Showing people round house - taking shoes off

Cissi

This thread is getting sillier by the minute!

GracieP wrote: »

Outside of the house sale issue this is a big point to me. It's been well documented for about 15 years now that allergies are on the rise in children due to overly sterile environments. Our bodies are made to withstand dirt and other nasties. Being too clean is not only unnatural but can cause some serious damage. It's similar to people who insist on showering/bathing too often, when it's known to be bad for our skin. Especially for children who don't even sweat in the same way as adults.

I guess it's to do with the fact that soap and disinfectant manufacturers pay for a lot of advertising which play on our fears, so they can make bigger profits. While independent scientific and medical researchers don't.

That's a pretty big jump - from "no outdoor shoes indoors" to ""overly sterile environments" - just to prove a point, don't you think? I happen to have a PhD in immunology, and I agree with you: dirt certainly has its place. I encourage my children to enjoy it as much as possible, OUTDOORS. That doesn't mean that I want it spread all over my floors/carpets from where it will get dragged into my kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms! And no, I certainly don't have OCD, on the contrary - I'm a working mum who doesn't have time to continually hoover/sweep/wash the floors, but prefer to keep a basic level of cleanliness instead. Precisely so that family and friends can comfortably walk and play on them without crunching on dirt (although I'm sure the children get exposed to a "healthy" level of dirt as my floors certainly aren't disinfected).

I too can produce a scientific newsflash: I sincerely hope that the "shoes off is bad for you" brigade don't make their children wear outdoor shoes indoors at all times? There are plenty of studies that show that this is extremely bad for growing feet, both for the development of the feet themselves and for important muscles that affect ankle support, balance and general physical development. But this is going a bit far off the original subject :rotfl:

Finally, it's an equally big leap to suggest that anyone would ask a wheelchair user to leave their wheelchair at the door, or an elderly person who clearly has trouble walking to remove their shoes - there is such a thing as common sense! And if anyone happens to have a less obvious disability, what's wrong/shameful about saying "sorry, I have some issues with my feet and am not comfortable walking without my shoes"

To the OP: personally I like the idea of a sign by the entrance, and I then wouldn't push the point. Hopefully most prospective buyers will have the common courtesy to offer anyway (they did both times when we sold). You probably will need to clean more during this period anyway - it's part of the inconvenience of selling.

gabyjane

See i never understand why people would have a prob with it tbh. I am a childminder and have always made sure people take thier shoes off for that reason..also we have a newish house and the carpets where we have carpet are cream and i would like them to stay that way. I always think of the possible mess on pavements that you can't see which comes in on your shoes and dont want the kids sitting in it eww...
It would not offend me tbh..some of the houses i have seen with gross carpets would put me off buying as a big expence.

GracieP

Cissi wrote: »

I too can produce a scientific newsflash: I sincerely hope that the "shoes off is bad for you" brigade don't make their children wear outdoor shoes indoors at all times? There are plenty of studies that show that this is extremely bad for growing feet, both for the development of the feet themselves and for important muscles that affect ankle support, balance and general physical development. But this is going a bit far off the original subject :rotfl:

Talk about the thread getting sillier and sillier! Nobody at all has suggested once on this thread that people should wear shoes at all times. In fact, afaics, the common sentiment appears to be that people tend to not wear shoes at home but would not ask a stranger to take theirs off, especially if it is a potential house buyer.

Like most things in life it's about common sense. If you are trying to sell your house, especially at the moment when it's not unusual to see properties on the market for 18 months and buyers are rare, you do not take a chance on annoying a potential buyer, whether you think they are right or wrong to be annoyed. Yes it's a huge pain if they walk dirt in, but that's part and parcel of selling and it's so very, very unlikely to be a health and safety risk. One of the OP's main arguments was that she does not want to put her children at risk from what may be on people's shoes, and that is quite silly unless her children have some sort of immune deficiency.

ih8stress

When I was selling my house I didn't ask people to remove their shoes, thinking it too awkward and petty unless it was really wet or muddy outside.

On one occasion (a family of 5 adults) they DID remove their shoes, only for one of them to tread in oil from his socks all over the house (I was too embarrassed to point it out to him). I spent ages wiping it from the carpets afterwards.

After that I always replied that it wasn't necessary if they wanted to remove their shoes.

Just another view on the situation!

melancholly

any chance it may just make the viewers think the house must be diffcult to maintain and have them mentally working out how much it would cost to replace the carpets to a more practical option?

ShelleyC_2

tbs624 wrote: »

:rolleyes: That's your misinterpretation of other' s posts Shelley. Check back - it's not the fact that they don't want to take their shoes off that makes them appear as non -serious buyers, it's the fact that their own "foot hang-ups" would apparently prevent them from concentrating on the viewing and "put them off" buying.

Are you really suggesting that a house that is in the right area for your work, your kids' schools, has rooms into which your furniture fits, the right size garden, somewhere to park etc, a shiny EPC with the right coloured bar highlighted, & has the potential to be the home you really want would be lost to you just because the person selling didn't want your outdoor shoes traipsing through the property? Now, *that* would be bizarre.

I reckon some of you were quite simply never told "no" when you were kids.:D

My Mum might disagree with you on that one!

I have read the whole thread already and in this market I don't think the vendor should say anything that might put off a buyer.

My point is that I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with someone asking me to take my shoes off if I was going to view their house ( I see that as completely different to visiting family or friends) It would make me feel less comfortable wandering round their house and therefore less likely to appreciate it being the perfect house for me to buy.

I clearly said if I had concerns about my footwear being wet or grubby I would offer to take them off.

Cissi

GracieP wrote: »

Like most things in life it's about common sense. If you are trying to sell your house, especially at the moment when it's not unusual to see properties on the market for 18 months and buyers are rare, you do not take a chance on annoying a potential buyer, whether you think they are right or wrong to be annoyed. Yes it's a huge pain if they walk dirt in, but that's part and parcel of selling and it's so very, very unlikely to be a health and safety risk. One of the OP's main arguments was that she does not want to put her children at risk from what may be on people's shoes, and that is quite silly unless her children have some sort of immune deficiency.

Ok, in this case I actually totally agree with you - it was the mentions of "OCD" and "overly sterile environments" that I thought were completely OTT. And from a number of other people's posts it has seemed that they don't like to take their shoes off at all as they feel naked or exposed without them, even likening it to being asked to take off their clothes - again, this is something I can't relate to, but to each their own, I suppose.

Erica_Norman

When we were selling our house, we didnt ask people to remove shoes but found that on the whole, our viewers either vigourously wiped their feet or (the people who actually bought our house) kicked off their shoes automatically when they arrived!(we think it was something to do with the giant shoe rack by the front door;))..however I would not have asked people to remove their shoes as I would feel awkward..unless they visibly had ten tons of mud on their shoes..then I may have done....by the time we were showing viewers around..I had mentally detached myself from the property so didnt feel as precious about the carpets as I may have done previously.

jackieb

Another aspect of it, which may seem a bit strange to some, is that I find the idea of strangers walking round my house in their stocking soles very strange. It's like belittling someone, therefore somewhat disrespectful. Now I know it's not for that reason that people want visitors to remove their shoes. To me it's disempowering.
Maybe it's just me, but that's how I feel. Maybe it's because I was born with deformed feet, that I feel like this.

For people who are used to this practice, that's fine, but not everyone is, and I think you should take this into consideration. I'd much rather have to take out the vacuum, or God forbid the carpet shampooer, after my visitors had gone, rather than risk someone feeling awkward.

For what it's worth, my children and husband remove their shoes when they come in the house. It's just what they do. I've never made them do it. Just because they remove them doesn't mean i'd ask visitors to do it, especially if they were showing an interest in buying my house.

neas

dud the op do this? howd iot go?