Being shown around by sellers or estate agents? Taking pictures?

Ditto

Which do you prefer when being shown around a house, the sellers or the estate agents?

I have looked around a few houses over the past 3 months and I much prefer seeing the house with just the estate agent being there. I have seen a few repo's were obviously there is no people living there, but in other houses the seller has left the keys with the estate agent, which is fine by me.

The last house I saw, which I'm going to see again tomorrow as they have lowered the price, the woman would not stop talking (she told me all about her childhood in Sheffield, going to uni in Liverpool, meeting her future husband, having 3 kids in quick succession etc etc) I did not see much of the house and can't remember much of the parts I did see.
I asked the ea is it possible that she shows me around by herself as I feel more comfortable with that than having someone bending my ear about stuff I'm not really interested in:rolleyes: She said only the seller could show me around, so I made an appointment for tomorrow and will have to tell her I'm looking at what could be my future home so I want to have a good look around.

I like to take pictures as well, to show relatives and friends, as I value their opinion on improvements etc plus I can spot things I might of not seen. Would you be bothered if I took pictures?

chickmug

Generally there are lots of people who prefer only the agent but there are others that prefer only the seller and the third batch who prefer the agent but with the seller in the background. In case the agent doesn't know the detailed answer about local issues.

Many people ask to take pics or even camcorder for videos. I found that some sellers said NO on first viewing but would reconsider if a second viewing took place. It depends on the seller and how many pics you want to take.

You may make the agent fed up having to hang around whilst you take your zillionth shot;)

cuthbert_the_octopus

Just say to the seller, as it is your 2nd viewing can you just wander around by yourself (as you know the way!)....... I havent been refused yet!

googler

Putting my imaginary seller's hat on -

I'd be very wary of someone taking pictures in my house before making a commitment to buy it.

If you're happy to show me two forms of ID, one photo ID, the other proof of address, I think I'm happy to let you take photographs, but;

What on earth are you likely to be photographing that can't be seen in my agent's schedule or website?

chickmug

googler wrote: »

What on earth are you likely to be photographing that can't be seen in my agent's schedule or website?

Looking at the standard of most agents pics I would say they would provide very little information especially as we found many moving into the area from far away and I totally understood the need for more pics for reference. We used to have minimum of 12 and up to 20+ on each set of details so not really an issue with us and also kept more on file to email if the need arose.

vegasvisitor

I feel the photos are a bit unnecessary. Maybe I'm old fashioned (I'm only 34 though) but I'd be freaked out if someone asked to take photos. I'd wonder why. I think it might be best if you take someone with you for an opinion. Looking at pics is just like looking at a house on the website/schedule and you often can't really tell if you'd like it from pics. Just a thought.

charliee_3

i know what you mean about taking photos.. they often dont have all the rooms on the EA details and its hard to remember specific details if you are looking at lots of places. I dont like looking at houses with the owner as for one thing if they have minging furniture, or you are walking round thinking0 that needs doing, rip that out, etc and they are going on about their lovely decor.. its embarassing and i hate lying!!
we looked at one house and were shown round by mother as the owners had split up.. it was disgusting inside.. cleanish but horrible decor and hadnt been touched for years and years, everything worn out and grubby.. and she asked me what i thought of it as (apparently) her daughter had been very proud of her house.. i was thinking eeeeeeeughhhhhhh but i smiled and nodded.... lol

and another needed gutting and redoing complely.. it was a mid terrace 60's house with fake dark wood beams in the lounge, no central heating (ie only fan heaters upstairs), no wallpaper on any of the walls... and she was saying 'well you could just move straight in here' .. i think not

Ditto

googler wrote: »

What on earth are you likely to be photographing that can't be seen in my agent's schedule or website?

Cracks in ceilings, damp patches, bad diy, scale of the rooms with the furniture in etc etc.

There's a lot of things you miss when viewing. I have a good camera which I can zoom in and possibly spot things. Also as I said it would be good to get other peoples opinions plus I as said the 1st time I viewed I missed so much as the seller would not shut up, if I took some photos I could view them at my leisure. I might think is she talking to much to distract me from something

Obviously I would ask the seller if it was ok. Also estate agent pics are small and bad quality, when you save them you cannot expand them to a decent size

googler

Still with my imaginary seller's hat on, I imagine I would have fixed all that stuff before putting it up for sale.... but accept that some folks might not.

chickmug

lesley74 wrote: »

I feel the photos are a bit unnecessary. Maybe I'm old fashioned (I'm only 34 though) but I'd be freaked out if someone asked to take photos. I'd wonder why. I think it might be best if you take someone with you for an opinion. Looking at pics is just like looking at a house on the website/schedule and you often can't really tell if you'd like it from pics. Just a thought.

I found where it happened the most is where people were from out of the area and sometimes only one person viewed so wanted to show their other half the shortlist and the pics helped.

If I were local I wouldn't take any but if I lived away from the area and additional viewings were a problem I would want to take them and also check the sizes as too many agents still get the details wrong.

F_T_Buyer

googler wrote: »

Putting my imaginary seller's hat on -

I'd be very wary of someone taking pictures in my house before making a commitment to buy it.

If you're happy to show me two forms of ID, one photo ID, the other proof of address, I think I'm happy to let you take photographs, but;

What on earth are you likely to be photographing that can't be seen in my agent's schedule or website?

How many adverts don't even bother having a floor plan! You get home and you forget exactly how rooms fit together, etc etc...