Required to view a house before offering?

trix-a-belle

There have been threads asking similar previously & the general consensus is that you can try but it likely won't be taken seriously.
As you're familiar with the street & houses on it the viewing hopefully won't take too long as you'll mainly be looking at the particular outlook & general decorative state of that property & not the layout or room specifics so you're comfortable with it once you've seen it you can have serious discussions before/immediately after leaving & hopefully before the office closes.

AskAsk

no such thing but you would be an idiot to buy a house without viewing it.  if i were given an offer and the buyer had not been round to see my house, i would not accept it as i would worry he is not genuine as he has made an offer on a property he hasn't even seen.  so when he does go and see it, he may change his mind.

i want someone to want to buy the house and they can only do so if they have actually seen it and like it.  photos are very deceiving so you really need to go and see it first before making an offer.

Gavin83

I agree with most of the others. There's certainly no rule to say you have to view a house to buy but it's less likely your offer will be accepted if you don't. Personally if I was selling I wouldn't entertain an offer from someone who hadn't viewed the property.

housebuyer143

I had someone offer on my house without seeing it. I wouldn't accept because it's strange and then you fear they are just doing it to get it off the market and they will change their mind once they view it.

Turns out she did view it a few days later and offer still stood and we sold it to her. I imagine the seller isn't going to accept an offer while they have viewings lined up. 

theartfullodger

hrf93 said:

Hi,

First time poster, looking to find out if there's any actual legislation around having to physically view a house in person before making an offer.

....

Nope.  Indeed I bought a house (as it happened at auction) having merely driver past it, not seen inside at all.  Children do not do this!

Turned out OK. Now on the market for more than 6 x purchase price.  Picture taken from inside front room 2014...

EssexHebridean

hrf93 said:

Thanks everyone, I thought as much. 

I know it would be silly to put an offer in on an unviewed house, and if he had said as much then I would have been absolutely fine with it, it's the fact he's lied. Were first time buyers and don't really know the ins and Outs yet, but even this rang some alarm bells. 

Time to find a new mortgage advisor! 

I'll give you this as a bit of further food for thought, if you will...

When we were looking for the flat we currently live in - we viewed two, one after the other. We walked into the first, walked around, pretty much disliked the whole thing, and on leaving, had a 10 minute debate about whether in fact it was fair to waste the seller of the second property's time in even going in. As it happened, we saw them bustling about tidying some bits on the balcony, and decided that as they were clearly getting ready for us, it was only polite to go through with it. We walked in to a flat in far less good state of repair than the first one, with a more dated kitchen, even more dated bathroom than that, woodchip wallpaper all over the place...and loved it instantly. The layout of the two properties was identical - literally identical, and to this day I have no real idea what made the difference. We've lived in the second one for nearly 20 years now. And that is why I'd not buy a property to live in without viewing it.

Skiddaw1

theartfullodger said:

hrf93 said:

Hi,

First time poster, looking to find out if there's any actual legislation around having to physically view a house in person before making an offer.

....

Nope.  Indeed I bought a house (as it happened at auction) having merely driver past it, not seen inside at all.  Children do not do this!

Turned out OK. Now on the market for more than 6 x purchase price.  Picture taken from inside front room 2014...

@theartfullodger you've posted that wonderful pic before! Where is it and what's the munro (I presume it's a munro) in the background?

goater78

My dad sold a house recently (in Northumbria) and he was offered more from someone who lived in London and wanted to offer above asking price but didn’t want to view it. He went for a lower offer from someone who did view the property as he didn’t trust the other buyer would go all the way to completion. 

My dad is a bit old fashioned but by not viewing the house you may incorrectly be seen as not a serious buyer. 

babyblade41

bought 2 without out venturing inside. EA knew me so -could vouch for me .both went to completion & no nasty surprises when entering in for the first time after completion

badger09

babyblade41 said:

bought 2 without out venturing inside. EA new me so -could vouch for me .both went to completion & no nasty surprises when entering in for the first time after completion

To live in, or as BTLs? 

I could imagine an experienced BTL landlord buying without viewing, but as a long term home? Madness IMHO