Is It Unreasonable Not To Let A House Buyer Come And Measure Up Before You Go Into Exchange

[nannybooby]

Really like some feed back

[hellywelly4]

It depends on the person concerned. Don’t ever give anyone access or a key unless you or the estate agent is there. I would go with my judgement of the person but that could often be misplaced.

[ummmm]

Depends on the reason. Did the estate agent not measure up? Or do they want to be more exact for kitchens/bathrooms etc.

[david small]

Unless they’ve exchanged they do not own the property, and could still pull out of the sale. So, no I don’t think it unreasonable. This is going by English law, not Scottish.

[1581960]

If I was the buyer I might wonder what you were trying to hide, and then seriously consider whether to continuing with the exchange.

[pixie374]

I would let them. Why make things difficult? X

[alavahalf]

Having been called out to more distraction burglaries than I can remember. The tricks I have seen involving scam agents and prospective buyers would put you off letting anyone into your house. I know for a fact that people reading this will say " It would never happen to me" .. well I can assure you many of the victims I visited all said the same thing. 'One of them went to measure the other room, and the other kept me talking'. Before you know it your rooms have been rifled and your valuables have gone.
Tread carefully, if you are thinking of letting them visit, call the estate agent and request that they send someone to acompany the buyers and make sure they set an appointment time, no spur of the moment visits.

[retrocop]

Good advice alavahalf.

[TonyV]

surely estate agent has a plan drawn up of layout, but maybe the prospective buyers just want to recheck measurements.

[alavahalf]

If you were say .. measuring curtain widths and drops, that wouldnt be on the estate agents description.

[tamborine]

Agents job to measure up. If prospective buyers enter they will use excuses to drop price. Mine didnt want my fitted carpets & dropped price to pay for removal - £5k for 3b semi :(

[fiction-factory]

The problem is that agents usually put a rider on saying measurements should be checked, and they don't give measurements of things like halls and proper measurements of L shaped rooms. Also things like ceiling heights or window sizes can be important and are omitted from the agent's plans

[alavahalf]

My bet is they didn't want most of your possesions ..
You should have knocked £50k off ?

[woofgang]

tambo they could have done that from the viewing.

[david small]

My sister had a valuable small antique stolen by some phoney prospective house buyers, but couldn’t prove it was them thieving gits.

[woofgang]

I think my answer would be "it depends" When we bought this house, it was empty and both we and the sellers were in a hurry so they did allow it. If you are still there and living there then I don't think its unreasonable to refuse. As others have said, if you do allow it, be super careful and insist on attendance by the estate agent. Don't leave them alone anywhere and if one asks to use the loo then make sure they do only go to the loo and keep anyone else who is with them under strict surveillance.

[TonyV]

&&^^^^^^
Totally agree with you woofgang

[Cloverjo]

I think it’s unreasonable for prospective buyers to want to come in and measure for curtains etc while you’re still living there.

[TonyV]

Cloverjo perfectly reasonable request IMO if you have exchanged contracts.

[shaneystar2]

I don't think it's unreasonable.
We sold a house once and the man who bought it was a a pain in the neck.Asked me if the curtains were included in the sale and when I said yes he said he didn't like them.As we got near moving day I took them down and gave them to my Mum.He got really shirty about it so I told him what he could do.He drove us mad with his constant coming round or ringing up about stuff.
He even tried to get the keys after we had moved in spite of us not having his money in the bank and us having to get a bridging loan until his mortgage came through.
Not everyone is the buyer from hell though but I would still be wary.
If they want another look round accompanied by the agent that's fair enough but not wandering about unaccompanied.

[TonyV]

Shaney some buyers can be a real pain. But you just have to be pleasant whilst biting your tounge. x