Home Buying Etiquette

[MamaMootz]

I just had this one happen to me today, so I thought I'd start a thread on it.

When there is a home for sale on the market,

Please do not walk up to the picture window in front of the house, lean on the glass with your spouse, put your hands up to your eyes and peer into the house. We still live in the house and are most startled to come downstairs and see you peering into our home, and we don't really care for that.

If you have any questions about the house, ask.

Please leave the home the way the homeowner has it. If you open a closet or a cabinet, don't rifle through the owner's belongings.

Please leave the lights on if they are on when you get there, or off  if they are turned off.

[MamaMootz]

Also, adding to this:

Please don't schedule a showing at an early time on a weekend, then show up for it 2 hours later without a courtesy call.

[Lisbeth]

You are responsible for compensating the homeowners for any damage you or your children cause to a home or contents that you are viewing.

[MamaMootz]

And one more that happened to me also that I just remembered:

When you arrive at the home, please let the homeowner know you are there to look at the home. Do not wander around the house, and all through the yard without telling the homeowner first. The homeowner will be startled to see strange people walking through their yard and property without knowing who you are.

[ginlyn32]

comment deleted by poster.

[Hushabye]

For realtors:

*When someone schedules a showing for one of your properties, let the tenants know so that the viewing realtor and prospective buyers don't walk into a home on the poor, unprepared tenants!  It's scary for the tenant, embarrassing for everyone else, and NOT a good way to make a sale.  (No, we most definitely did NOT buy that house!  We never even saw past the front door.)

[Bibliophile]

*Please honor the 24hr notice for scheduling viewing appointments. One should not just drive buy and call the realitor and ask to see the house that night...with 20 minutes notice.

I disagree with this...  It's ok to ask.  But don't get upset if the seller isn't able to work it into his/her schedule immediately.  It could very well be that you catch the seller at a good time and they're able to do a viewing...

[Bibliophile]

I'd like to add:

- Clean your shoes before entering the house. 

- If you catch the seller at home, don't make rude comments

- don't try to become buddy-buddy with the seller and tell them how much marriage stinks and that you like to stay home and smoke weed while your husband travels for work.  (you wouldn't think that note would be necessary, but I was surprised....)

- if your car leaks fluids, park on the street, not the driveway

- agents - don't snoop through seller's belongings

[Snowy Owl]

For realtors:

*When someone schedules a showing for one of your properties, let the tenants know so that the viewing realtor and prospective buyers don't walk into a home on the poor, unprepared tenants!  It's scary for the tenant, embarrassing for everyone else, and NOT a good way to make a sale.  (No, we most definitely did NOT buy that house!  We never even saw past the front door.)

Having been in the tenant's shoes I'd pod this.  My then landlord sold the flat I rented a few years ago.  His estate agents were terrible, never gave me notice and seemed to think they could just show up any time to see around.  On one memorable occasion they managed to catch me just out of the bath.  The estate agent did not ring in advance and neither did he ring the doorbell.  He came in with the potential buyers through front door just as I was coming out of the bathroom  (which was at the front of the flat near the front door) wearing only a towel and with dripping wet hair.  

I laugh now, it wasn't funny at the time. 

[kareng57]

*Please honor the 24hr notice for scheduling viewing appointments. One should not just drive buy and call the realitor and ask to see the house that night...with 20 minutes notice.

*If you do schedule the viewing, at least go in and look at the house! Yes this house you are looking at is "way out in the country"...you should have known that when scheduling a viewing. If you are not sure whether or not you'd like to see the house, make a drive-by to see where the house is located.

*If for any reason you cannot attend the viewing YOU scheduled, please call your realitor and re-schedule or cancel the showing.

ginlyn

In my experience, the 24-hour-notice requirement generally means that the property is a rental.  And, in this area anyway, the requirement is there because the landlord must give 24 hours of notice if needing to enter the property unless it's an emergency - even if it's the realtor who will be entering rather than the landlord.

Of course, vendors can put all the conditions that they want on the contract and realtors must honour them.  However, they need to realize that by doing so, they are making their property less accessible to the market.  It's not unusual for people to suddenly have to find a house (maybe they were transferred and the company is paying for one weekend of house-hunting in New Town).  24 hour notice just might not be possible for all the properties that they would like to view.  In a hot market, a 24 hour requirement from the vendor might be fine, but in a slow market it could mean that the house stays on the market for months.

So, if vendors want a reasonably-quick sale, they might have to be agreeable to getting phone calls from realtors "I'm bringing some people over in a half hour, okay?"  Yes, it means keeping the house in near-pristine condition at all time, doing a quick tidy-up and vacating the premises.  Almost all realtors around here seem to request that the residents not be there, if at all possible.  Overall - selling a house is not fun.

[sparklestar]

You are in control of your lawyer therefore it is *your* fault if you lawyers haven't drawn up agreements etc. Please bear in mind deadlines for entry dates etc. may impact on your buyer's ability to purchase. 

[Lindee]

In my case I stepped out of the shower dripping with my hair wrapped in silver foil as I was putting henna through it and came face to face with the agent and a potential buyer for the house I was renting.  I'm not sure who was most shocked!

[ginlyn32]

comment deleted by poster.

[Brandydan]

*Please honor the 24hr notice for scheduling viewing appointments. One should not just drive buy and call the realitor and ask to see the house that night...with 20 minutes notice.

*If you do schedule the viewing, at least go in and look at the house! Yes this house you are looking at is "way out in the country"...you should have known that when scheduling a viewing. If you are not sure whether or not you'd like to see the house, make a drive-by to see where the house is located.

*If for any reason you cannot attend the viewing YOU scheduled, please call your realitor and re-schedule or cancel the showing.

ginlyn

In my experience, the 24-hour-notice requirement generally means that the property is a rental.  And, in this area anyway, the requirement is there because the landlord must give 24 hours of notice if needing to enter the property unless it's an emergency - even if it's the realtor who will be entering rather than the landlord.

Of course, vendors can put all the conditions that they want on the contract and realtors must honour them.  However, they need to realize that by doing so, they are making their property less accessible to the market.  It's not unusual for people to suddenly have to find a house (maybe they were transferred and the company is paying for one weekend of house-hunting in New Town).  24 hour notice just might not be possible for all the properties that they would like to view.  In a hot market, a 24 hour requirement from the vendor might be fine, but in a slow market it could mean that the house stays on the market for months.

So, if vendors want a reasonably-quick sale, they might have to be agreeable to getting phone calls from realtors "I'm bringing some people over in a half hour, okay?"  Yes, it means keeping the house in near-pristine condition at all time, doing a quick tidy-up and vacating the premises.  Almost all realtors around here seem to request that the residents not be there, if at all possible.  Overall - selling a house is not fun.

This was my parents house. The realtor called while my parents were in the middle of cooking supper. The people who wanted to see the house were waiting outside and my parents had to try to clean up the kitchen and go out for dinner.

I just feel like yes, there are some circumstances where one may need to find housing quickly...but one should also consider the homeowners time as well.

ginlyn
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When we get ready to move back east, we will DEMAND a 24-hour notice for our house. We have pets, so we will need the advance notice to double-clean their crate and litterbox area, and to possibly 'go for a ride' with the pets while the house is being shown, and to get the house picture perfect. While we understand that when your house is on the market, you need to keep it clean, it is still someone's home that is being lived in.

But I already known which realtor I will use (the same patience-of-Job woman that I used to find this home - after looking at 35 other homes in 6 weeks), so depending on the relationship of realtor, seller, and potential buyer, I would be amenable to shorten the time frame, but it would need to be a decent reason. Even with this economy, selling a house and going through all the paperwork, even on a short sale, would still take time, and I find it odd that a potential buyer would quickly dismiss an otherwise good buy simply because s/he couldn't see it within a half hour.

[MamaMootz]

Sigh. Another one.

When you are showing a home, don't just walk right in. Knock first, please. Or ring the bell. But we do still live here.