Time wasting househunters

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Unfortunately estate agents locally were reluctant to hold Open Days with Covid, I'm not sure if that has changed now. When I had to allow viewings for future tenants at the rental I was leaving in February, the first couple arrived without masks and gloves, luckily I had some.

I haven’t read the previous posts - someone may have already suggested this - why not have a. Open Day. My neighbour had this when she was selling her house. Keep one day for viewings ….

There was a house for sale that we wanted to buy.

We arranged a viewing. We arranged 4 viewings in total. The vendors kept cancelling.

Turns out they didn't want to sell at all.

It can be such a challenging time. We're sticking with the house we have now. Our children have all left home and I guess we could downsize but I just couldn't go through all that again.

Have a open day or half day. Common around here, sold my mums house like that. All those interested arriving at planned slots by Estate agents and hopefully you get your buyer, she had x3 offers by end of the day.

We are selling our house at the moment. Nobody could view unless they had either sold or were in the process of selling their property. These weren't my rules - they were the estate agent's. But I will say that people often view houses they don't really want. It's more for curiosity or comparison I suppose. However an estate agent told me people often explain exactly what they want and then go on to buy something completely different. People are fickle.

I had one couple come back for a second viewing and they took loads of photos especially of the kitchen, which had been extended and was a stunning room. They did not put an offer in for the house which was disappointing but that happens. A couple of months later, I realised they were now living round the corner, they had bought an unextended house identical to mine and were using the photos of my kitchen to show the builder what they wanted! I suppose I should have been flattered!

To add to Muse and slightly off topic - 30 years ago we sold our house to a couple moving up from London to work in a nearby new high security prison. We viewed a bigger house just round the corner and offered the full asking price - however the vendor’s husband was working overseas so they only communicated once a week! Two weeks later they decided they wanted to hang on for another couple who’d viewed the house several months earlier, to sell their house. The EA (we had used the same) was tearing his hair out saying he’d spoken to her several times and assured her we were sold, but she was adamant. In fact, she’d done this to 2 other couples and the Agent said he wished he could force the sale or at least bill her for what he considered 3 sales. We moved out, rented for 3 months then bought the same style house on a different part of the development.
A friend of a friend moved nearby and frequently put her house on the market just to get people in to look at her latest high end purchases! I’m still in touch with 2 families who viewed her house in different years and both realised straight away that she had no intentions of moving and is still there.

You can ask your estate agent to only arrange viewings for buyers either with an agreed mortgage and/or a sale agreed on their current property. A house near me had all their viewing on one afternoon the other week , timed at intervals and the sold sign went up the next day. It was a nice family home but not fantastic . Thing is everyone can look at the house online on rightmove and Zoopla so make sure you're stands out and photos compliment your home make it clutter free there are some horror photos online. Look at the sites to get an idea of what has sold in your area and how long they are taking.

I would never agree a sole agency longer than one month. That’s plenty of time to see whether the agent is performing or not. It can always be renewed but a longer period can’t be cut.

As others have said, covid will have changed how viewing happens.

My experiences have all been pre covid but I've always had three valuations Interests rates can vary as can length of contract. Check terms carefully on what happens if you change agent at the end of a contract. Have a look at this about what continuing liability means and how to avoid double commission when you are switching estate agents.

hoa.org.uk/services/ask-an-expert-2/ask-an-expert-i-am-selling-questions/if-i-switch-estate-agents-will-i-still-have-to-pay-commission-to-my-old-one/

HOA - Home Owners Alliance is a brilliant website.

For my last house, the agent did the majority of viewings as I was often away visiting where I was moving too. She was excellent and gave me instant feedback (that or next day) on every single viewing.

I have been on the other foot. On finding a house I liked, on two occasions, the owners hadn't found a house to move to.

Sorry to say, that despite all that I or my agent checked on, some people lie. Good luck with your sale.

The HOA have good advice about conveyancing too.

DD1 sells new build houses and the term for their time wasters is ‘carpet treaders’. However, Covid and Financial Conditions put paid to them. I often watch old episodes of The House Doctor who advises to sort out stuff into keep/donate first and box up what you want to take with you (without leaving the place completely bare of course) then it’s already packed and ready to go when you are.

Here in Australia most viewings are set as Open for Inspection between this time and that time - usually half an hour- and usually on a weekend. Sometimes Open Inspections will be both Saturday and Sunday and occasionally during the week. The agent is the one who is there for the viewing, owners leave the property and let them get on with it. These viewings are usually weekly until the property is sold. This is all part of the Agent's job.

Don’t agree to a contract longer than 3 months. It can easily be extended if you feel they are doing s good job.

Very good point Germanshepherdsmum.

On MSE several people who have changed agent have been caught out by not reading the contract, and have had to pay a fee to their previous agent as well because they were tied in with them for six months. I sold at auction to a horrible buyer who had been introduced and offered through my second estate agent. I was very lucky the manager used her authority and waived the commission.

Do read the agent’s terms and conditions before you sign up. They are not all the same. When we sold our last house one nationwide agent who I won’t name was rather put out that we wanted time to read the conditions. When we did we found they contained a clause saying that if we refused an offer that the agent thought was reasonable their fee was immediately payable and that it was also payable if the house hadn’t sold after a specific time. Needless to say we didn’t sign but in the meantime the agent had appointed a drone company to come to our house next morning. They weren’t best pleased at being told they weren’t needed. I frequently see this agent advertising properties in the national press and wonder how many of the owners have read the ‘small print’.

I agree with Sago's 'buyers are liars' comment. My EA was very diligent but had to work with the information she was given, which was untrue in more than one instance. I agree with asking for procedable viewers only.

I was on the market for a very long time and the cleaning/tidying is wearing. In the end I did a sparkle clean once a week and maintained it vigorously so I was viewing ready at any time, to the point of not cooking prior to a viewing in case the house smelled of food.

I wish I'd relaxed more during my sale, I feel that I put my life on hold waiting for 'the one'. I had to visit my aunt during the selling process and my son lost a day's work doing a viewing for me for a timewaster, it makes me angry to think of it. Cash buyer living in rented, second viewing, with his family and his Dad arrived an hour early and my son had to entertain him. He was a liar, he was a houseowner and not even on the market yet.

I think the best advice is to maintain the level of cleanliness you are happy with, accept that there will be some timewasters, plan nice things to do when you go out for the agent to do the viewings, do not take feedback to heart as people say the most ridiculous things, and be prepared for offers to be withdrawn.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.