Vendor present at the viewing

RoisinDubh_2

RatInACage said:

You're being unreasonable. If he's working from home, he can't just leave. Maybe he didn't want to be there either and is having to put up with people staring at him all day when he's trying to work because he needs to sell. Maybe he can't do the viewings himself because he's working or because he has social anxiety.

If you had no interest just because the vendor looked at you, you shouldn't have finished the viewing because you were wasting everyone's time. The fact that you did finish the viewing "in case the place was nice" suggests that the vendor looking at you wasn't actually the dealbreaker you claimed it was.

Well, I'd walked an hour to get there and taken time off work. I didn't particularly want that to be a total waste so I tried not to worry and to just look around but really, I was so uncomfortable and anxious that I couldn't focus and so it was a waste of everyone's time, and they were responsible for that, not me. 

I even emailed the EA prior to the viewing to confirm that she would be wearing a mask and the windows were open, to which she replied 'of course, yes'. That was the point she should have told me she expected the vendor would be there and working. I would have arranged an evening appointment if I'd known.

Splatfoot

RoisinDubh_2 said:

swingaloo2 said:

Try to think of the 40+ people who have been inconvenienced by having you look round during the pandemic. 

You really are making too much of a fuss about it, yes you found it a little annoying that the vendor was there but you are potentially going to hand over a lot of money so you have every right to ask as many questions of the vendor or the agent as you wish.  

Inconvenienced??? They put their flat on the market! Nobody forced them to!

I think the buyer should the one who is accommodated when handing over lots of money, not the other way around! I understand that people are working from home now but I think if someone has gone to the trouble of going to view your property, you should really find a way to pop out for 15 minutes, or at the very least, let them know you'll be there and let them decide if they want to do it with the vendor present.

I think you're being a little over the top. When you pay a high street agent, you make them earn their money by doing the viewings. Even if you're there. And like other posters say, maybe he couldn't go out. Maybe he was working. 

RoisinDubh_2

cymruchris said:

As it appears to be something you feel very strongly about, and although the majority (me included) think it's a bit unreasonable - going forwards, rather than dwelling on this - just ensure you make it clear to any future viewing EA that you want the property empty during your inspection. No if's no but's. Then it'll not happen again. 

I mean, I literally emailed her to double check that the windows would be left open and she would be wearing a mask because I'm anxious about rising cases in the area. You would have thought that would have been her cue to tell me the vendor would be there and working, but no, apparently that was too subtle.

user1977

RoisinDubh_2 said:

cymruchris said:

As it appears to be something you feel very strongly about, and although the majority (me included) think it's a bit unreasonable - going forwards, rather than dwelling on this - just ensure you make it clear to any future viewing EA that you want the property empty during your inspection. No if's no but's. Then it'll not happen again. 

I mean, I literally emailed her to double check that the windows would be left open and she would be wearing a mask because I'm anxious about rising cases in the area. You would have thought that would have been her cue to tell me the vendor would be there and working, but no, apparently that was too subtle.

Maybe she didn't have prior warning that he'd be there either.

cymruchris

RoisinDubh_2 said:

cymruchris said:

As it appears to be something you feel very strongly about, and although the majority (me included) think it's a bit unreasonable - going forwards, rather than dwelling on this - just ensure you make it clear to any future viewing EA that you want the property empty during your inspection. No if's no but's. Then it'll not happen again. 

I mean, I literally emailed her to double check that the windows would be left open and she would be wearing a mask because I'm anxious about rising cases in the area. You would have thought that would have been her cue to tell me the vendor would be there and working, but no, apparently that was too subtle.

If you don't want someone there - say you don't want someone there. Be clear. Don't be subtle. 

Pok3mon

Have you considered renting, buying seems to make you anxious.

RoisinDubh_2

Deleted_User said:

In our area this is perfectly normal. However, I understand that maybe in a small environment either EA or vendor might be better.

Are you a first time buyer? I'm just wondering because I think when you've tried to sell a property you understand that it's not easy to completely change every element of your life (especially work) to accomodate viewings and working from home makes this more so.

The big point is that you've dismissed this property because of that and given you've dismissed 40+ other properties I think perhaps you need to be a little more realistic / may be dismissing things for the wrong reason. There are often inconveniences that you have to look past in a viewing.

Perhaps it would have been better to say to the EA nicely that you find it particularly difficult to really get a feel for a small property when the vendor is present as well and would there be a convenient time you could pop back with just the EA (at the weekend for example).

I think telling the EA that you dismissed the property solely for that reason is the over-reaction part / unreasonable part in my eyes.

Yes, I am. A previous landlady sold her property while I was living in it, so I had to put up with loads of buyers coming around, in a flat I was being evicted from, for absolutely no benefit whatsoever for me and lots of inconvenience. I find it hard to understand the mindset of someone who is selling their own property and finds it too much of an inconvenience to let a potential buyer have a proper look around. This is a flat in London with no outside space...they are definitely not being inundated. 

I think from now on I will tell EAs that I only want to see properties where the vendor isn't there, but I'm in total disbelief that this isn't obvious. The place I saw today was about 35 square metres...there just isn't space for the vendor to be working in there while the EA is showing me around! I will say this....that I would like to be able to look properly and imagine myself living there and where I'd put my furniture etc, check out the view out of the window.....very difficult to do that with people there. Most of the places the EA has stayed back and let me enter rooms alone and get a feel for them, and that is much better.

RoisinDubh_2

SallyCinnamon said:

When we were selling, both working from home and with my 12 year old remote learning at jome as well, we said to the EA that we could only accommodate weekend viewings. Potentially a Thursday at a push as it's my non working day and my work calendar is the busiest.

We still had numerous requests to accommodate vendors wishing to view during the week, didn't want to view on a weekend etc. In normal times, we'd be in the office in the week and no problem but not all buyers seem to appreciate the difficulties at the moment. I felt awful saying no, but the alternative would have been to stay there and keep working 

That's fine. I didn't push for a weekday viewing - they suggested it. That's what I'm so annoyed about, they were the ones who pushed me to view asap when I would have been perfectly happy doing the weekend or one evening after work if they'd just communicated to me that they'd be there. 

sammyjammy

comeandgo said:

I always show prospective buyers, it allows  me to weed out FTB and any people I don’t like.

and people that have already viewed 43 properties like OP?

RoisinDubh_2

SameOldRoundabout said:

RoisinDubh_2 said:

Pok3mon said:

If you have viewed 40+ properties I feel the vendor being there is not the issue.

Not sure what you're trying to imply with your pathetic snippiness, but my budget unexpectedly increased and my desired location changed, so I went back to square one after taking some time off. I viewed about 10 properties in a couple of days while briefly considering a commuter town which I ultimately decided not to go for. That alright with you?

Gosh I hope your attitude at the viewings has been politer than on this thread. I’m another vote for you being unreasonable on this. 

Come on...why is it even relevant how many properties I've seen? That's just rude, has nothing to do with the question I'm asking, and is presumptuous, not knowing my situation. I haven't seen 40 properties because I'm fussy, my personal circumstances have hugely changed and I've ended up changing what I'm looking for a few times. 

Fair enough that people don't agree with me. I find it very surprising that people find it acceptable to expose a buyer to a vendor sitting there without a mask on in an unventilated room when there's a highly transmissable covid variant spreading like wildfire, especially when that buyer has already asked about covid precautions, but now I know to ask before every viewing.