Viewing a house

Shez

I am interested in buying/viewing a house.

Last year I was very interested in buying a house i had seen, but had alot of trouble with the estate agents. they kept on fobbing me off and eventually it was sold to someone else!!! i noticed that firstly agents always ask you if you have a property sell - if you do - i dont think they are so keen to let you view places, am i right??? they seem to be only interested in either cash buyers or no chain people.

anyway, have just seen another one - and i was thinking that when i contact the estate agents this time round - are you better off by saying that you do not have a house to sell? so at least you might get to view the property!??

jalowes2002

Have you got a property to sell and is it on the market??

In my opinion I would not say your situation is different, its best to be honest. I feel this way because I am currently trying to sell my house and the estate agents are sending inappropriate people round to view, and it wastes a lot of peoples time. I spent several hours cleaning and making myself available to people who are not really interested in the house at all. And anyway, not everyone can be in a position to of a first time buyer etc, then the market would never move.

Always best to be as honest as possible!

seabiscuit_2

i agree - we had less than a 50% rate of viewers who were actually in the position to make an offer i.e. they had sold their house

others who had their house on the market, seemed more to be checking out their competitors than realistically wanting to make an offer

when i was viewing properties, the estate agents attitudes change from your house is on the market, to your house has house - they know you are realistically wanting to buy another house and not just being nosey - a lot of people just want to view houses to be nosey

from a sellers point of view, i wouldnt accept an offer from someone who hadnt sold their house already, so whats the point in them viewing, especially the market has slowed totally, you could be trying to sell your house for months, and they would be better off, saying no to your offer

guitaruser

Shez wrote:

Last year I was very interested in buying a house i had seen, but had alot of trouble with the estate agents. they kept on fobbing me off and eventually it was sold to someone else!!!

In what way did they fob you off?...........maybe they had a serious buyer in a better position than yourself whos house was under offer or a first time buyer and were concentrating on them. EA dont get a penny until the contracts are exchanged so you cant blame them!

I would be honest and some sellers may accept an offer.......... providing that you sell yours within x amount of weeks.

Good luck

Doozergirl

If you tell them you have no house to sell and then end up making an offer subject to yours being sold, they'll know you're a liar!

If you are seriously planning to move but only for the right house then explain this to the agent. Tell them that you are not a timewaster - you have been waiting for a house in that street, are ready to go on the market if neccessary and hope to sell quickly so you would really appreciate it if the vendor would allow you to view.

It's true they prefer complete chains (not neccessarily cash & FTBs), but ultimately they're looking for serious buyers, not timewasters.

Shez

guitaruser: well, the house i was interested in had a for sale board put up, immediately i contacted the estate agents, they said they couldnt give us any details on the house????? anyway, the board went down and i assumed it had been sold - but then a couple of weeks later i saw it on Rightmove with another EA. I enquired with them, they said they would arrange a viewing that coming saturday and would phone friday with a time. they didnt phone back, i phoned them back asking what happing? they said go round anytime saturday, the guy will be there all day sorting a few things out(the property was empty at the time). I went round all day long, no one turned up at the house all weekend.
phoned EA on monday, apologised said they would contact owner and get back to me. This facade went of for weeks, saying they couldnt get hold of owner, working up north, then on holiday for weeks abroad. I kept asking if it had been sold, they definately told me it wasnt and they were still looking for a buyer.
I even went into their offices and was told they werent lying to me, the guy would be back the following week and would arrange a viewing.

I then saw it in the local paper as sold with the first EA! I phoned them up and the guy looked into it for me, he told me that it had been sold because he phoned the owner who told them that!!!

We had weeks of being deceived and mislead by the EA - so we never got a chance to even view the house! They obviously had someone lined up for the buy and couldnt be bothered to tell us!

So now i am dubious about viewing another, because its seems to me they want to hold out for cash buyers or no chains and decent people with houses to sell get pushed to the back of the queue - when you mention you have a house to sell they look down their noses at you!

Shez

Sorry I'm not wishing to offend any sellers out there, but its frustrating when you cant a foot in the door with these EA!