What questions to ask Estate Agent about viewers?

Snookie12cat

FTBs are great on paper but can often be difficult as they don't have realistic expectations of buying a house (granted not all FTBs are like this as i wasn't).

We had an FTB view our last house, when i arrived back they were chatting to the EA on the drive and i said hello upon which they continued to tell me the house has potential when its fully re-decorated. They made an offer £25k below asking as they stipulated all rooms need to be repainted (they didn't just not their taste), bathrooms replaced to a modern standard and a complete rip out of the kitchen. A caveat they also added was completion in 12 weeks no later and that i would have to have the kitchen units removed so that the kitchen company could come in on completion day.

I will always look at other offers before i consider an FTB.

They tend to always get surveys which they read every little thing as the end of the world and start trying to get money off for things that would otherwise not bother someone with more experience. Some are very slow as well as they have no clue what they are suppose to do. 

custardly

Snookie12cat said:

FTBs are great on paper but can often be difficult as they don't have realistic expectations of buying a house (granted not all FTBs are like this as i wasn't).

We had an FTB view our last house, when i arrived back they were chatting to the EA on the drive and i said hello upon which they continued to tell me the house has potential when its fully re-decorated. They made an offer £25k below asking as they stipulated all rooms need to be repainted (they didn't just not their taste), bathrooms replaced to a modern standard and a complete rip out of the kitchen. A caveat they also added was completion in 12 weeks no later and that i would have to have the kitchen units removed so that the kitchen company could come in on completion day.

I will always look at other offers before i consider an FTB.

They tend to always get surveys which they read every little thing as the end of the world and start trying to get money off for things that would otherwise not bother someone with more experience. Some are very slow as well as they have no clue what they are suppose to do. 

Interesting how our experiences can be so different. I love selling to FTBs as from my experience they offer the highest due to FOMO.

Okey00001

eddddy said:

Are you saying you want the estate agent to phone you with details of each viewing request...

... so that you can say "yes - tell them they can view" or "no - tell them they can't view"?

If that's correct, I can see why the estate agent won't agree to that.

(Put yourself in the viewer's shoes, when they're told "I'm sorry but the seller has assessed your situation and decided that you can't view his/her property.)



I'd suggest that you handle this differently.

If you have requirements about the types of viewers you'll accept, tell the Estate Agent in advance what they are. 

For example, tell the estate agent to only arrange viewings from proceedable buyers, such as:

• FTBs
• People with no property to sell
• People whose own property is already under offer

It's much less offensive to prospective viewers to be told that there are 'blanket rules' about who can view, rather than suggesting that they will be personally assessed.

It is not about the type but time wasters! Please read my email, I have had so many in the past and wondered why the agent ever sent them to my house.

Okey00001

Snookie12cat said:

Okey00001 said:

How can I ask the Estate Agent if the person viewing the house is seriously looking to buy and what their status is?

(Are they selling their own property, first time buyers, etc).

Estate agent has been vague about viewers and when the prospective buyer viewed the property, I was informed afterwards that they weren't ready to buy yet/just looking/didnt like the area!  What was the point of them being there?!

**Maybe I am wrong and would be grateful for advise  about what to ask the agent about a viewer's status - (will I offend them by asking this question or do I have a right to ask them?)**

You can ask the agent to only show around people in a proceedable position, but even then you will still get timewasters who, do not look at the photos?!, do not drive to the area or even look at it before seeing the house, have no clue what they want. Then you get the ones who offer, and then change their mind because they didn't think it through first.

It seems to be part of selling that non serious buyers just come around to browse. Personally, before I view, I have driven to the area, looked at all the photos, the council tax, the room sizes. I am confident I will like the place and buy it if it matches what I expect.... turns out most people do not do this.

Thank you Snookie,  you would think people/viewers would do a thorough check like you did as it will be the biggest thing they will ever buy.  That is my argument -  so many time wasters who were just looking and not serious about buying.  It is not about type of buyer but is the buyer seriously looking for a house. Does the agent just send anyone? If they vet them, I'd like to know a bit more - to make sure the estate agent is doing their job!

Snookie12cat

Okey00001 said:

Snookie12cat said:

Okey00001 said:

How can I ask the Estate Agent if the person viewing the house is seriously looking to buy and what their status is?

(Are they selling their own property, first time buyers, etc).

Estate agent has been vague about viewers and when the prospective buyer viewed the property, I was informed afterwards that they weren't ready to buy yet/just looking/didnt like the area!  What was the point of them being there?!

**Maybe I am wrong and would be grateful for advise  about what to ask the agent about a viewer's status - (will I offend them by asking this question or do I have a right to ask them?)**

You can ask the agent to only show around people in a proceedable position, but even then you will still get timewasters who, do not look at the photos?!, do not drive to the area or even look at it before seeing the house, have no clue what they want. Then you get the ones who offer, and then change their mind because they didn't think it through first.

It seems to be part of selling that non serious buyers just come around to browse. Personally, before I view, I have driven to the area, looked at all the photos, the council tax, the room sizes. I am confident I will like the place and buy it if it matches what I expect.... turns out most people do not do this.

Thank you Snookie,  you would think people/viewers would do a thorough check like you did as it will be the biggest thing they will ever buy.  That is my argument -  so many time wasters who were just looking and not serious about buying.  It is not about type of buyer but is the buyer seriously looking for a house. Does the agent just send anyone? If they vet them, I'd like to know a bit more - to make sure the estate agent is doing their job!

Its impossible to know who are serious and who are not, that's the real problem. I sold mine without an agent, vetted everyone myself and booked in the viewings and did them. I still had people do all of the things I mentioned. Some who seemed to have 0 interest on the viewing actually offered a week later - you can just never know  

TheJP

custardly said:

Snookie12cat said:

FTBs are great on paper but can often be difficult as they don't have realistic expectations of buying a house (granted not all FTBs are like this as i wasn't).

We had an FTB view our last house, when i arrived back they were chatting to the EA on the drive and i said hello upon which they continued to tell me the house has potential when its fully re-decorated. They made an offer £25k below asking as they stipulated all rooms need to be repainted (they didn't just not their taste), bathrooms replaced to a modern standard and a complete rip out of the kitchen. A caveat they also added was completion in 12 weeks no later and that i would have to have the kitchen units removed so that the kitchen company could come in on completion day.

I will always look at other offers before i consider an FTB.

They tend to always get surveys which they read every little thing as the end of the world and start trying to get money off for things that would otherwise not bother someone with more experience. Some are very slow as well as they have no clue what they are suppose to do. 

Interesting how our experiences can be so different. I love selling to FTBs as from my experience they offer the highest due to FOMO.

They may offer the highest but are also the ones asking for silly reductions based on the scaremongering survey. My friend lost an FTB who out bid everyone due to a trivial piece of paper. They wanted indemnity insurance and £10k reduction. They pulled out, thankfully one of the other bidders was still interested and went ahead. The FTB came back a month later trying to get the house again after they realised they couldn't find anything they liked.

lookstraightahead

How would a buyer even know if they are serious about your house? They might hate it when they see it, or might think it's dramatically overpriced, or they might not think you are interested in moving out as quickly as possible.

ehat is it about your house that makes you think everyone will come away feeling they want to buy it? I've viewed houses where the photos that the vendor had used are really not what things look like, and as soon as you walk in, you know it's not fit you. Perhaps what they should do is ask buyers for blatant honesty instead. Like the photos don't show the house in it's true light, etc.

There are an awful lot of vendors who definitely aren't serious about selling. They want to set the terms 'l won't move out unless I find exactly what I'm looking for'.

I was a very serious buyer, but I found a lot of vendors not serious at all, and they're still there trying to move,

best thing you can do is let people view!!

lookstraightahead

Okey00001 said:

Snookie12cat said:

Okey00001 said:

How can I ask the Estate Agent if the person viewing the house is seriously looking to buy and what their status is?

(Are they selling their own property, first time buyers, etc).

Estate agent has been vague about viewers and when the prospective buyer viewed the property, I was informed afterwards that they weren't ready to buy yet/just looking/didnt like the area!  What was the point of them being there?!

**Maybe I am wrong and would be grateful for advise  about what to ask the agent about a viewer's status - (will I offend them by asking this question or do I have a right to ask them?)**

You can ask the agent to only show around people in a proceedable position, but even then you will still get timewasters who, do not look at the photos?!, do not drive to the area or even look at it before seeing the house, have no clue what they want. Then you get the ones who offer, and then change their mind because they didn't think it through first.

It seems to be part of selling that non serious buyers just come around to browse. Personally, before I view, I have driven to the area, looked at all the photos, the council tax, the room sizes. I am confident I will like the place and buy it if it matches what I expect.... turns out most people do not do this.

Thank you Snookie,  you would think people/viewers would do a thorough check like you did as it will be the biggest thing they will ever buy.  That is my argument -  so many time wasters who were just looking and not serious about buying.  It is not about type of buyer but is the buyer seriously looking for a house. Does the agent just send anyone? If they vet them, I'd like to know a bit more - to make sure the estate agent is doing their job!

So basically you've not had any offers?

lookstraightahead

jkrbec said:

it was pretty well known in my area that EAs were making sure people had DIPs in place etc before arranging viewings so I don’t think it’s an issue to have some criteria prior to the EA arranging a viewing.

To be fair a DIP means absolutely nothing. You can get one online in 5 minutes.

Alternatively you could have cash buyers that don't look serious but they are.

what is it about vendors who don't want to 'waste their time' - just show people round.  

I was turned down from looking at a house once because I couldn't prove I had funds 10% above the asking price. I had a 40% deposit though and a (useless) DIP.  I said I probably wouldn't want to pay over asking. The agent said there was so much interest that I didn't meet the criteria. The house was reduced a month ago and is still for sale. It really upset me at the time, I couldn't understand why I had to have negotiation funds, but meanwhile I bought a much nicer house.
I hope they can see how greedy they've been.

Snookie12cat

lookstraightahead said:

How would a buyer even know if they are serious about your house? They might hate it when they see it, or might think it's dramatically overpriced, or they might not think you are interested in moving out as quickly as possible.

ehat is it about your house that makes you think everyone will come away feeling they want to buy it? I've viewed houses where the photos that the vendor had used are really not what things look like, and as soon as you walk in, you know it's not fit you. Perhaps what they should do is ask buyers for blatant honesty instead. Like the photos don't show the house in it's true light, etc.

There are an awful lot of vendors who definitely aren't serious about selling. They want to set the terms 'l won't move out unless I find exactly what I'm looking for'.

I was a very serious buyer, but I found a lot of vendors not serious at all, and they're still there trying to move,

best thing you can do is let people view!!

I don't think vendors are not serious. I think the problem is they can't view on some occasions or then offer unless they have sold their house. 
This means people want to move and of course they want to move to their dream house but they can't possibly attempt this until they have a buyer.
Then they have to waste the buyers time while they wait for their dream house which needs to come up in one or two months...

The system is stupid. I am really serious about moving and by pure chance a perfect house in the right area came up at the right time. Nothing else suitable has come up in the last 6 months. If I hadn't got it, I would have lost several buyers while I waited.