Time wasting househunters

Just tell the EA you only want people who have sold their houses or are in the process of selling to come for views and certainly have at least one open day. We would be happy to downsize now but just can't find what we want at present. Good luck.

Before we bought our current home 5 years ago we viewed at least half a dozen before finding the one we eventually bought.

It's difficult to know whether potential buyers are simply time wasters and unfortunately goes with the territory. If you want to sell, people are going to want to look.

I wouldn't worry about the state of your house as long as it is clean.
We did all that has been suggested above and had two open days, no luck
One morningI had just washed my hair and the door bell rang a chap said they were passing and could they have a look, at first I said no and explained I had not tidied, he shouted for his wife she came and said she would rather see a lived in house it showed what room there was. I showed them round water dripping down my back and the next week they put in an offering and bought the house.

My friend has just put her house on the market - viewings starting on Saturday. . They have 14 viewings booked for Saturday with another 6 on hold who want to view. Now Estate Agents have asked for her to have viewings on Friday too. Luckily they're going away today until Sunday evening so will leave it to the agents. She says folk are driving past, looking at it. I reckon she'll have to put the asking price up!

I have bought and sold many properties over the years and have always told the EA that they can only arrange viewings from people who have their house on the market or have an offer. I also only have viewings at times that suit me. I tell the EA that viewings can only take place on a Saturday between 11am and 3pm, strictly on an appointment only basis and they must be conducted by a member of the EA's staff. This way it's almost like an open day, but deters the "property tourists" and I only have to make the house viewer friendly for one day a week. You have to lay the law down a little with EA's or they will operate to entirely suit themselves and not take your requirements into account.

Very annoying Teacheranne but what a compliment, your kitchen must be stunning.

We are in the process of sell DM's house and the estate agent we use vets the people interested to make sure they have the money to buy and they block book viewing. So it reduces the hassle of silly offers and unnecessary visits.

Yes, I think timewasters are part of selling houses. Someone came to view mine last year, who used to visit the pub at the bottom of the lane, and thought they would call in as they were curious!
Then, of course, when you have sold you have to play the waiting game - mine sold in the June and it was the following February before it was all completed. Nerves frayed on a daily basis! All came right in the end, just have to roll with it.

When I recently sold and purchased before I could view properties I was asked if I had an offer on my own or if I had finance in place - check with your agent how they vet viewings

I think (unless its an absolute bargain) a lot of people are going to look round a house and say not for us. Visits that come to nothing have to be expected.

I know I did loads of visits, second visits and even one third visit and still decided no.

I don’t think people can be expected to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds without thoroughly researching what’s out there.

Only 2 ways to avoid the selling or buying hassle

1 Don’t move
2 Sell by Auction

If you have a house that hasn’t been refurbished for a long time auctions are an option, large non refundable deposit and completion quickly. Limit any viewing to one weekend

I think the TV programmes such as Location Location Location encourage prospective buyers to put in insulting offers way below the asking price. I notice Phil & Kirsty on LLL often suggest an offer of £10,000 or more below, which is a very large amount.

I sold my house last September. The estate agent only sent people over who had sold so there wouldn’t be time wasters. However the first person through our door delighted in telling us that she hated my next door neighbour, they had fallen out about 30 years before and still held a grudge with each other. She stood at the front windows and exclaimed that it would be killing our neighbour to see her car on our drive. The viewing didn’t last long as I then escorted her to the door with a flea in her ear, I assume I’m now on the grudge list.
Luckily I had 3 more views and the 3rd bought it.
My advice is tell the agent not to send anyone unless they are in a position to buy to stop time wasters and nosy neighbours.

My son and daughter inlaw had loads of ppl doing this when selling one of their property’s when they met both had own place and they decided to sell her designer flat and rent out my sons house and buy larger property between them. Unfortunately you can’t weed out these ppl because you can’t judge a book by it’s cover so you can’t always tell if ppl got the money but luckily after first couple dropped out of sale last min a nice dr was soon behind them.

Peasblossom

I think (unless its an absolute bargain) a lot of people are going to look round a house and say not for us. Visits that come to nothing have to be expected.

I know I did loads of visits, second visits and even one third visit and still decided no.

I don’t think people can be expected to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds without thoroughly researching what’s out there.

I agree you need to put a lot of time and thought into a house purchase.

But if, for instance, you know you can't stretch your budget beyond €350,000, why ring up and make an appointment to view a house that's on the market for €500,000.
You're just wasting everyone's time.

My DD and SiL are house hunting at the high end of the market and as houses are in short supply Estate Agents have not been allowing them to view until they have finance in place and they have sold their other properties.
I would have thought that should be standard.

Get your estate agent to arrange an 'open house's or have estate agent accompanied views only.

I told the estate agent I only wanted viewings from people who were in a position to buy, then they would vet them, as I had previously gone through the situation of having the sightseers and as you say it’s a pain

When we were looking for a new hone 7 years ago we could only view properties once we had an offer on ours. It worked well and we moved 8 weeks after the offer was made on ours.

My flat is currently on the market and I quite like people coming to view as I then have to clean and tidy up. Otherwise the place would be a tip.

We had this quite a lot when we sold our house a couple of years ago. It had only been on the market a couple of days when we had the first viewing - a doctor who came to view on his own, then came back another three times with various members of his family before putting in an offer £40,000 below the asking price !! You can usually spot the time wasters - they whizz round the place, don’t really take an interest and they’re vague about what they’re looking for. I got fed up after a few of these and the last straw was when a bloke came to view and said he wasn’t looking to move - he was local and having watched the houses being built some years before, he wanted to see what they were like inside !! I contacted our EA and asked them why they were not checking viewers’ ability and intentions to buy before booking a viewing, and made it clear that I would change to another EA if there were any more time wasters. It worked.

I've recently been house hunting. Not one agent checked before viewing if I was able to proceed.

I should add, I'm a genuine buyer and have had an offer accepted.

I had better luck with a local sole agent and make sure you tell them no time wasters, mortgages in place, their house under offer, etc. One time I had a lady who viewed my house for nearly 2 hours with 3 kids in tow, they were everywhere. I phoned to complain to the agent and they said " oh she does it all the time, she's hard to please and has been looking around houses for a couple of years". I was fuming as I'd spent time making sure everything was sparkling, cut the grass, etc just for a nosey Parker. I changed my agent.

We're trying to BUY a house and it is so difficult. We're on our fourth try in over a year. Sellers have lied to us about important details, not dealt with their admin, or simply made no effort whatsoever to actually buy somewhere to move to. I should add that we are dream buyers, no need for a mortgage and nothing to sell. But the sellers are awful.

I think a lot of the above comments are not how things are currently when selling a house particularly here in the south. Property is selling itself , nothing seems to take more than a few days to get a buyer and there can be up to 40 people waiting to view when a property comes on the market. Offers above is also very common which seems a horrible way to buy a home but demand is so high and many people seem to have plenty of money and be in a position to pay a premium to get the home they want. Covid has changed many people’s perspectives of how they want to live, and has helped them to saved a lot of money too.