"Buyers" who don't even have their house on the market

lisyloo

their stuff's usually all over the place, washing up undone/drying, washing in the machine or on the line being watched in case it rains, dossing about catching the latest episode of the telly, pile of washing ready to go into the machine... to get the house looking how it did in the photos is an hour ... and then you have to pack the entire household up and bundle them outside into the car and "hide"....

How hard it it to dry up and pick up your laundry and put it in the machine or the basket?
Never go out?


Yes there is some effort involved to market your home, but what do people expect?


Suggest it at a time that suits your schedule but don't expect to live like a complete slob (some of us don't leave our knickers on the floor) and then expect to expend no effort. I'd tell them to come when I'm out and after I'd done the cleaning, so to an extent they have to fit in with me, which surely should be expected if you live there.

Getting a viewing is an emotional rollercoaster too, as you hope this is "the one".... then it turns out it's not.

A change of mindset required especially if they are not on the market.

Horizon81

I'm doing the viewings. After all, it's my house and I live in it. When I was viewing houses it was always the homeowner doing the viewing unless it was a repo or the owner lived elsewhere. That's how it works round here anyway.

I'm a realistic vendor. I don't get phased by viewings or get all stressed about them. My concern was more around having my time wasted.

hazyjo

I've viewed many houses before putting mine on the market.


Firstly, can't judge them in photos so want to make sure it's worth me moving and I can afford what I want.


Secondly, I was looking some distance away last time I moved. I wanted to be able to ring up with an immediate offer once I had an offer on mine. I didn't want to wait for an offer, then wait for a house to come on the market and have to wait up to a week or two to be able to view it.


The one I bought, I viewed once in around Oct/Nov 2016, then she took it off the market. EA said she was going to remarket in several months' time again as she was going abroad for a while. I wrote to her saying we were very interested in it and would she consider an offer rather than remarketing when she eventually came to sell. She agreed. Sorted a price in around April or May, we eventually got a buyer, and we completed in Nov 2017.


I always let people view - with or without a buyer/complete chain.

lisyloo

My concern was more around having my time wasted.

It's a valid concern but the flip side is not showing people round who might end up being a buyer.
Have you asked your agent what they are doing to qualify buyers?

armchaireconomist

I live in semi-rural North East and do on occasion check what's for sale. If something came up perfect for me in an estate I like I would go view without a doubt, despite not having mine up for sale. I would never view for the sake of it - would I be a "time waster"?

FloProActiv

lisyloo wrote: »

Can this be got around by suggesting a time thats convenient to you, perhaps a time when you are out and not eating at home and fits in with your cleaning schedule.


A serious buyer would be flexible around times.

I disagree. Even serious buyers might have commitments which mean that they can only view at certain times - when we were buying, we could only really do weekend viewings, as I work 2 hours away, so couldn't do daytime viewings without taking time off. The one time I tried to arrange a late evening viewing, I had to call and cancel because the train line I use was up the spout so had no way of getting back in time (and therefore wasted other vendor and estate agent's time)

todayisagreatday

I was a seller in the same position, had an elderly lady who came to view with her daughter. She was downsizing not on market, she loved my house, went home marketed hers with the same agent. Within 48 hrs hers had SSTC to a FTB. Three weeks before completion, two weeks before exchange she pulled the plug 'struggling to come to terms with downsizing'. Another one pretty similar but she ended up not being able to sell hers and we had another buyer come along.

Prior to putting mine on the market we had been those time wasters on the basis mine would sell quickly we didn't see any issues, however It took 18 months for mine to sell, mainly because it was too big for one person too small for two people according to the majority of feedback! We viewed and lost two houses but I'm glad as we have the perfect home now.

It's hard as on one hand you think they are time wasters but then they could love your gouse and move quickly if theirs sells. You could always suggest they use the same agent if they mention selling as we did find that when we had our agent marketing the potential buyers properties they acted quickly as the potential for two sales.

PasturesNew

lisyloo wrote: »

How hard it it to dry up and pick up your laundry and put it in the machine or the basket?

It's all the other stuff.... looking around right now, if an agent said "somebody in the office, going home at 7am, can they come in an hour?" .... I've clothes to put away that are tossed on the chair, phone leads to unplug/tidy away, two paperwork folders to put away, gather up old socks taken off and chucked in the corner, mug to wash up ... blimey, yesterday's main meal to wash up and dry and put away and wipe down the sink/drainer, 2-3 kitchen appliances to tuck away into tight cupboards, loos to check, 2 bags of "random stuff" to be emptied/tidied/folded and put away, vacuum to be put away ... two net curtains to remove, fold, tuck away, windows to check for whether I want to leave them open/closed, curtains to open properly/arrange ..... the entire PC, keyboard, monitor assembly to dismantle and tuck away/hide and a piece of furniture to move.... bed linen to be given a toss in the air and pillows to plump ... hide my knickers in the washing pile (might take all that in the car with me ... anything else I can take in the car? Oh, probably the contents of the bin and fit a new bag in there).... and get the new entrance mat out and put that down, taking the grotty ones in the car with me.... and that's just sitting here looking 10' around me and thinking of the immediate things that need a nudge.

"Yes ... in an hour you say? No problem".

trailingspouse

It's the most expensive thing you will ever sell. So why wouldn't you make all the effort you could in order to sell it?

When I move house, I treat it as a job - and a job that is likely to 'pay' far more than any other job around. Even if I have no viewings booked, I make sure the house is clean and tidy (yes, hoovering every day if needed), wipe the loo, tidy the towels, wipe down the kitchen sides etc. That way if I get a call to say someone wants to view that evening, I know the house just needs a quick look over when I get in from work.

I prefer to do the viewings myself, as I know I can 'sell' - rather than have someone from the estate agents who doesn't give a d@mn. I plan what route I'll take in order to show the house to the best advantage (eg avoiding having to squeeze past the bins!).

Reading what some people have written on this thread, anyone would think the estate agents are forcing them to sell!!!

SeasideSally

My husband and I both work from home, so the upheaval of viewings is a big thing. We know that we can't just drop everything and make ourselves scarce for viewings, especially if there are (fingers crossed) a lot of them. So, we decided to move out.

I don't personally care who comes around, as we won't be here. It's only when people start making offers (again, fingers crossed, big ones and quickly) that we'll vet them.

A person might be utterly unprepared, see our house and fall head over heels in love with it, rush off and put their house on the market, sell overnight, make an offer on our place, and hey presto we're off. You never know.