Estate agent won't let me view

TimStewart

An estate agent is selling a property near me that I am interested in. My wife has telephoned them 4 times about getting a viewing. They keep fobbing us off. Viewing is this Saturday coming. The property goes live tomorrow afternoon. They are telling us there are no slots left for viewing the property. We started enquiring a coupe of days after it was first listed on their website a couple of weeks ago. The viewing day is this Saturday, 2 days away. I am a cash buyer ready to go. I have more than enough to purchase the property straight away. It seems they are trying not to let me view the property. Its like they already have a friend lined up for it. Either that or they want someone who needs a mortgage (they arrange mortgages as well). There is something very untoward here. Can anyone advise me what course I can take in this matter. Is there a way I can get the sellers details. 

nimbo

Properties are getting booked for viewings super quick 

Several I wanted to view were SOLD within 36 hours of listing. 

It’s not unbelievable. It just means you need to be quick off the mark. 

Good luck house hunting. 

K_S

@timstewart Perhaps they already have 'pre-qualified' buyers (eg: someone's whose bids failed on a previous property) and it's a red-hot market in that area so they are very confident that it'll get snapped up?

With a bit of digging around on Rightmove/Zoopla you should be able to find the address of the property.

RS2OOO

I had exactly this when I wanted to view the house I'm sitting in right now.

We knocked on door and told vendor we had been unable to get a viewing and really liked the house. She invited us in, we spent about 3 hours chatting and it turned out she and my wife went to nursery together.

On leaving the house we rang estate agent and made an offer. An hour later our offer had been accepted and all other viewings cancelled.

Worked for us, but I'll be honest, if someone came knocking on my door to view I'd be sending them back to the estate agent to arrange a viewing, although I would of course phone estate agent to make sure they are given an appropriate appointment.

This time round whilst house hunting there were a couple of occasions where we contacted agents to arrange viewings and they never called back. One house we had to chase daily for a week to get a viewing.

Snookie12cat

TimStewart said:

An estate agent is selling a property near me that I am interested in. My wife has telephoned them 4 times about getting a viewing. They keep fobbing us off. Viewing is this Saturday coming. The property goes live tomorrow afternoon. They are telling us there are no slots left for viewing the property. We started enquiring a coupe of days after it was first listed on their website a couple of weeks ago. The viewing day is this Saturday, 2 days away. I am a cash buyer ready to go. I have more than enough to purchase the property straight away. It seems they are trying not to let me view the property. Its like they already have a friend lined up for it. Either that or they want someone who needs a mortgage (they arrange mortgages as well). There is something very untoward here. Can anyone advise me what course I can take in this matter. Is there a way I can get the sellers details. 

A couple of days after it was listed... That's why. The popular houses are booked up within hours of being listed

 

canaldumidi

TimStewart said:

.......The property goes live tomorrow afternoon. .........it was first listed on their website a couple of weeks ago. .....

No idea what that means...

jenni_fer

In our local area, you can't afford to wait until the next morning if you want a viewing on a popular house. I have been known to book a viewing in before I've even tried to speak to my husband as it's that crazy. 
Frustrating as a buyer but the way it currently is sadly. 

TimStewart

The property "going live" is what it says on the agents website with a timer counting down. The property is empty so I can't knock on the door. I know where it is and I've seen it from outside. It looks OK in the pictures but I suppose they all do. I don't trust them to forward any offer I make. I do have a mind to offer 10 or 15k over the asking price and get it all on camera. See what happens. 

london21

The property market is booming at present and the estate agents really do not care about  client relationships sometimes.

Perhaps set an alert for the area you are interested in so can contact them as soon as you can when it's listed.

There is  property I am assisting a friend with.
Listed today and when they called got informed that it was sold before Christmas but they had to list on Rightmove.
So came on today within a few hours sold STC.
They said they have clients on their list they contact before it is listed online. 

propertyhunter

Definitely worth visiting the house and knocking on the door and explaining the situation. You surely can't be in a worse position than you are now.

Ms_Chocaholic

RS2OOO said:

I had exactly this when I wanted to view the house I'm sitting in right now.

We knocked on door and told vendor we had been unable to get a viewing and really liked the house. She invited us in, we spent about 3 hours chatting and it turned out she and my wife went to nursery together.

On leaving the house we rang estate agent and made an offer. An hour later our offer had been accepted and all other viewings cancelled.

Worked for us, but I'll be honest, if someone came knocking on my door to view I'd be sending them back to the estate agent to arrange a viewing, although I would of course phone estate agent to make sure they are given an appropriate appointment.

This time round whilst house hunting there were a couple of occasions where we contacted agents to arrange viewings and they never called back. One house we had to chase daily for a week to get a viewing.

Why would you send a potential buyer to the EA if it worked for you, wouldn't it be fair to "pay forward" a potential buyer in the same way that your sellers did to you?