings. They might have suddenly decided to spend christmas at their holiday home.
They might be ill and not want strangers trudging through their home.
Could be any number of reasons.

seashore22

On a couple of occasions we have tried to view houses ad found it next to impossible. The estate agents couldn't get in contact with the sellers and we stopped trying after a short time. Both of them were apparently house sales resulting from marriage breakups and the agents hinted that the person still in the house was a reluctant seller.

Yes, I would walk away, unless it's an amazing and unique property.

seven-day-weekend

We tried to view an apartment we were interested in as a BTL. It would be a cash sale. It was already an investment property, so no problems there.

The EA could not have been less interested, just said the person who dealt with it wasn't in and they would get back to us. They never did.

I often wonder if the vendor knew how little the EA was doing on their behalf.

HouseBuyer77

Mossfarr wrote: »

The vendors might just be waiting until after christmas to start viewings. They might have suddenly decided to spend christmas at their holiday home.
They might be ill and not want strangers trudging through their home.
Could be any number of reasons.

Indeed but you'd hope they'd tell the EA that they want to delay bringing it to market. Even if they are intending to sell eventually chances are they'll be a pain to deal with (e.g. Doing this exact same thing again, delaying on some crucial stage in the process, for what may be a perfectly decent reason, but failing to communicate about it).

armstrong1955

Thanks all. I did wonder if they are waiting till after Christmas, but if so why not tell the EA that! Maybe I'll try once more next week, but in the meantime I'll have another viewing of the other place to make sure it will definitely work for me.