Showing people round house - taking shoes off

mjmal51

Good topic and as I am thinking about selling soon I had the same thoughts as my house is no shoes policy, as are relatives and several friends' houses. Surprised to see people posting here that they would be offended or uncomfortable, do so many people nowadays still walk in straight off the street into their lounges, kitchens and bedrooms? Horrible idea! Try doing that in the Far East, you would be shown the door and considered low class and unconsiderate and that is supposed to be the Thirld World.
If I view I always offer to remove shoes and feel better if I do. In line with other posters I will buy the paper overshoe covers, lots available on Ebay I see.
Just my two pennies worth!

3KIDSNOMONEY

To those asking why i have asked when i have already made up my mind: I asked, got several replies and then posted again saying that i think i would ask viewers to remove shoes.

The idea of slippers and overshoe covers seems a bit weirder than asking people to remove shoes. But thanks for the suggestions.

GracieP

ethansmum wrote: »

How ridiculous! I would be more offended at some asking me to put on second hand slippers than asking me to take my shoes off. I would always take my shoes off in some one elses home - its respectful!

For one, they would be new slippers, and they are at least cosy which gives a homely feel, rather than shoe covers which feels industrial.

Two, there was a poll done on mse a few months ago and over 80% of people voted that they would never ask others to remove their shoes in their home, and about half of them felt it was rude. The UK is not a region which shoe removal is traditional for cultural reasons, so most don't like it. We don't prepare or feet and socks each day with the expectation of being asked to remove our shoes. So our feet may be whiffy, our socks mismatched or a bit worn at the toes. This makes people understandably uncomfortable.

If someone is viewing a house while feeling uncomfortable and being quietly desperate to get their shoes back on, they aren't going to be very likely to buy your house. Feeling discomfort in a house and a great sense of relief upon leaving will make the majority of people dislike it. Fine if they are just guests or meter readers, but if you are trying to sell you are shooting yourself in the foot.

mjmal51

GracieP wrote: »

For one, they would be new slippers, and they are at least cosy which gives a homely feel, rather than shoe covers which feels industrial.

Two, there was a poll done on mse a few months ago and over 80% of people voted that they would never ask others to remove their shoes in their home, and about half of them felt it was rude. The UK is not a region which shoe removal is traditional for cultural reasons, so most don't like it. We don't prepare or feet and socks each day with the expectation of being asked to remove our shoes. So our feet may be whiffy, our socks mismatched or a bit worn at the toes. This makes people understandably uncomfortable.

If someone is viewing a house while feeling uncomfortable and being quietly desperate to get their shoes back on, they aren't going to be very likely to buy your house. Feeling discomfort in a house and a great sense of relief upon leaving will make the majority of people dislike it. Fine if they are just guests or meter readers, but if you are trying to sell you are shooting yourself in the foot.

We all have opinions on this it seems. I am just surprised in these modern times that people are going around with smelly feet and holey socks, are the Brits still the great unwashed?! Certainly none of my friends have ever had a problem leaving shoes at the door, do the smelly feet brigade have the finances to make a serious offer on a decent house?

Liz33

I sell new properties and will sometimes ask people to take off shoes as we need to try and keep the carpets clean if they don't buy but we can offer them over shoes if this is more comfortable for them, no one has minded taking their shoes off for me though, however people may feel differently when its a second hand home.

good luck with the viewings anyway

SarahShattered

tbs624 wrote: »

If someone is put off your property simply because they were asked to remove their shoes when viewing , then they clearly weren't a serious house purchaser and you've saved yourself a wasted 45 minutes of your life.

I completely disagree with you.

It did, and would, put me off buying as I would be conscious about my feet, and not paying attention to the house.

BTW, I wouldn't waste my time looking at properties if I wasn't serious about buying.

SarahShattered

mjmal51 wrote: »

We all have opinions on this it seems. I am just surprised in these modern times that people are going around with smelly feet and holey socks, are the Brits still the great unwashed?! Certainly none of my friends have ever had a problem leaving shoes at the door, do the smelly feet brigade have the finances to make a serious offer on a decent house?

What a ludicrous thing to say. My DH's feet smell atrocious, it doesn't mean he can't afford to buy a house. :rolleyes:

mjmal51

SarahShattered wrote: »

What a ludicrous thing to say. My DH's feet smell atrocious, it doesn't mean he can't afford to buy a house. :rolleyes:

Was tongue in cheek, guess I have always been lucky with friends and relatives then!

Cissi

Personally I think it's a perfectly reasonable request on a muddy day and it would never even have occurred to me that anyone could be offended However, I wouldn't request it on a dry day, both because it seems less necessary and because I wouldn't particularly want people traipsing around in bare feet either - what if they have verrucas :eek: To be honest, the two times we've sold we didn't ask people to take their shoes off but most people offered to do this anyway, at least when it was wet outside. I agree with those who have said that people who traipse around someone else's house in muddy shoes are both rude and inconsiderate.

We have a no shoes policy in our house as does pretty much everyone around here. Personally I feel uncomfortable indoors in "bad weather shoes" such as boots, trainers or the like and find the idea that people don't remove these in their own or other people's houses pretty disgusting. No wonder people get sweaty feet if they never remove their shoes, yuck! Also, the idea that some people would feel too self-conscious about their feet to concentrate on anything else sounds pretty odd to me, frankly. But if I'm selling a house I'll grin and bear it for a while, cleaning behind dirty people if necessary - I may think they're rude/strange/unpleasant, but I'm selling a house, not trying to make new friends

missile

You could get some of those foot covers that are used in show houses.

What upsets me even more than muddy boots are those who waltz in on wooden floors with stilleto heels