Potential Buyers don't even have house up for sale yet

mr_stripey · 8 October 2020 at 3:56PM

Hi
House has just gone up on the market today and EA already called saying they have someone who wants to take a look, however they don't yet have their own house on the market yet (they want to find somewhere before selling) which kind of seems a bit back to front. EA says "lots of people are doing this"

Thoughts?

FinallyStoppedLurking · 8 October 2020 at 3:58PM

Let them look but I certainly wouldn't be accepting an offer off someone in their position until a couple of months down the line.

newsgroupmonkey_ · 8 October 2020 at 4:01PM

FinallyStoppedLurking said:

Let them look but I certainly wouldn't be accepting an offer off someone in their position until a couple of months down the line.

Basically this. If they make an offer that suits you, I'd still not take it off the market. In fact, it gives you a bargaining chip if someone more proceedable comes along where you can say "well, look, I've got XYZ on the table, but if you can match it, it's yours!"

UnderOffer · 8 October 2020 at 4:04PM

We did exactly what your potential viewers are doing. We saw a property asked to view and explained we were not on market, viewed Saturday, loved it, listed ours by Thursday, expressed interest in our feedback and explained what we were doing, received offer on ours 2 weeks later, made offer, then a few months later moved in.

I was always thankful that the vendors allowed us to view before we were proceedable, had they not we would have probably not moved as only wanted that one style of home.

foxy-stoat · 8 October 2020 at 4:21PM

I am afraid its how estate agents cross sell, they get folk round to view your house when theirs isn't on the market and BS they way into advertising the potential buyers house thus earning 2 lots of commission while using your home to do so.

We had no fewer than 45 "buyers" look at my house in 2 months, only 15% of them were in a proceedable position, but it was ok as 1 of the people who wasn't on the market may win the lottery next week and buy your house outright.

Just wait until you want to view a property when you do not have an offer - you get the old, only proceedable people can view.

moneysavinghero · 8 October 2020 at 4:31PM

They only want to move if they find the right house. They have identified that your house could be that house. If it is and you accept their offer their house will go on the market. With the amount of time chains are taking to complete currently it wont add much time to the whole process.

You can always so no i don't want them viewing if you are not that interested in selling your house.

FinallyStoppedLurking · 8 October 2020 at 4:35PM

Do you think you will be able to attract first time buyers or are they likely to be priced out?
Even if you find buyers who have accepted an offer the chain might not be complete further down.

Still,m I'd leave it on the market at least a few weeks before accepting an offer from someone who hasn't sold.

SpendsLikeAnAubergine · 8 October 2020 at 4:56PM

It can work either way round. Putting your house on the market when you aren't even sure if there is anything out there you like is a lot of hassle. You might also end up wasting the time of buyers as you have no idea if you are really going to sell.

I viewed a property I liked and expressed an interest. The estate agents got mine on the market within three days and I had my offer accepted by the seller. I found a buyer for mine a week later. The seller then took a few weeks to find their new property so I was the one waiting! It's all fine now. We are waiting to exchange.

Eilidh1970 · 8 October 2020 at 5:05PM

When I was requesting viewings via Rightmove, the only option on their form that suited my circumstances was 'yes I have a property to sell, and no it's not on the market yet'. I did wonder if this would put any sellers off. In actual fact I'm buying first and selling later, so no chain. I think it's worth finding out more about potential buyers if they seem interested, and not automatically discounting them.

NinjaTune · 8 October 2020 at 5:11PM

Where I live you can't book a viewing unless your house is on the market. With COVID still live and kicking most sellers don't really want 'look see' viewers visiting their homes. The EAs in this area are rushed off their feet with plenty of proceedable buyers so they aren't entertaining people who haven't marketed their house yet. Even after I'd accepted an offer on my house I couldn't get a viewing on a property I liked for over a week. Didn't matter in the end as I viewed one a couple of days later which I loved and have had my offer accepted. I guess it depends on whether houses are selling fast in your area; if not then EAs are probably more flexible.