Are viewings allowed?

redtartancurtains

Hi all,

This may have been covered but I couldn't see it on my glance through the forum... my question is, are viewings allowed at the moment?

I have my house up for sale, eight weeks with very little interest and only one viewing. I've seen properties coming up in the area I'm interested in and I've been holding off but I just saw one that was very interested to me, I just called to ask to view the house, one which I know is vacant, and was told that they are only allowing viewings on houses from people who have accepted an offer on their property. I understand that they don't want to waste anyone's time, but surely if no one can view a house then there won't be any offers? 

Now I'm wondering if people are trying to view my house but because they don't have an offer, they are being told no? Has anyone else encountered this? I just wanted to get some feedback from people before I call my estate agent and ask.

Thank you in advance!

grumiofoundation

Which part of the UK do you live in? 

redtartancurtains

grumiofoundation said:

Which part of the UK do you live in? 

Oh, good question! England!

Comms69

Viewings have been allowed for a while (and i still argue weren't ever banned)

redtartancurtains

Comms69 said:

Viewings have been allowed for a while (and i still argue weren't ever banned)

That’s my understanding, but I’m hearing this more and more so I wanted to see what other people’s experience is. 

boldaslove

My partner and I are FTB in the North West and have been attending viewings for the last month. Most of the time they've been with the vendors, one or two with the Estate Agents. We were advised to wear masks and gloves and remove our shoes at almost every one. It's been trickier than last year (we started house hunting in Autumn and postponed it due to the lockdown) and often a house had sold before we've been able to get a viewing but on the whole we've been able to get viewings relatively quickly.

We have hit delays with some EAs wanting to see proof of finances before they'd let us book viewings so it might be worth checking if your EA is doing this?

AdrianC

redtartancurtains said:

I have my house up for sale, eight weeks with very little interest and only one viewing. I've seen properties coming up in the area I'm interested in and I've been holding off but I just saw one that was very interested to me, I just called to ask to view the house, one which I know is vacant, and was told that they are only allowing viewings on houses from people who have accepted an offer on their property. I understand that they don't want to waste anyone's time, but surely if no one can view a house then there won't be any offers? 

Now I'm wondering if people are trying to view my house but because they don't have an offer, they are being told no? 

So you see the place, like it, and want to put in an offer...

But you haven't had much interest at all on yours. You want that vendor to wait for you to get an offer? That might be months...

Let's say somebody views your place, puts in an offer... but they've had their place on the market for two months without so much as a sniff... What would you think?

redtartancurtains

AdrianC said:

redtartancurtains said:

I have my house up for sale, eight weeks with very little interest and only one viewing. I've seen properties coming up in the area I'm interested in and I've been holding off but I just saw one that was very interested to me, I just called to ask to view the house, one which I know is vacant, and was told that they are only allowing viewings on houses from people who have accepted an offer on their property. I understand that they don't want to waste anyone's time, but surely if no one can view a house then there won't be any offers? 

Now I'm wondering if people are trying to view my house but because they don't have an offer, they are being told no? 

So you see the place, like it, and want to put in an offer...

But you haven't had much interest at all on yours. You want that vendor to wait for you to get an offer? That might be months...

Let's say somebody views your place, puts in an offer... but they've had their place on the market for two months without so much as a sniff... What would you think?

Or, I see the place, like it and wait to put an offer in until I have an offer... thus leaving the property free to accept other offers in the meantime which is how it's always worked for me in the past. Or place a provisional offer which could be obviously rejected later down the line.

Likewise, if someone offered on my property and they hadn't got an offer on theirs yet, I'd accept under the provision that if someone else came along in a more ready state, I'd have to accept that offer. It's an offer, not a contract.

My point is, if no one is allowed to view unless they have an offer... then the market is going to be dead save for the few FTB and cash purchasers. I was wondering if this is standard practice now, if so I'd be better off taking my house off the market and leaving it a few months.

AdrianC

redtartancurtains said:

Or, I see the place, like it and wait to put an offer in until I have an offer... thus leaving the property free to accept other offers in the meantime which is how it's always worked for me in the past.

So why not just view it when you're ready to place an offer?

My point is, if no one is allowed to view unless they have an offer... then the market is going to be dead save for the few FTB and cash purchasers. I was wondering if this is standard practice now

Always has been. Non-proceedable viewers are a waste of everybody's time.

This isn't Covid-specific. This is just situation normal. Nobody is going to take you seriously, since you aren't proceedable.

if so I'd be better off taking my house off the market and leaving it a few months.

Umm, how are you going to get any viewings and an offer if your place isn't even on the market?

Get an offer, THEN start looking.

redtartancurtains

Would be grateful for anyone else's experiences, have you been able to book viewings? Thanks all!

dramaticat

I can't answer your question, but I'm likely to be in the same position as you in the not-too-distant future. After toying with the idea of selling up to downsize for the last three years, I was prompted to get estate agents round for valuations in February when a number of properties that might suit me came on the market – over the past three years hardly any suitable properties came up for sale, one of the reasons I hadn't done anything before. Then Covid-19 hit and everything went on the back burner. The announcement about stamp duty has made me decide to have another go now.

Anyway, when I was getting valuations on my house, I managed to book viewings of the houses on the books of the estate agents I invited round. I suspect that it might still be possible to get estate agents to arrange viewings as a way of getting me to place my house sale with them, but I am wondering if, once I'm on the market but no offers, it will all change.

I get the thing about not letting people who aren't even on the market view (although I might be happy to do that at the beginning until I get fed up tidying up!), but I'm with you that it seems counter-productive not to allow people with their house on the market to view. Accepting offers is a completely different thing – I certainly wouldn't be taking my house off the market for someone who isn't proceed able.

What makes my situation even more difficult is that I am looking to buy in an extremely limited pool of properties. I am trying to steel myself for the prospect of having to sell and rent for who knows how long until the right property comes up, always assuming I can sell mine!