Comments on: House-hunting: Can we secretly bring a designer so he can later tell us how much it would cost to redecorate?

By: mab5096

mab5096 — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:44 +0000

I don’t see any reason why you can’t take a decorator along with you , but I don’t see why you would have to lie. The owners will obviously know that you are interested in their home and maybe knowing that you’ll need to put a lot of money into it may put you in a better position to negotiate price.

By: Bandett

Bandett — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:40:18 +0000

No , that is against the law, and you may be arrested and charged with a crime.

By: dawnb

dawnb — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 07:51:21 +0000

You can bring along anyone you wish. You should be working with a realtor when you are looking at homes and not dealing directly with the sellers. The realtor negotiates with the seller on a price that you and the seller can agree on. There is no need to be secretive about whomever you choose to look at properties with you. Kitchens and baths cost the most to redo so it wouldn’t hurt to have someone give you a ballpark on a reno. Interview a few designers and find out what they are willing to do and at what cost.

By: Britt

Britt — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:34:44 +0000

it actually sounds like you’re on the right track, you should talk to the seller and tell her that the house is over your budget (even though it isn’t) and that even at the price she has the interior of the house needs to be re-done. While telling her this you should have your interior designer with you and im sure if you payed him/her he/she would be more than willing to help. Just ask for a rough estimate though. Good luck on the house, if it is meant to be yours everything will work out.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:39:52 +0000

No need to be secretive about it. People actually do this a lot with architects, etc. Just do it.