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I bought a house years ago from an extremely hostile elderly seller. We offered the asking price with no concessions requested and she still did everything in her power to make the sale as hard as possible. She insisted on being present at all showings, inspections, appraisals, etc. and made everyone's job a lot harder.
At closing, she sat the whole time with her back turned to us, only turning around when she needed to sign papers. When we were done, she came over, spat on the floor and said, "I hope you never have a happy day in that house!" and stomped out.
I would have been perfectly happy never meeting her.....
So tragic and terrible. I imagine she was venting some pent up anger and grief at you.
We are in the process of selling our home and waiting for the closing. As of yet, we have not met the future owners of our home.
We put our home up for sale and the real estate agent said we should not be home when prospective buyers come by, so we took a long weekend trip. By the time we came home we had an offer on the house that we accepted.
The next step was the home inspection. The future owners of the house came by with their real estate agent and spent about two hours at the house to watch the inspection. Our real estate agent told us we should not be there during the inspection, so we took a long drive and did not return until everyone was gone.
The final inspection the day before the closing is coming up fast but our real estate agent said we should be gone for that too because we might say the wrong thing and scare the buyers. So we won't see the new buyers then either.
I understand that during the COVID-19 crisis the number of people at the actual closing is limited so we will do the paperwork in the morning and the future owners will fill out the paperwork in the afternoon.
Is it possible or likely we will never see the future owners of our home?
Yes. It has been common long before COVID. The last buyers or sellers I met was 7 transactions ago in 1987.
Private sale. Met them at the showing. Signed contract that day.
45 days later, settlement.
Entire time we kept in contact. Best people to turn our historical home over to.
We never met the buyers when we sold a house last year. But we did remain in contact with old neighbors and did hear a bit from them. If that's what eating you - Then go that route.
If you're really curious you can ask the realtor to talk to their realtor and get the low down. Then you can get the basics. Some sellers want a certain profile for their beloved house. Years ago we were interested in one house but the owner wanted a family with young kids. . . . And that wasn't us. So we missed out even though we were the highest bid. For some sellers, price doesn't matter. It's principle. She was a widow, raised her family there, and wanted a family there again. It made perfect sense to me.
First house. Bought directly from the builder who was not at the closing; met the buyer briefly at the closing when we sold it.
Second house, met the seller at the closing; again met the buyers at the closing. And since the house was near the one we built (house #3) we saw more of them than we cared to. They opened a business in the barn and people from it overflowed onto us and not in a pleasant way… long story.
Third house, met one of the buyers when he asked to come over to learn the house. There is a handful of complex mechanical systems (set up for off-grid, zoned heat, well, pumped septic, etc.) and he wanted to be sure he understood the workings of all the tanks, control boxes, valves, switches and stuff.
Fourth house, spouse met the sellers very briefly during a walk-through, I guess they were leaving as he, our daughter and our realtor were arriving. They closed early, so I never met them.
Unless there is a specific reason to meet buyers/sellers I see no reason to do it.
If you're really curious you can ask the realtor to talk to their realtor and get the low down. Then you can get the basics. Some sellers want a certain profile for their beloved house. Years ago we were interested in one house but the owner wanted a family with young kids. . . . And that wasn't us. So we missed out even though we were the highest bid.
So, if that is actually true, her actions were illegal.The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate against buyers based on many protected classes, and familial status is one of them.
I never met the new owner of my home I sold either. But, I was curious and often wish I met him. I have driven by my old house sometimes when I was passing through and it gives me memories....It sounds like it is better not to meet.
I have never met the other party to a deal and I don't ever want to. It's a business transaction and there is absolutely zero reason to change that dynamic. I don't even want to sign around the same time and risk meeting them at title.
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