[Closed] House viewing faux pas

People have emotions Cougar, I guess you do know that though.

PS Whilst looking for houses I've came across this one... seems like a fairly pleasant conservatory! Though quite tame compared to much of what's been written here, it certainly puts us off going to have a look. [URL= http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/glasgowdan/rj_zpsxs5xq0v3.jp g" target="_blank">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/glasgowdan/rj_zpsxs5xq0v3.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Someone I used to know committed suicide with a circular saw to the neck,her body was discovered by the estate agent showing someone round the place...
When I sold my last house the estate agent wasn't impressed that my road bike was in the downstairs toilet,still it prepared them for my Speccy Enduro in the walk in wardrobe.

Went to look at a place where the EA wouldn't go further than the kitchen. We were under strict instructions not to let the cat out of the living room. Clearly the cat had never left the living room and had never used a litter tray. I can still remember the smell.

Went to a mid morning viewing where the alcoholic couple who owned it were 3 quarters of their way through a bottle of whiskey. The whole house stank of urine. EA told us that the 2 previous viewing he'd been to, they'd both been passed out, naked, on the sofa.

One house we viewed was full of tiger print, every room.

Another viewing from a couple that were getting divorced. It was clearly her choice and he didn't want to.

We were shown in to a bedroom that had a teenage lad asleep on his bed. Thankfully he didn't wake up.

Looking round a place a few years back when Ms Makrie was around 2... I was downstairs in the lounge with the agent when Mrs Makrie (who had been trailing along behind Jr) called from the upper landing with a fake laugh, "Makrie, come and see what Jr's doing!". I (thankfully) left the agent somewhere around the boot room and sprinted up the stairs, house brochure in hand (again, thankfully). My wife snatched said brochure from me and used it to catch the bulk of the poo that Jr was extruding. I cant quite remember what happened after this, but do vaguely recall small pooey handprints needed to be dealt with and a handbag that (apparently) 'had' to be replaced...

My brother was being shown round a house where the owner had recently died, they walked into the living room to find his wake taking place, one of the relatives burst into tears sobbing "this isn't right, this isn't right!"
Needless to say, they didn't buy that one.

You're all doing it wrong. I've viewed and bought one house after the one viewing of my life. Just buy a house you regularly cycle past and nosey at.

I like to minimise the time I spend shopping you see...........

(sorry, no interesting story here)

I agree with you Cougar. I'd care about that sort of thing if it's my house, but once it's sold who gives a shit? Once I have nothing to do with it, it's not up to me what happens, nor do I care. I don't understand why anyone would care to be honest, sentiment or not.

This thread is actually make by me feel somewhat sorry for estate agents.

Which, considering the seething resentment I still bare towards the entire profession after our last moving saga is quite some feat.

This thread is actually make by me feel somewhat sorry for estate agents.

Fair point.

We sold ours privately. If it had been through an estate agent I wouldn't have been so choosey... but I would have made less money on the sale.

Last time we sold my wife handled viewings. My job was to get dogs and kids out of the way. One guy turns up to view 30 mins early. When he rang and the dog barked he moved about 5m back from the door. Being an understanding sort of person I realised he was scared of dogs and shut both in the garden and went back to open the door. As the viewer was about to come in my son let our mad Golden Retriever back in who came straight up to the door to see who had come to visit him. I grabbed him before he reached the front door but the viewer was halfway down the road and I watched him continue running full tilt until he was out of sight. He never came back.

Sorry glasgowdan, I don't see the problem with the conservatory. Please advise...

A conservatory traditionally is a place to sit and view ones garden not the fence built up against the windows.
My faux pas the nice big house we viewed with our toddler no knowledge on the estate agents part of the massive dog left alone in the property no knowledge on any ones part of the fortunately old and dry turd in the living room till our child found it and the estate agent happy to agree with my wife that the gutters needed work when I pointed out that the stream of water they were both standing in was clearly coming from the broken sewer pipe not the broken guttering. After the viewing she asked if it was the" work" that put us off ? Why to people try and sell a wreck at the price it would be lucky to fetch if pristine and then suggest you a lazy if you won't pay.

PS Whilst looking for houses I've came across this one... seems like a fairly pleasant conservatory!

I don't mind a conservatory like that - if you think about it its a good way of getting another room on the house quite cheaply that will be filled with light. You get quite a lot of conservatories like that in W Yorks, the garden may be very small but it's nice to feel like your outside. The house you showed looks quite dark with small windows so it might be a nice addition.

I see the point about having extra space, but the way it's built like that suggests to me there's an issue with a neighbour, which I absolutely wouldn't begin to entertain. It's a shame, lovely house otherwise in a good location.

[quote=crankboy ]A conservatory traditionally is a place to sit and view ones garden

Tradditionally it's a place to grow citrus fruits - I don't see any problem with that in the one pictured.

Maybe in the past, but we all know what a conservatory is, as used and discussed in modern day homes. You've obviously been hitting wiki...

Maybe in the past, but we all know what a conservatory is, as used and discussed in modern day homes.

A room that is too cold to use in winter, too hot to use in summer and leaves you wishing you put a bit more money in for a proper room with a roof and some bifold doors?

A room that is too cold to use in winter, too hot to use in summer and leaves you wishing you put a bit more money in for a proper room with a roof and some bifold doors?

This.

You can get roofs/blinds etc that keep Conservatory roofs cool/ warm...
http://comfortableconservatories.com/

Our ancient leaky conservatory's a real asset, it's a massive walk-in beer fridge in winter and an ideal place to ditch bike kit.

Funny. The one in my inlaws house is quite pleasant all year round.
Triple glazed and shades all round.

Only time it gets unpleasant is if they forget to put the shades down.

You can get roofs/blinds etc that keep Conservatory roofs cool/ warm...

Or, walls and a roof.

Only time it gets unpleasant is if they forget to put the shades down.

What's the point of a room made of windows if you've to constantly cover them?

I don't really get conservatories. Or at least, not in the UK. If you were in the South of France or something it'd probably be ace.

Oh come on... 😀

What's the point of a room made of windows if you've to constantly cover them?

Surely people do genuinely at least [i]understand[/i] the point of conservatories!

Not to mention the difference in price between one and a house extension.

if i was in the south of france i'd have a massive veranda or shaded patio not a glass sweat box on the side of my villa.

Probably why conservatories are getting very popular in Scandinavia. It can be nice and sunny, but a bit nippy. Ideal for a glass box on the back of the house. So you can actually see/be in the garden. But not get cold (or eaten by mosquitoes)

Plus they changed the planning rules a couple of years ago.

Brilliant this has turned into an 'are conservatories shit or not' thread. Only on STW.

Conservatorys depend on position too. On our old house ours got the sun in the evening, so unless it was a baking hot day it never really got too hot. If it was we just opened the doors onto the patio. It was a well used room, both summer and winter. We didn't have underfloor heating, just an oil fired heater which warmed the room up.
Spent many a happy our in the recliner sipping Pimms 😉

I looked at a room in a shared house 15 odd years ago...the room needed repainting and there were stained patches of blistering and peeling paint on the walls and ceilings.

The other tenant said the last guy in the room used to have lots of 'mates' round taking heroin and the patches were where the landlord had sprayed some chemical to get rid of blood stains.

I have no idea if heroin users spray their blood everywhere but that guy said they did.

This was in a nice street in Oxford

Brilliant this has turned into an 'are conservatories shit or not' thread. Only on STW.

I agree, is disappoint...

My experiences are boring compared to most. We were looking round a house and the vendor was explaining why she was selling (recently lost her husband) and broke down on us. Luckily my partner had tissues in her handbag and is pretty good in these situations (me, less so). We didn't buy the house although that wasn't for a lack of trying. After playing hardball on the price she then kept us hanging on for so long we had to pull out as neither we nor the estate agent thought she was serious about moving. She took the house straight off the market so looks like we were proved right.

Showed this thread to my partner last night and she was telling me about the time she accompanied a friend to a house viewing. The vendor answered the door in her jammies (hardly a crime but if you know you're having a viewing sort yourself out, at least) and when showing them round (there was three of them on this viewing, plus the vendor) they went into the bedrooms where the children were asleep, or at least trying to as four people stood there, in the dark, discussing the place.

The first viewing of our current house was a farce.
Vendor answers the door,looks me up and down exclaiming why am I on my own? She leaves me on the doorstep while I confirm that hubby had to work late.
On entry she's eating her evening meal. I'm kept waiting for 5 minutes while she finishes her food. The kitchen smells horrid and is filthy. There is wet washing on most of the radiators and a dehumidifier whirring away in a room somewhere. We finally get upstairs and she tells me I can't go into one of the bedrooms as her child is asleep.
For the rest of the viewing she stands in front of me in the doorways so I can't properly see into any rooms.
It was apparent that there was potential in this house.
The second viewing was bad as her partner was there too. He was stopping us viewing the rooms properly and my husband didn't get to see half the house. The vendor announces proudly that the landline is free because BT had never charged him for the 10 years they'd lived there.
The house was really badly decorated and full of his diy botch jobs. However we finally got the keys for a third viewing and the estate showed us round. She said the male vendor was one of the worse she'd come across. House has one plug point in the large garage but about 10 in the bedroom, very odd.

What's the point of a room made of windows if you've to constantly cover them?

I don't really get conservatories. Or at least, not in the UK. If you were in the South of France or something it'd probably be ace.

If they're too hot in the summer in the UK, why would being in the South of France make them worthwhile?

When selling our first marital home (a [u]1st floor[/u] tenement flat in Glasgow) about 1km from a river that had previously flooded a viewer asked us if we'd ever had problems with flooding in the flat.... on the fist floor... If we did i think even Noah would've been in trouble!
Same guy then genuinely asked if the hall cupboard was big enough to fit a dinghy in... 🙄