House Viewings

RichardAnd

random_banter wrote: »

Funny you should mention DNG, they were the ones I spoke to today, and there was a great deal of happiness and relief associated with the potential return of in person viewings.

Anecdotal of course, but there are a lot of stories out there about sales falling through due to the "bid, go sale agreed then view" model of doing things at the moment, and I'd imagine it's a right pain for EA's.

My 2c

Believe me, I would LOVE to be totally mistaken in my assumptions in this case.

random_banter

RichardAnd wrote: »

Believe me, I would LOVE to be totally mistaken in my assumptions in this case.

Of course. And I think they are franchised and could have a small business mentality in some branches, so perhaps the view of individual agents won't reflect the corporate view...

Anyway fingers crossed we get good news on viewings asap. There is a new listing up that I am very interested in but I have no interest in getting all the way to sale agreed just to view. And I won't make a decision on a property without experiencing it in real life, no way.

DeWanderer

I'm not buying or selling.
I was chatting to a friend who is an Estate Agent today, and he said that he was told viewings are back to relative normality next Tuesday 4th May.

(This is not official yet, but I'd trust him on this).

ionapaul

Was told the same by an EA today actually.

Busi_Girl08

Our EA just booked us for a physical viewing on Tueday, that being said this is after a week of bidding following a virtual viewing and they were hoping to get something scheduled sooner but it didn't suit the vendor.

Hibernicis

Busi_Girl08 wrote: »

...... but it didn't suit the vendor.

Starting to sound like 2006 all over again :rolleyes:

RichardAnd

I just got off the phone to an estate agent, whom I called to ask about a property. He told me that viewings will start again in May, though he couldn't give a date.

He also tried to get me to make an offer on the said property. Bless him .

random_banter

RichardAnd wrote: »

I just got off the phone to an estate agent, whom I called to ask about a property. He told me that viewings will start again in May, though he couldn't give a date.

He also tried to get me to make an offer on the said property. Bless him .

The mind BOGGLES. Do they think we are all mugs? Yes there are probably people out there who are confident they're seeing what they'll get in the pictures but most people would rather see the place in real life than bid unseen.

All this unseen bidding does is help pump up the bidding prices. They could fall through and go backwards, but the vendor could become attached to the phantom high bidding prices and base their expectation on that. It's been an absolute joke the last number of months.

A house was posted yesterday that fits our location spec very well, but the pics and 3D tour leave out essential information. I want to inspect the heating system, get a sense of the mad layout and see if there's potential to live in it before doing it up. None of that is really possible without stepping foot in the house. Pictures rarely reflect the reality. Nevertheless, the EA told me I could bid now or they will get me in when viewings are back, but the house could be gone.

Was honest with the EA and said I won't be bidding until I can view, and I wasn't interested in wasting anyone's time with a phantom bid.

That reads like a rant, sorry.

Sweet.Science

random_banter wrote: »

The mind BOGGLES. Do they think we are all mugs? Yes there are probably people out there who are confident they're seeing what they'll get in the pictures but most people would rather see the place in real life than bid unseen.

All this unseen bidding does is help pump up the bidding prices. They could fall through and go backwards, but the vendor could become attached to the phantom high bidding prices and base their expectation on that. It's been an absolute joke the last number of months.

A house was posted yesterday that fits our location spec very well, but the pics and 3D tour leave out essential information. I want to inspect the heating system, get a sense of the mad layout and see if there's potential to live in it before doing it up. None of that is really possible without stepping foot in the house. Pictures rarely reflect the reality. Nevertheless, the EA told me I could bid now or they will get me in when viewings are back, but the house could be gone.

Was honest with the EA and said I won't be bidding until I can view, and I wasn't interested in wasting anyone's time with a phantom bid.

That reads like a rant, sorry.

I actually bid on a house based off pics and a video as it looked turnkey. Twice . I was outbid twice .

The 3rd time it came back to me . The vendor wanted the 380k of the last bid. Got to see it last week and walked out after 30 seconds .

RichardAnd

random_banter wrote: »

The mind BOGGLES. Do they think we are all mugs? Yes there are probably people out there who are confident they're seeing what they'll get in the pictures but most people would rather see the place in real life than bid unseen.

All this unseen bidding does is help pump up the bidding prices. They could fall through and go backwards, but the vendor could become attached to the phantom high bidding prices and base their expectation on that. It's been an absolute joke the last number of months.

A house was posted yesterday that fits our location spec very well, but the pics and 3D tour leave out essential information. I want to inspect the heating system, get a sense of the mad layout and see if there's potential to live in it before doing it up. None of that is really possible without stepping foot in the house. Pictures rarely reflect the reality. Nevertheless, the EA told me I could bid now or they will get me in when viewings are back, but the house could be gone.

Was honest with the EA and said I won't be bidding until I can view, and I wasn't interested in wasting anyone's time with a phantom bid.

That reads like a rant, sorry.

The last house that I saw physically was in rural Kildare, and it was just before Christmas. There was a virtual viewing that looked perfectly fine, but I told the agent that I wanted to see it before making an offer.

I arrived at the house, walked in the back door (as they do in the country-side) and noticed a damp spot. Then I started tapping the walls and noticed that a lot of the external walls were sheet-rock. That was that.

Had I been one of those souls who went sale-agreed to see that house, I would have immediately withdrawn the offer, having wasted my time, the seller's time and the agents time to boot. Whatever civil servant dreamed up this "bid to view" model should be fired.


EDIT:

Do they think we are all mugs?

Yes. Yes they do.

Looks like viewings officially open on May 10th.
https://twitter.com/SeanDefoe/status/1387541432593002497?s=19

RichardAnd

Deleted User wrote: »

Looks like viewings officially open on May 10th.
https://twitter.com/SeanDefoe/status/1387541432593002497?s=19

That's good stuff. I will start looking at homes again on June 11th.

However, even when things open up, I would say that there will be a hang-over period of the no-viewings era. Good news none the less; I'll take that.

Busi_Girl08

Got an email from an EA yesterday (about a house I queried on the 6th of April), who said they are hoping to restart viewings soon and said to contact them about booking a slot, they just asked to confirm market status first (first time buyer, 2nd time, cash buyer, etc).

Wondering will they start off only allowing physical viewings with an AIP/proof of funds to limit tyre kickers? Don't know if that's the way it's always been, I only started looking in the last month.

cintec

I viewed a place yesterday after I was the last bidder and at a price the seller wanted, it seemed pretty straightforward wearing a mask and the seller left for 15mins.
I was on the fence with the property but it actually looked bigger in person than the photo's which is not what most peoples experience has been from reading this thread.

RichardAnd

Busi_Girl08 wrote: »

Got an email from an EA yesterday (about a house I queried on the 6th of April), who said they are hoping to restart viewings soon and said to contact them about booking a slot, they just asked to confirm market status first (first time buyer, 2nd time, cash buyer, etc).

Wondering will they start off only allowing physical viewings with an AIP/proof of funds to limit tyre kickers? Don't know if that's the way it's always been, I only started looking in the last month.

In my opinion, proof of funds should should always be required before someone is allowed to view a house, Covid or not. Tyre-kickers only frustrate people and waste time. If one can't afford a house, then that person has no reason to see it; simple as.

Green Mile

RichardAnd wrote: »

In my opinion, proof of funds should should always be required before someone is allowed to view a house, Covid or not. Tyre-kickers only frustrate people and waste time. If one can't afford a house, then that person has no reason to see it; simple as.

Should the same be for all sales on anything? Retail, Car purchases etc?
There are privacy issues with this suggestion.
With no covid, there’s nothing wrong with an agent opening a door and letting people walk through to get a feel for a future purchase of properly even if they know the current house being viewed isn’t the one.

RichardAnd

Green Mile wrote: »

Should the same be for all sales on anything? Retail, Car purchases etc?
There are privacy issues with this suggestion.
With no covid, there’s nothing wrong with an agent opening a door and letting people walk through to get a feel for a future purchase of properly even if they know the current house being viewed isn’t the one.

No, because it's not the same thing.

Open viewings are a different thing, of course.

cintec

RichardAnd wrote: »

In my opinion, proof of funds should should always be required before someone is allowed to view a house, Covid or not. Tyre-kickers only frustrate people and waste time. If one can't afford a house, then that person has no reason to see it; simple as.

you can get AIP in 5 mins with some banks and use that to view/bid without be guaranteed to qualify for anything near the amount on the paper.

fago

cintec wrote: »

you can get AIP in 5 mins with some banks and use that to view/bid without be guaranteed to qualify for anything near the amount on the paper.

Going through the process right now AIB AIP and taking 5-6 weeks. And they are very very tight on documentation. This is an application with no exemptions, well within salary limits, 35% deposit.

Of course at the start, they put a few numbers in calculator and your mortgage ask to make sure you can proceed with doc upload.

Viewings without proving funding probably okay, but in reality no bidding should start without the auctioneer having some confidence the buyer can proceed.

cintec

fago wrote: »

Going through the process right now AIB AIP and taking 5-6 weeks. And they are very very tight on documentation. This is an application with no exemptions, well within salary limits, 35% deposit.

Of course at the start, they put a few numbers in calculator and your mortgage ask to make sure you can proceed with doc upload.

Viewings without proving funding probably okay, but in reality no bidding should start without the auctioneer having some confidence the buyer can proceed.

I went through the AIB portal and got AIP the same day(it's automated based on the figures you fill in), then I had the 8 tasks to complete which took a good amount of time to complete.

Gael23

We have a second viewing tomorrow before putting in an offer

tscul32

RichardAnd wrote: »

In my opinion, proof of funds should should always be required before someone is allowed to view a house, Covid or not. Tyre-kickers only frustrate people and waste time. If one can't afford a house, then that person has no reason to see it; simple as.

I viewed a house a few weeks ago. Decided it wasn't for us. If it had been though, then we'd have put our current house up for sale. We'd only move for the right house, if we don't find it we'll stay where we are, not everyone is just looking to move regardless. And without knowing what house we wanted there'd be no point in AIP.

random_banter

An EA we are talking to has said that the viewings coming back have a new rule attached - they will be based on us producing proof of funds and that it's a new government requirement - has anyone else seen this written in print since yesterday?

I know some EA's were looking for this before arranging viewings previously, but the government requirement is a new one. Wondering if that's a white lie.

Anyway they will be getting a redacted approval letter as proof and no more.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

random_banter wrote: »

An EA we are talking to has said that the viewings coming back have a new rule attached - they will be based on us producing proof of funds and that it's a new government requirement - has anyone else seen this written in print since yesterday?

I know some EA's were looking for this before arranging viewings previously, but the government requirement is a new one. Wondering if that's a white lie.

Anyway they will be getting a redacted approval letter as proof and no more.

Below is what it says on gov.ie as far as official guidance. Haven't seen anything else

recommencement of property viewings by appointment only with licensed Property Service Providers

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/0bd80-new-public-health-measures-announced-the-path-ahead/

Jmc25

random_banter wrote: »

An EA we are talking to has said that the viewings coming back have a new rule attached - they will be based on us producing proof of funds and that it's a new government requirement - has anyone else seen this written in print since yesterday?

I know some EA's were looking for this before arranging viewings previously, but the government requirement is a new one. Wondering if that's a white lie.

Anyway they will be getting a redacted approval letter as proof and no more.

Also heard this but not sure if that's just that particular EA's policy. I know there's differing opinions on this but from my point of view it's a positive. When I sold before Christmas this rule was in force and it basically meant I wasn't facilitating viewings for absolute time wasters. It also more or less doesn't affect me as a buyer, as I have AIP and don't intend on viewing houses I clearly can't afford.

Also had previous experience a few years ago of being the second highest bidder on a property, which went "sale agreed" at a price beyond what I was willing to pay. Turned out the bidder had pretty much zero evidence of funding and the property was put back on the market. The vendor then simply would not accept my lower offer on the basis that "it's clearly worth the higher amount since someone was willing to pay it". I ended up going a couple of thousand over my original offer out of sheer exasperation, having been outbid on a number of other properties. Really, I have zero problem with time wasters like this being cut out of the process.

RichardAnd

random_banter wrote: »

An EA we are talking to has said that the viewings coming back have a new rule attached - they will be based on us producing proof of funds and that it's a new government requirement - has anyone else seen this written in print since yesterday?

I know some EA's were looking for this before arranging viewings previously, but the government requirement is a new one. Wondering if that's a white lie.

Anyway they will be getting a redacted approval letter as proof and no more.

I'd say it's to save them the trouble of going out to the house and showing someone around when that said person has not the funds to buy the property. I actually approve of this as tyre kickers have no business seeing property they cannot or do not wish to buy.

matchthis

I’d say it’s also a result of a lot of people wanting to do viewings. We’re selling and EA wanted the house for 3 days this week as he has a good list of people that want to view. Is taking time to do each viewing so no over lapping. Hopefully will see more houses come online soon

Gael23

Viewings officially resuming tomorrow but we went sale agreed on Friday finally

KBH2020

What is it that the estate agents are actually looking for when they ask for proof?
Is the redacted AIP ok when they ask for proof before viewings?

I saw on the auctioneera website they have listed out what is accepted under their request for proof (to make a bid) https://www.auctioneera.ie/what-is-proof-of-funds-when-buying-property

They are saying provide a cash balance,a bank statement/screenshot and AIP or a letter from bank/solicitor confirming you have the funds. It seems OTT to have to show anyone exactly how much money you have!!

Mic 1972

KBH2020 wrote: »

What is it that the estate agents are actually looking for when they ask for proof?
Is the redacted AIP ok when they ask for proof before viewings?

I saw on the auctioneera website they have listed out what is accepted under their request for proof (to make a bid) https://www.auctioneera.ie/what-is-proof-of-funds-when-buying-property

They are saying provide a cash balance,a bank statement/screenshot and AIP or a letter from bank/solicitor confirming you have the funds. It seems OTT to have to show anyone exactly how much money you have!!

I actual wish more EAs did that.
It would reduce the number of people entering a bidding war with no funds to sustain their offers.