What are your worst or weirdest experiences from a vendor hosting the viewings?

drwsgwrydd

I viewed a house a few years ago, the EA said that it had tenents ‘but don’t worry they’ve got somewhere to go to’.

went along I think it was early evening after work. The tennant answered the door & basically said help yourself. Every room we went in seemed to have people in it?! Then two of the smaller kids started following us around as we looked in each room, looked in the main bathroom, there was a pile of dirty washing dumped in the bath & just cutter everywhere. It felt really uncomfortable & I wasn’t keen on the house even if it hadn’t been full of people & stuff. The EA kept ringing me all the time afterwards to ask if I was interested even though I’d said we weren’t wanting to put an offer in 🤦🏻‍♀️

drwsgwrydd

Another one from when I was selling my own house. I answered the door to a young couple, gave them a quick tour before giving them some space to look around. I was in the kitchen doing something when the front door went and some other family members ( of the viewing couple) decided to let themselves in & went straight upstairs without a word while some other relatives let themselves into the back garden for a look around. 

It really annoyed me!

Woolsery

drwsgwrydd said:

I viewed a house a few years ago, the EA said that it had tenents ‘but don’t worry they’ve got somewhere to go to’.

The EA was just being an EA. The real culprit was the idiot landlord who expected to sell a house with tenants in it and for them to assist the process.

Rumana03

We went to a viewing last week where the EA was running a little late so the vendor agreed to show us around. She had a baby about 9 months strapped to her front. As we walked into the flat I could smell the faint smell of drugs. The nearer to the middle of the flat we got, the more I could smell it. In the kitchen the lady had left the window wide open and there was a scented candle lit right next to it. Honestly it was ridiculous...like she must have just smoked the drugs not so long ago as the smell was still there. 

Silvertabby

Emmia said:

I was also reminded of another property last night...

Newly refurbished flat, done to what appeared to be a high spec - however, what I think was supposed to be the "master bedroom" (it was the one with an ensuite) was hardly big enough to swing a cat in once a standard double bed was in there, but the second bedroom was huge, that had acres of space for a king sized bed - but no ensuite...

The other curious thing was the shiny kitchen had a built in fridge, coffee machine, slimline dishwasher... But bafflingly the flat had no washing machine anywhere, and no obvious place to put one, unless you ripped out the dishwasher, and the newly fitted cupboard next to it.

When I asked the agent where a washing machine/or a space for one might be located, she said with a totally straight face, there isn't one, but there is a laundrette at the end of the road... She also said it, in such a way as though it was a totally normal thing too, to schlep to the laundrette with your clothes, when you lived in a high spec flat.

At Uni I used communal facilities - but there you rent a room in halls so it makes sense, but I've never otherwise rented/ lived anywhere without a washing machine.

Who buys a (newly refurbished) property with no space for a washing machine???

One bedroom flat with a dressing room/en-suite?  Only suitable for buyers who can afford a full laundry service?

Silvertabby

Slinky said:

Rumana03 said:

We went to view a flat recently and the flat itself was amazing. The vendor showed us around. Towards the end I noticed the loft access on the ceiling but it seemed to be closed with many small metal panels and screwed down. This seemed so bizarre to me so I asked why they had done that...the vendor said that their mum was afraid.

My elderly mother in law is convinced that anytime she mislays something, her next door neighbour has climbed in through the loft hatch and moved it or stolen it. She's been shown pictures of the wall between the two properties, plus there's a bolt been put on the underside of the hatch which would prevent it being opened from above, and would be impossible to close the bolt from above. Her answer to the logic that it's impossible for him to enter, and that nobody has ever seen him enter or leave, is that 'he's very clever'

There was a Coronation Street story many moons ago, in which a flaky character accessed Emily Bishop's house via the loft hatch in order to make use of the facilities.

When we moved into our new house, my world-expert-on-everything sister gave us a lengthy lecture on the importance of fitting locks to the loft hatch otherwise anyone could break in.  Mum and dad, who habitually agreed with everything she said just to keep the peace, nodded and repeated "yes - you must fit locks'.

I then reminded them that we had bought a detached house.

Emmia

Silvertabby said:

Emmia said:

I was also reminded of another property last night...

Newly refurbished flat, done to what appeared to be a high spec - however, what I think was supposed to be the "master bedroom" (it was the one with an ensuite) was hardly big enough to swing a cat in once a standard double bed was in there, but the second bedroom was huge, that had acres of space for a king sized bed - but no ensuite...

The other curious thing was the shiny kitchen had a built in fridge, coffee machine, slimline dishwasher... But bafflingly the flat had no washing machine anywhere, and no obvious place to put one, unless you ripped out the dishwasher, and the newly fitted cupboard next to it.

When I asked the agent where a washing machine/or a space for one might be located, she said with a totally straight face, there isn't one, but there is a laundrette at the end of the road... She also said it, in such a way as though it was a totally normal thing too, to schlep to the laundrette with your clothes, when you lived in a high spec flat.

At Uni I used communal facilities - but there you rent a room in halls so it makes sense, but I've never otherwise rented/ lived anywhere without a washing machine.

Who buys a (newly refurbished) property with no space for a washing machine???

One bedroom flat with a dressing room/en-suite?  Only suitable for buyers who can afford a full laundry service?

Two entirely separate bedrooms with a narrow hallway leading to a backdoor in between, one of which was huge and the other small one with a tiny ensuite. It had a separate family bathroom (bath + shower) separate lounge that was sort of open plan (it was an L shaped space) with a properly open plan kitchen/diner.

I think it probably needed a different layout - but as it was freshly refurbished (and priced as such) it wasn't really a "project" property you'd want to do that to.

peter3hg

Emmia said:

Silvertabby said:

Emmia said:

I was also reminded of another property last night...

Newly refurbished flat, done to what appeared to be a high spec - however, what I think was supposed to be the "master bedroom" (it was the one with an ensuite) was hardly big enough to swing a cat in once a standard double bed was in there, but the second bedroom was huge, that had acres of space for a king sized bed - but no ensuite...

The other curious thing was the shiny kitchen had a built in fridge, coffee machine, slimline dishwasher... But bafflingly the flat had no washing machine anywhere, and no obvious place to put one, unless you ripped out the dishwasher, and the newly fitted cupboard next to it.

When I asked the agent where a washing machine/or a space for one might be located, she said with a totally straight face, there isn't one, but there is a laundrette at the end of the road... She also said it, in such a way as though it was a totally normal thing too, to schlep to the laundrette with your clothes, when you lived in a high spec flat.

At Uni I used communal facilities - but there you rent a room in halls so it makes sense, but I've never otherwise rented/ lived anywhere without a washing machine.

Who buys a (newly refurbished) property with no space for a washing machine???

One bedroom flat with a dressing room/en-suite?  Only suitable for buyers who can afford a full laundry service?

Two entirely separate bedrooms with a narrow hallway leading to a backdoor in between, one of which was huge and the other small one with a tiny ensuite. It had a separate family bathroom (bath + shower) separate lounge that was sort of open plan (it was an L shaped space) with a properly open plan kitchen/diner.

I think it probably needed a different layout - but as it was freshly refurbished (and priced as such) it wasn't really a "project" property you'd want to do that to.

When I was searching for a new house last year this house came up in the wider search.
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/57956984/

As with the one you describe the en-suite is off the much smaller second bedroom.


It has been up for sale for over a year now and not sold which is very unusual in the local market currently.
Looking at the listing history they did knock £15k off the price in October but then put it back up to the current price in December.

Brie

Rentals.....

the one where I was told there was an onsite communal laundry room which turned out to be a washer and dryer in the hallway outside the door of the flat I was viewing.  Once inside it turned out that the kitchen was behind 2 cupboard doors - that is there was a small counter with a sink, single ring, microwave and half fridge (not in the UK & I'd never seen one before).  The "garden bedroom" was accessed by shimmying past the bathtub to get to a room barely large enough to have a double bed and nothing else.  The only access to the garden (i.e. garbage strewn weed patch) for anyone living there was via "our" bedroom window.  

The basement place we did rent where we were shown around by the owner who was holding a child the entire time.  It turned out it was to keep said child from running about their house directly above us.  

The marvelous place my friend and I sublet where not only were we shown the very nice 2 bedroom flat (great place, great price, great view & location) but we also were given all the details of why there were so many frogs in the terrarium.  Well obviously there were needed to feed the python.  Oh and that other terrarium is positioned like that so the tarantula couldn't escape.  And yes I keep all it's shedded exoskeletons in the kitchen cupboard.

As FTBers.....

The new build with a single bedroom that was too small for a double bed.  The EA looked embarrassed when I asked where a clothes cupboard could go and tried to suggest it would go in the (equally tiny) dining room/lounge.  

The house where we couldn't actually see the walls for all the boxes stacked up.  EA explained these were there as the vendor was relocating and had started to pack.  But there was no storage for any of the items anywhere in the house and some boxes were well dusty.  And everything smelled really musty and the walls were all painted dark maroon.

A huge flat in an old property where you could have held a tea dance in the lounge, massive bedrooms.  I'm talking 30 x 20 foot rooms.  And a bathroom and kitchen that were too small to turn around in.  And no permission possible to renovate.  Also - all the walls in every room were painted.  Not just one colour but someone had taken stencilling to the nth degree.  There was trompe l'oeil, statues, cherubs and gargoyles on the ceiling, choirs of angels, a jungle scene.  Quite astonishing.

Belleofthebooks

When I was 15 my dad sold our house. I knew an offer had been made and accepted. One morning, it must of been a school holiday, I was fast asleep in bed when the estate agent opens my bedroom door with the buyers standing behind her, takes one look at me then immediately closes it again. My dad had forgotten to tell me the buyers were coming to look around for a second viewing and I'll never forget it