What expectations do estate agents have of someone asking for a viewing?

housebuyer143

TheJP said:

housebuyer143 said:

TheJP said:

RHemmings said:

Grizebeck said:

Your not a tyre kicker are you

If you mean someone who views properties they know they're not interested in, then no I'm not. 

Yet not a single offer from viewing 7 different properties. The thing is no house will be perfect, all houses will have some issues its how you weigh up what you want, what you can afford and what risk you are willing to take i.e. things need fixed but we can sort that out vs the costs far outweigh what we can afford. 

I don't tend to think 7 is too many personally as long as you learn from each viewing. 
About 7 years ago we were intent on moving but had no clue what we wanted and couldn't judge room sizes from the Rightmove ad. We probably viewed 7/8 before we understood what we didn't want and what our money could get us. We didn't move afterwards 😆 
We waited another 5 years, got more money and bought a much larger house. Those earlier viewings though were invaluable to us this time around because we knew what we didn't want, which made looking for what we did easier. 

How long ago are we talking here? Did you make any offers? If it was 20-30 years ago then all you had was 2 pictures in the EA office. The technology available now means you can get a very good idea on what the house looks like, the virtual tour tool that many use is fantastic for this reason. 

No, didn't offer on any because we realised the houses we viewed were not big enough compared to the one we had. We didn't really know that though until viewing them. You can read room dimensions on the ad but until you have stepped in a few you can't really understand what they feel like. 

I will add though that we never went back and viewed others that were similar once ruling that particular house out if size was the problem.

When we bought in 2022 we literally viewed 3 and each one I would have bought and subsequently offered on all of them before getting an offer accepted. 

Herzlos

housebuyer143 said:

About 7 years ago we were intent on moving but had no clue what we wanted and couldn't judge room sizes from the Rightmove ad.

They all have floor plans now, so just get a bit of measuring tape out and mark out the somewhere. It looks a bit daft but it's worked well for me for years.

DullGreyGuy

It really depends on the area, what state the markets in and the individual agent. 

When the market is hot they can choose to be more picky, when sales are very slow they can't afford to risk rejecting a potential buyer. Around our way there are some very expensive proprieties and agents can be more picky about who they show around them to eliminate people who just want to see what a £15m view looks like etc. 

gwynlas

Not all EAs include floor plans and it can be difficult to judge from photos whether adjustments to layouts can be easily made. Obviously the size of the house ie number of bedrooms might be a factor but style of house that suits can vary from town to town. A 3 bed mid terrace might work if that is the predominant local housing stock wheras a 3 bed detached in the same area would generally appear much more expensive. If you are prepared to take on projects then let the EA know. What they are not keen on are potential buyers whose expectations exceed their budget.

RHemmings

I've been out of the city today, and I'm way behind on this thread. I have been reading and I plan to go through an reply with a big multi-quote post tomorrow.

I will say that I'm thinking of various ways that I can improve my viewing efficiency. E.g. photos of rooms and gardens are often misleading due to the lenses used, and I can't mentally undo that in my head. I'm planning to make some scale floorplans with coloured paper and scissors (old school) with scaled rectangles for beds, cupboards, and desks. Maybe silly, but I'm finding it quite hard to go from dimensions to whether a room works for us or not. 

I think I've been communicating well with EAs. The EA that's most important for me - I said to them that I didn't want to become viewed as a timewaster, and they told me it's important to view a range of properties. 

There's more to reply, but I've been up since 4am and am tired. 

BobT36

Use the floor plan (ask them for measurements if they don't have!) and use floorplancreator.net. You can then literally plan out your rooms and desired furniture before even bothering to view the place. 

If they don't put garage measurements etc. up then I simply ask, before viewing. 

Annoys me when they don't bother to put floor plans, especially when they're asking for nearly £400k or something stupid. Should be mandatory. 

RHemmings

Thanks for the recommendation of floorplancreator.net

However, I then went to the RightMove listing for the property I'm interested in, and it doesn't have the room dimensions. They look small. 

maladict

TheJP said:

housebuyer143 said:

TheJP said:

RHemmings said:

Grizebeck said:

Your not a tyre kicker are you

If you mean someone who views properties they know they're not interested in, then no I'm not. 

Yet not a single offer from viewing 7 different properties. The thing is no house will be perfect, all houses will have some issues its how you weigh up what you want, what you can afford and what risk you are willing to take i.e. things need fixed but we can sort that out vs the costs far outweigh what we can afford. 

I don't tend to think 7 is too many personally as long as you learn from each viewing. 
About 7 years ago we were intent on moving but had no clue what we wanted and couldn't judge room sizes from the Rightmove ad. We probably viewed 7/8 before we understood what we didn't want and what our money could get us. We didn't move afterwards 😆 
We waited another 5 years, got more money and bought a much larger house. Those earlier viewings though were invaluable to us this time around because we knew what we didn't want, which made looking for what we did easier. 

How long ago are we talking here? Did you make any offers? If it was 20-30 years ago then all you had was 2 pictures in the EA office. The technology available now means you can get a very good idea on what the house looks like, the virtual tour tool that many use is fantastic for this reason. 

Totally agree, I've been enchanted by houses from the listings then done the walkthroughs and realised how unsuitable or unlikeable or otherwise unviable they are.

On the other side, there was a house I'd discounted based on the photos and did the walkthough for it just to do my due dilligance before removing it from my rightmove longlist (basically, if it has a roof and four walls and we can afford it, it goes on the longlist; roof and walls subject to negotiation).  I really liked it from the walkthrough, went to see it and fell in love with it and, if the gods are with us, our purchase of it completes in a fortnight.

Big fan of the virtual viewing walkthroughs here!

BobT36

RHemmings said:

Thanks for the recommendation of floorplancreator.net

However, I then went to the RightMove listing for the property I'm interested in, and it doesn't have the room dimensions. They look small. 

If they clearly look too small (look at the existing furniture, though be careful of that with new builds as they use non-standard smaller furniture to make the rooms look bigger) then you should be able to tell. Otherwise if they "might" be ok for your stuff, then ask! 

Nothing wrong with getting the agent to field some questions before wasting everyone's time with a viewing. 

RHemmings

BobT36 said:

Nothing wrong with getting the agent to field some questions before wasting everyone's time with a viewing. 

Totally my intention. Particularly since this property is listed with an agent all the way across the other side of the city. Which seems an odd choice of EA.