Vendor present at the viewing

elsien

Just wait till after the 19th then it’ll probably all be academic anyway. What will you be doing then? 

RoisinDubh_2

MysteryMe said:

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. 

And now I understand why we have 20,000+ covid cases a day and a new variant which has spread everywhere. Expecting a vendor to leave a property so there aren't 3-4 people in a tiny cramped flat, or at least to wear a bloody mask, is 'having demands'.

RoisinDubh_2

RatInACage said:

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.

Maybe...but then the agent should have told me he'd be there when I asked about covid precautions, clearly anxious. I'm not saying he doesn't have the right to ask for anything he wants, I'm saying that it's unfair to spring it on me. I will have to ask every time now to avoid the tiniest chance of this happening again, when really it should be obvious! I'm sure the agents will find me weird for asking, because that's just how obvious it is! For the umpteenth time, it's in their own guidelines that vendors must leave for viewings! 

RoisinDubh_2

elsien said:

Just wait till after the 19th then it’ll probably all be academic anyway. What will you be doing then? 

Why academic?

fiveacre

RoisinDubh_2 said:

And now I understand why we have 20,000+ covid cases a day and a new variant which has spread everywhere. Expecting a vendor to leave a property so there aren't 3-4 people in a tiny cramped flat, or at least to wear a bloody mask, is 'having demands'.

Of course, it was the pesky property viewings all along!

What isn't quite clear, is did you actually ask them to leave or have a quiet word with the agent about this at any point during this excruciating viewing?

Pok3mon

The vendor wearing a mask is pointless if your wearing one, the whole flat would be contaminated anyway.

Personally I would open windows on viewings Covid or not.

TBF I would stop looking until after the pandemic is over or find empty properties.

Sunsaru

RoisinDubh_2 said:

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. 

You will have to take the agent up on their rules but..

Yes the vendor expected you to wear a mask, I would too! But as I said before, he may have reasons for not wearing a mask himself.

And one more thing, if our politicians don't follow the rules don't expect the common man to either.

Pok3mon

RoisinDubh_2 said:

elsien said:

Just wait till after the 19th then it’ll probably all be academic anyway. What will you be doing then? 

Why academic?

All restrictions are ending including masks!

elsien

RoisinDubh_2 said:

elsien said:

Just wait till after the 19th then it’ll probably all be academic anyway. What will you be doing then? 

Why academic?

Because that is the potential date for removing restrictions and where the government are considering removing the requirement to wear a mask indoors. 

[Deleted User]

RoisinDubh_2 said:

Maybe...but then the agent should have told me he'd be there when I asked about covid precautions, clearly anxious. I'm not saying he doesn't have the right to ask for anything he wants, I'm saying that it's unfair to spring it on me. I will have to ask every time now to avoid the tiniest chance of this happening again, when really it should be obvious! I'm sure the agents will find me weird for asking, because that's just how obvious it is! For the umpteenth time, it's in their own guidelines that vendors must leave for viewings! 

The thing is, you said you'd be annoyed about him being there even if we weren't in covid times. If it was simply a question of whether or not the EA should be more careful about covid precautions, then yes, they should, but you've gone through this whole thing about how vendors should never be there and you can't offer on the property because he was looking at you and that's what makes your position unreasonable.