What questions to ask Estate Agent about viewers?

Snookie12cat

lookstraightahead said:

Snookie12cat said:

lookstraightahead said:

Snookie12cat said:

TheJP said:

You don't get a feel for a property until you see it (naturally). I remember years ago where the kitchen was quite literally in a cupboard, and more recently less obvious things that the vendor doesn't want to mention, like the road being a rat run, or leaving info out.

I don't see why a vendor needs to mention that the road is a rat run. They don't have to mention anything about the house, its the buyers responsibility to figure everything out. They just have to answer the questions that are asked.

I tend to think a buyer who hasn't driven by the house or even Street viewed it before going is not serious as this would be evident and wouldn't need to waste everyone's time

Except maybe if you're moving 4 hours away not round the corner. Not everyone lives within a two mile radius for the whole of their lives. Hence renting as well, I should add.

There is a thing called Google Street view. Distance wouldn't stop you doing this. I would especially think someone would do this if they lived that far away so as not to waste their time.

So why even view a property then? A video with suffice. In fact, you could just live virtually in it.

the reality of moving far away is that it's good to rent first. But if you don't, you tend to view a few on the same day. You don't have the knowledge locals have. 

Not a bad idea really. I think every house should come with a video tour or 360 tour. That would definitely stop a few people who might not actually be interested at the viewing.  Nothing really beats a real viewing though if you feel it might be suitable.

TheJP

Snookie12cat said:

lookstraightahead said:

Snookie12cat said:

lookstraightahead said:

Snookie12cat said:

TheJP said:

You don't get a feel for a property until you see it (naturally). I remember years ago where the kitchen was quite literally in a cupboard, and more recently less obvious things that the vendor doesn't want to mention, like the road being a rat run, or leaving info out.

I don't see why a vendor needs to mention that the road is a rat run. They don't have to mention anything about the house, its the buyers responsibility to figure everything out. They just have to answer the questions that are asked.

I tend to think a buyer who hasn't driven by the house or even Street viewed it before going is not serious as this would be evident and wouldn't need to waste everyone's time

Except maybe if you're moving 4 hours away not round the corner. Not everyone lives within a two mile radius for the whole of their lives. Hence renting as well, I should add.

There is a thing called Google Street view. Distance wouldn't stop you doing this. I would especially think someone would do this if they lived that far away so as not to waste their time.

So why even view a property then? A video with suffice. In fact, you could just live virtually in it.

the reality of moving far away is that it's good to rent first. But if you don't, you tend to view a few on the same day. You don't have the knowledge locals have. 

Not a bad idea really. I think every house should come with a video tour or 360 tour. That would definitely stop a few people who might not actually be interested at the viewing.  Nothing really beats a real viewing though if you feel it might be suitable.

360 viewing is quite the norm now, its what made me want to view the house we bought back in March. 

trailingspouse

And you can't tell from the viewers' reactions during the viewing. I had one couple who came to view - she seemed to be totally uninterested, he appeared to be thoroughly grumpy. They were only in the house 5 minutes maximum. They made a full-asking-price offer.

Turns out he was a property developer, so were likely looking to turn it into flats (it's 4 storeys). I'm glad I got two other full-asking-price offers, and we went to best and final and someone else out bid him, as I wanted it to go to someone who would live in it and love it as a family home as I have done.

But it goes to show that you can never tell what people are thinking (and if it had been our only offer, we would have accepted it).

Gavin83

trailingspouse said:

And you can't tell from the viewers' reactions during the viewing. I had one couple who came to view - she seemed to be totally uninterested, he appeared to be thoroughly grumpy. They were only in the house 5 minutes maximum. They made a full-asking-price offer. 

To be fair it’s not a good purchasing tactic to be over enthusiastic about whatever it is you’re buying. Indifference is generally a good idea.

custardly

TheJP said:

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.

Interesting. However, an experienced buyer will no doubt (and should) push for reductions based on surveys to test the bottom also more likely to reduce offer the day before exchange. Whereas, an FTB will be terrified of losing their "dream home".

TheJP

Interesting. However, an experienced buyer will no doubt (and should) push for reductions based on surveys to test the bottom also more likely to reduce offer the day before exchange. Whereas, an FTB will be terrified of losing their "dream home".

I would disagree, a seasoned buyer will be able to see from the survey what is general maintenance and what items actually constitutes the need for negotiation. They would also realise that if they try to reduce the day before exchange that its more likely the seller will say no who will also likely be seasoned in this scenario. 

lookstraightahead

I was happy with our survey even though there's lots of work to do. We negotiated 10% below asking in the first place, so I was happy to pay for maintenance and jobs that need doing (old house). However, if I had agreed a ridiculous price in the first place, and then the survey came back with expensive work to do, I would renegotiate.

a seller can't have both. They either price it to sell, or should expect such problems later on. If people are pushed to their limits and beyond with the mortgage, they have no spare cash for repairs.

unsure why people are surprised. In order to think you have a money tree in a house, a buyer needs to be able to feed it.

custardly

TheJP said:

Interesting. However, an experienced buyer will no doubt (and should) push for reductions based on surveys to test the bottom also more likely to reduce offer the day before exchange. Whereas, an FTB will be terrified of losing their "dream home".

I would disagree, a seasoned buyer will be able to see from the survey what is general maintenance and what items actually constitutes the need for negotiation. They would also realise that if they try to reduce the day before exchange that its more likely the seller will say no who will also likely be seasoned in this scenario. 

Very odd, I would have thought that it was logical that experienced buyers pay less for things than unexperienced buyers. However, I guess we will never know.

Okey00001

lookstraightahead said:

I was happy with our survey even though there's lots of work to do. We negotiated 10% below asking in the first place, so I was happy to pay for maintenance and jobs that need doing (old house). However, if I had agreed a ridiculous price in the first place, and then the survey came back with expensive work to do, I would renegotiate.

a seller can't have both. They either price it to sell, or should expect such problems later on. If people are pushed to their limits and beyond with the mortgage, they have no spare cash for repairs.

unsure why people are surprised. In order to think you have a money tree in a house, a buyer needs to be able to feed it.

I know that some sellers can even undervalue their homes too.  Some sellers would price the house acknowledging the work that needs to be done to it rather than knocking off the price at a later stage.

It all depends on the situation, everyone sells their house according to their situation.

*There are times where a buyer can't have both - a low price house and reduce it futher.

TheJP

Very odd, I would have thought that it was logical that experienced buyers pay less for things than unexperienced buyers. However, I guess we will never know.

Not at all what i said. Experienced buyers will know what things in a survey will need negotiating on rather than the whole report. This forum has had a lot of FTBs asking how they can get £15-30k reductions based on what a surveyor thinks it will cost when the regality of it all is that the costs are no where near that figure.