Apartment Shopping Etiquette

Last Friday we viewed an apartment that “already had three offers” because it was a converted three bed, two bath in a more or less desirable part of Brooklyn. Before seeing the space our agent told us that we had to make our best and final offer by end of day.

Prior to leaving our house for the viewing my spouse rushed me out to make an appointment —and such action resulted in me using the toilet at the apartment that was being shown. Needless to say, it all appeared fine when I left the bathroom (I actually checked multiple times because our agent made me too paranoid…)

A few moments following the showing– the listing agent called mine to say that we were extremely rude for leaving a toilet full of crap. She went on to say that if we were interested in making an offer the seller would likely decline because of how rude we were.

Now, here is the thing — my spouse and I had already determined that the apartment was not for us by the time we received the message. We seriously have no interest in purchasing the space (for a number of reasons…). However, the ent ire experience really irked me.

I asked my agent about this and she suggested it’s best to go to a Starbucks in situations like these…

But -seriously, if you have to go and I HAD TO GO, how are their plumbing issues my fault?

What is the proper etiquette here?

brooklynbound

in General Discussion 8 years and 5 months ago

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boredatwork | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Not sure if this post is trolling or not, but it seems possible that its real.

Find a new broker and never deal with this listing agent again. Really. They are both out of their minds to tell you and to blame it on you to the seller. But first tell them both that as part of your due diligence and inspection process, you always drop a giant load to see if the plumbing can handle your requirements. This apartment failed, therefore no best and final.

resident2 | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Any decent listing agent should have access to a plunger and fabreeze; these things happen. And they should also be discrete enough to not need to bring it to the sellers attention.
But it is always polite to ask to check the plumbing before doing so.

BobMarvin | 8 years and 5 months ago

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But, if it’s urgent and if you ask first…..

At my age I have no problems about asking nicely while on house tours and am seldom refused.

Putnamdenizen | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Lol. I’d say no to using a toilet at a showing, especially of an occupied apartment. Goes for house tours as well. We are stinkier than we think we are. You can, of course, flush a toilet to see if it works.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Landlords deal with tenants clogging toilets all the time. A particularly large dump and an over zealous use of the TP will always clog a toilet. You should have raised the lid to see if that happened and stayed there to remedy it.

slopefarm | 8 years and 5 months ago

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LOL, agreed. You may want to avoid listings with that particular agent in the future, however.

BobMarvin | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Etiquette be damned; you learned that the apartment had serious plumbing issues, which would have been important had you not determined that the apartment wasn’t right for other reasons. Perhaps more apartment and house hunters should “test” the plumbing.