At what stage of sale is it appropriate for buyer to ask if they can come measure for furniture?

Fosterdog

There is no right or wrong time, some people may want to check exact measurements before offering (I have a 7ft antique Welsh dresser that I wouldn't want to part with but wouldldnt have fit into most of the houses we viewed), some people may want to start looking to buy new furniture after surveys and shortly before exchange, others may wait until exchange so they know the house will be theirs, and others may not want to measure up at all.

We viewed our house three times, first viewing obviously just to see the house, second viewing a week later to check some other bits before making an offer (which was done on the day), third and final viewing was after the tenant had vacated so we could see the house empty, see what repairs may be needed, start pricing up and planning some renovation works, take photos to go away and plan works (with vendors permission)

diggingdude

My personal opinion if you want to sell your house you will accommodate the purchaser as annoying as they may be as you want their money. Of course if you have something to hide.....

julicorn

I'm a bit surprised that some of you find this unusual. We went back when we'd already had our offer accepted for a month or so to take measurements, so that we could figure out what exact furniture to buy and budget for that. And no, the provided EA floor plan was not accurate enough to be able to do that.

And even if it is to check other details, surely not allowing access would just be incredibly suspicious, and make a buyer more likely to pull out? I mean, it'd be different if this was the 10th viewing and they kept coming back, but it doesn't really sound like that's the case.

p00hsticks

Lolly88 wrote: »

Whilst I agree with the general sentiment behind spending lots on an asset and wanting to investigate- I don't really get the whole needing to go and view again for measurements. Surely this can be deduced from the floorplan?

Floor plans don't usually show things like window width and length (for curtains), the position of electrical sockets or gaps in fitted kitchens for white goods.

It makes sense to me that people may want to know in advance if their existing furniture will fit or if they need to buy new / dispose of old - moving day is stressful enough without finding out then !

seven-day-weekend

We viewed ours about four times to check various things - not because we wanted to pull out, but so that we were prepared and things did not take us by surprise - like having to buy a new telly as ours would not fit where we wanted it to go.

Our buyers viewed three times, for similar reasons.

Talkingsinger

Thanks for the replies! Very informative.

I!!!8217;m also surprised people don!!!8217;t understand the need for measurements? I am a first time buyer with no furniture...firstly I need to budget for what I need, and secondly some of the stuff I am looking at (like a bed...kind of important) takes 6-8 weeks to be delivered. Also, there are some things on offer now that if I knew sizes could put a deposit on for the store to hold for me, worst case scenario the sale falls through, they can either hold it for longer or I could store it somewhere.

It!!!8217;s impossible to work out from the EA measurements as there are chimney breasts for one thing that affect what furniture will fit where. And aside from measurements it also benefits to be able to actually be able to visualise the space.

I mean I don!!!8217;t think it should be a god-given right to have access before completion but surely just as an act of courtesy once you!!!8217;re far enough along the process to demonstrate commitment to sale.

Lolly88

p00hsticks wrote: »

Floor plans don't usually show things like window width and length (for curtains), the position of electrical sockets or gaps in fitted kitchens for white goods.

It makes sense to me that people may want to know in advance if their existing furniture will fit or if they need to buy new / dispose of old - moving day is stressful enough without finding out then !

I've moved more times than I can count and never had to take measurements to know if my existing furniture would fit- I've used floor plans or deduced this from information obtained during the inital viewing. Once when I was moving somewhere that had a narrow space for the fridge freezer and I contacted the existing tenant to ask for the dimensions. So not something I'd have considered needing to do but to each their own.

And as for curtains I think it comes down to priorities- I would rather negotiate to keep the exisiting ones so something is in place for privacy. As with everything else that needs doing during moving I wouldn't want to be organising fitting curtains right away - essential furniture would come first.

My previous point still stands, timing is everything - I personally think all of these things are unnecessary before exchange of contracts or a date set. As a seller I wouldn't refuse such a visit but if the buyer had already been to view a few times I'd certainly be wishing that they were prioritizing getting their mortgage offer and legals sorted before doing these things.

ladywho

We're currently in the process of buying a house now.

We are going for our third (and final) viewing this weekend.

1st viewing was an open house.

2nd viewing we visited alone and made an offer the same day.

The offer was accepted and the survey was completed about 1 week ago.

So we asked for a 3rd viewing this weekend so we can taking measurements to see what furniture needs to be ordered etc

the_quick

Do people view multiple time to kind of feel, that they are doing something apart from waiting for the process to finalize?
We are waiting for exchange and apart fro 1st viewing, we did not go again. We made some notes and that's about it. I will be ordering bits like furniture, white good etc, when we move in. I wouldn't even dream of doing so before exchange and after it will be only 2 weeks till we move in - so I don't mind extra 2 weeks waiting.
Me as a seller, wouldn't mind much, but again you have to go through process of tidying the house and clean it - so buyers can come - bit of hassle tbh.
Everyone has own process.

Tabbytabitha

the_quick wrote: »

Do people view multiple time to kind of feel, that they are doing something apart from waiting for the process to finalize?
We are waiting for exchange and apart fro 1st viewing, we did not go again. We made some notes and that's about it. I will be ordering bits like furniture, white good etc, when we move in. I wouldn't even dream of doing so before exchange and after it will be only 2 weeks till we move in - so I don't mind extra 2 weeks waiting.
Me as a seller, wouldn't mind much, but again you have to go through process of tidying the house and clean it - so buyers can come - bit of hassle tbh.
Everyone has own process.

You're paying many thousands of pounds for a property you've only viewed once? Madness!