Couple make ‘extremely odd’ request after purchasing home sight unseen

Buying your first home can be a stressful, yet exhilarating experience.

Even if you have your finances in order, competition from other interested parties can literally price you out of the market. It can be an emotional encounter.

Now, imagine adding strained housing market conditions to that formula. It can lead to an unusual situation that has even more peculiar outcomes.

At least that’s what one first home owner and home buyer appears to be facing.

“My husband and I just bought a house last week,” the first home buyer explained in a post online to a popular property group on Reddit. 

“With the market and how quick houses are selling we put in an offer and signed the contract that clearly said we are making this offer without seeing the property.”

She said that they understood they were buying the home sight unseen as the sale is subject to building inspections.

She added that they had an opportunity to inspect the property at a final “open house”.

Two days after making an offer on the house, she said the real estate agent (REA) phoned them to tell them the owners had accepted the offer.

The contract of sale is organised and the buyer pays the deposit.

Then, she said, they made a request to see the house.

“We asked the REA if there’s any possibility we would be able to come see the property – they were going to have a home open on the weekend anyway so didn’t think it was an issue or said we’d be happy to come whenever they have 15 minutes,” she wrote.

She added that given they have a three month settlement and she is heavily pregnant, she and her husband were hoping to see the house in person instead of photos online.

“We get a call back the next day from the REA who said that the owners were ‘really taken back by our request’ and thought it was extremely odd that we would go against our contract of making an offer without seeing the property and now we want to see it?”

“Like we made the offer and got the house and they were going to open it up that weekend anyway so didn’t think this was unreasonable. Just wanting to know if this is normal practice and that we have to wait until the week before settlement for final inspection?”

A flurry of fellow Reddit users soon offered their advice.

“Just attend the building inspection,” one person wrote.

“This is the answer,” a second person replied in agreement.

“Send an email reassuring them that the contract still stands, you have still purchased the property (subject to building inspection), you just want to start planning renovations/furniture etc,” another person wrote. 

“They’re just panicking because they’ve cancelled the campaign due to selling it.”

Others appeared somewhat surprised by the request and question.

“You bought without looking at the property, that’s scary. Really hope it ends up well for you but overall very scared the way marked is headed,” one person wrote.

“Personally, it’s odd. I’ve recently sold my home and by the time settlement comes, will have made it available privately on two occasions for them (on top of open homes),” a second person wrote. 

“It is not abnormal to want to see the home you are purchasing. I would ask the REA to kindly work with their vendor on supporting your request.”

READ MORE: First home buyer guide: everything you need to know about your first house purchase