Vendor present at the viewing

RoisinDubh_2

fiveacre said:

RoisinDubh_2 said:

So how many properties do you think is 'acceptable'?

Having recently sold a property and hosted all viewings as the vendor, it was a common conversation starter to ask how their search was going. Had someone said they'd viewed 40+ properties I'd assume they were probably not a serious buyer. Most people reported they had viewed about 3 or 4 so far - the eventual buyer viewed 2 others.

OK, well I asked around my colleagues and not one of them who recently bought as a FTB in London saw fewer than 30 properties. Not one. A lot of London properties on the low end of the market end up being totally unsuitable on viewing...there's quite a fine line between 'this would be alright for a few years if I did it up' and 'this is actually a hellhole'. 

RoisinDubh_2

swingaloo2 said:

There does seem to be a lot of 'attitude' on your part. despite several people answering your question and saying that you were being unreasonable you still continue to argue and in some cases be quite rude to people taking time to reply.

If I were selling a flat in the area you were looking and I was reading this thread I would really hope you would not request to view mine. I suspect that even some of the agents may have you down as a time waster now.

Well that would be unlikely given that I've been looking in several different areas and have not seen more than a couple of flats with any one agent! How do you expect me not to be defensive when coming out with such things?

If you were selling a flat and you wouldn't want me to view it because I'm cautious about covid and like to be able to look around without someone staring at me, then that's a bit stupid really. Almost all the agents state that vendors will not be present at viewings. It's simply unfair to breach their own rules.

RoisinDubh_2

chiff said:

RoisinDubh_2 said:

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.

Hahaha!! Of course, you weren't being presumptuous in assuming that the vendor could make themselves scarce and that they should know that - almost like you don't know their situation

But that's on them!!! They hold all the cards. If they don't want people viewing during the day, then all they need to say is 'I'm working from home during the day, can you come after 5 or at the weekend?' Rather than going against the agents' own guidelines and government advice about minimising exposure.

How is it so hard?

fiveacre

RoisinDubh_2 said:

OK, well I asked around my colleagues and not one of them who recently bought as a FTB in London saw fewer than 30 properties. Not one.

Surely by property 20 you would think, maybe let's adjust our Rightmove filters?

RoisinDubh_2

BeerSavesMoney said:

RoisinDubh_2 said:

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.

Honestly if you are so worried about COVID then you shouldn’t be viewing properties, end off. Another vote for you being unreasonable. 

I'm not 'so worried', I'm the level of worried that is appropriate. I'm fine with viewing properties with windows open and where all parties are in masks. This is what I agree to prior to viewings, and this is how it should be. 

fiveacre

As a practical suggestion, next time you encounter this, say to the EA - "Really sorry to be fussy, I'm a bit worried about Covid, any chance the vendor could step out for a few minutes or wear a mask during the viewing - and would we be able to open the windows as we talked about? I'm being a bit careful as I've viewed quite a few properties so conscious I'm going into lots of people's houses".

That might achieve the desired outcome more successfully.

MysteryMe

Sadly for you OP, the world does not revolve around you and your demands.  I think to save wasting yours and other people's time in future just give the EA a precise list of your requirements including who is and isn't allowed to be present during the viewing and if a property comes onto the market that meets them they give you a call. 

RoisinDubh_2

Sunsaru said:

For me personally, I don't have a problem with the number of viewings you undertaken but I do feel your over reacting to this one.
Your comfort levels are down to you and your anxieties and you seem to only willing to look at your point of view. You are being invited to view someones house therefore it's their rules not yours. The vendor could have umpteen reasons to be there. The vendor could be medically exempt from wearing a mask. He may have anxiety about having people in his house without him being there. The list is endless.
The long and short of it is, you went, your viewed, you didn't like it. No crime committed, move on.

But the issue here is going against what is commonly understood as the norm...that being in an enclosed space with someone without a mask is not OK. The agents OWN RULES state this. The vendor expected ME to wear a mask, but didn't return the same courtesy, which I find incredibly disrespectful. Had I been told that the vendor would be present and not wearing a mask, I wouldn't have booked in for the viewing. 

I think the onus is on the vendor to make the EA aware that they will be present for viewings and to make sure the EA relays that. The issue I have was never that he was there, it was that I was not only not made aware of it, but actually actively misled when I asked about covid precautions. Why is it so hard to be honest?

I do think that it's unreasonable to expect to be at viewings when selling a house, BTW. It's incredibly awkward. Even as a renter I've always been expected to leave the property while people came to view. 

[Deleted User]

RoisinDubh_2 said:

chiff said:

RoisinDubh_2 said:

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.

Hahaha!! Of course, you weren't being presumptuous in assuming that the vendor could make themselves scarce and that they should know that - almost like you don't know their situation

But that's on them!!! They hold all the cards. If they don't want people viewing during the day, then all they need to say is 'I'm working from home during the day, can you come after 5 or at the weekend?' Rather than going against the agents' own guidelines and government advice about minimising exposure.

How is it so hard?

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.

Maybe he's struggling to sell due to the market being a bit less nuts there than elsewhere, so he told the EA to bring people any time and doesn't feel like he can refuse any viewings.

You're saying they hold all the cards, but you also said they should accomodate buyers, rather than doing things that are more convenient for them. Surely that's what he's doing by letting buyers view any time--even when he's trying to work.

RoisinDubh_2

fiveacre said:

RoisinDubh_2 said:

OK, well I asked around my colleagues and not one of them who recently bought as a FTB in London saw fewer than 30 properties. Not one.

Surely by property 20 you would think, maybe let's adjust our Rightmove filters?

do you just not know London very well? It has nothing to do with filters. It's a massive city. Anyone looking in multiple parts of London is going to end up seeing a lot of properties unless they get very lucky and find somewhere great early on. One colleague put offers on 3 places which all fell through for various reasons that weren't his fault. I offered on a place where the vendors couldn't find what they wanted for their budget and took the flat off the market again, and that's when I ended up going back to square one.