Neighbour Trying to Poach Our Buyers

Grumpy_chap

If I was the OP, I would just ignore this and do nothing.

• Partly because this is all just hearsay
• Partly because the OP is paying a professional to manage the sale and should let them do their job without let or hindrance
• Partly because there is nothing the OP can do anyway (especially as not living locally to the property being sold)

BUT, mostly, because I can't see that any of this will make a difference in terms of prospective buyers.  If I was viewing the property and the neighbour came out and mentioned they were also selling up, I really think my first thought would be that it was just a weird comment and I'd likely ignore them or, maybe, make a mental note to see if that property came up on local EA's in the next couple of days. 

Any buyer will also be looking at other properties and deciding, from those that are actually for sale, which one to go for.  If they see a property they want to make an offer on, I very much doubt that any serious buyer would delay pending a property that is speculated may come on the market in the near future, particularly as "near future" has no timescale to it.

The only time that I can see the possibility of the next door property becoming available in the near future would be if the  property I saw was "perfect" except that it is dated needing modernisation and the one next door was in immaculate fashionable condition plus the sunny conservatory plus the landscaped garden plus the porch plus the newly fitted kitchen / bathroom plus the double glazing plus the central heating plus the solar power battery energy system, and still going to be largely the same purchase price.  There is nothing in this thread to indicate that this is the case so, if someone wants to go with the property the OP is selling and next door is not really "on-the-market" any purchaser will make an offer for the OP's property.

macman

Depends if the potential buyers are put off by their interventions or not. Some might consider them charming eccentrics who fancied a friendly chat over the garden fence, others might be deterred from buying a property next door to cheapskate weirdos.

AdrianC

This isn't about you vs the neighbout.
This is the neighbour vs the EA.

If the neighbour got over themselves, and listed with an EA, then buyers would be free to be "poached" as you describe it. The only difference here is the neighbour has an unusual attitude to the marketing of their property...

warby68

Its very cheeky but tight people are known for being cheeky.
I would think the agent has plenty of tactics for smoothing things over with the potential buyers 
Its probably best not to do too much.
Unless there is some marvelous bargain, I'm not sure many buyers would take a chancer too seriously. More likely to put them off as a potential neighbour so keeping it friendly (with gritted teeth) is probably the best bet to avoid even dirtier tactics

rach_k

You could ask a stream of friends and family to pretend to be viewers, go for a viewing next door and then announce at the end that they were just being nosy - that would certainly put me off inviting more people in to view!  

csgohan4

rach_k said:

You could ask a stream of friends and family to pretend to be viewers, go for a viewing next door and then announce at the end that they were just being nosy - that would certainly put me off inviting more people in to view!  

Or make derogatory comments about the contents of the house and how poorly furnished and condition it was in

AdrianC

csgohan4 said:

rach_k said:

You could ask a stream of friends and family to pretend to be viewers, go for a viewing next door and then announce at the end that they were just being nosy - that would certainly put me off inviting more people in to view!  

Or make derogatory comments about the contents of the house and how poorly furnished and condition it was in

"We looked at next door the other day - FAR nicer, and much better value."