Excessive proofs required to view house?

[Deleted User]

Ksw3 said:

I'd say half of the estate agents we have spoken to requested the AIP before booking a viewing. It's a crazy market here been beaten by offers £20k over asking on a few occasions now. 

In the same boat. Market is crazy here. I made an offer close to asking price as the house needed some work to it. Went for £20k over asking price!

lookstraightahead

Well an AIP is a worthless piece of info for starters. It means nothing.

and all this info - when the market turns EAs will be asking for nothing and dragging people round. It's just the hyped up nonsense at the moment and over enthusiastic EAs who are ignoring what's round the corner. If this was my EA I would be mortified.

even when I was asked that I could prove I could go 10% over asking before I viewed an OIEO I told them to do one. Glad it's still on the market. Talk about throwing opportunity away.

lookstraightahead

caprikid1 said:

"because it's the sellers who LIE with their pictures"

Not sure how a picture can lie but I will bow to your greater wisdom.

Do you honestly think the EAs photos are similar to reality? 

zzzt

caprikid1 said:

"because it's the sellers who LIE with their pictures"

Not sure how a picture can lie but I will bow to your greater wisdom.

I drove over an hour to view a property which looked lovely. I imagined it would be my dream home and was planning on making an offer immediately.

It turns out, it was extremely dated. It had the original oven from 30 years ago (never seen such a thing since the 80s). The dated wallpaper had stains all over it and was peeling off. The carpets were in a terrible state in the corners.

I was so disappointed. Afterwards I went back and looked at the pictures of it, and what they'd done is strategically take pictures at certain angles so that, for example, only the very edge of the oven was visible, and they had been retouched so that some of the damage couldn't be seen. And that's without mentioning the wide angle lens shots that make things look three times the size they actually are.

I honestly don't know what your problem is, you just seem like a !!!!!! to me for no reason.

FreeBear

caprikid1 said:

"because it's the sellers who LIE with their pictures"

Not sure how a picture can lie but I will bow to your greater wisdom.

A wide angle lens to give the impression of a bigger space. Taking a shot from an angle so that the nasty blood stained wall is out of view. Hang a guitar on the wall to cover a gaping hole... Then there is photoshop....

Whilst a picture can say a thousand words, it never tells the whole story.

lookstraightahead

Mahsroh said:

Sandtree said:

I've only come across it once but it was the sort of property that I'd still be short of the deposit if I sold all of my organs. 

Interesting point this. I know someone who worked for a Central London EA who only sold properties for 7 figures or more.... most very high end. I asked the question out of curiosity as to what was required paperwork wise to view a property to stop the time wasters / people wanting to have a nosy round an expensive house and her response was shockingly.....nothing! If they got a call to say "i'd like to arrange a viewing of that £10m property in Knightsbridge please" the answer was usually "of course" with no questions asked! This was pre pandemic and in a different type of market, but still. 

Much better marketing to have a few timewasters than to turn people away because you insist on rubbish bits of paper.

reminds me of pretty woman in that shop with the pompous sales assistant. People are too quick to stereotype.

What about all those timewaster vendors who tell you lies about everything 

Mahsroh

We've definitely viewed houses online and really liked them, then was disappointed on viewing. As already said, photo's are taken from certain angles to miss things out they don't want you to see. They often make the rooms look bigger or lighter than they actually are. I look back at the EA's photos from the house we actually ended up buying and laugh at how much bigger a lot of the rooms look compared to reality! 

comeandgo

zzzt said:

caprikid1 said:

"because it's the sellers who LIE with their pictures"

Not sure how a picture can lie but I will bow to your greater wisdom.

I drove over an hour to view a property which looked lovely. I imagined it would be my dream home and was planning on making an offer immediately.

It turns out, it was extremely dated. It had the original oven from 30 years ago (never seen such a thing since the 80s). The dated wallpaper had stains all over it and was peeling off. The carpets were in a terrible state in the corners.

You can change an oven, wallpaper and carpets for a few thousand pounds.  When you mention that you had to pull out as the mortgage valuation came in lower than your offer it suggests you have no wiggle room so maybe look at houses a bit under your total spend so you will have extra to use.

propertyhunter

I dread to think what you think of me. I viewed about 30 houses over 7 months before having an offer accepted. I agree with the OP, see as many as you can in real life and understand what you like, what you can compromise on and what you won't.

Re: agreement in principle, don't bother. Just tell the EA you already had one and don't want to get another one because the previous one expired and you don't want credit searches. That will put that one to rest. I only gave solicitor information and mortgage advisor confirmation of my budget at the offer stage. 

zzzt

comeandgo said:

You can change an oven, wallpaper and carpets for a few thousand pounds.  When you mention that you had to pull out as the mortgage valuation came in lower than your offer it suggests you have no wiggle room so maybe look at houses a bit under your total spend so you will have extra to use.

First of all, the entire house needed gutting and replacing. It was a fixer upper, which is not what I'm looking for. I am allowed to buy the house that I want, rather than buy one that I don't want.

Second of all, I am looking lower than I can afford. The house that I had the offer accepted on was 15k lower than the maximum I can borrow already. But the bank's valuation came back 15k lower than the agreed price (so 30k lower than the max I could buy).

It doesn't matter that I can borrow more - the bank will only lend based on what they think the house is worth, so I would have to make up the 15k difference. What you've said suggests you don't understand how it works.