Hand over the keys?

walletpains

I'm just about to put my flat on the market. The EA I'm thinking of using can conduct all the viewings for no extra fee, which would be very useful for me as a busy single person... I work 50 hours per week and rely on public transport, which would limit the viewings I could oversee.

However, there is an obvious risk that my things could be stolen. :eek:

Any advice? Has anyone used this kind of service before?

Many thanks!

MegaMiniMouse

walletpains wrote: »

Any advice? Has anyone used this kind of service before?

Many thanks!

In general, the quality of service which EAs provide is very low

Don't worry about them nicking stuff, just worry that they will not be able to market your flat effectively

'Viewings' should always be done by the agent - that's what you pay them to do, but they are not necessarily any good at doing their job

MMM

walletpains

When I was buying, only unoccupied flats were shown by the EAs. All the other viewings were conducted by the owners?

The EAs and 'viewing team' are commission-based. This makes me wonder how many people they'll try to get through the door at any one time and how closely they'll be watched... Sounds optimistic in a way, but my property is in an investor-friendly price bracket

PasturesNew

In my experience you always handed the keys to the EA and they'd do the viewings, phoning to let you know when they'd be coming so you could disappear.

I last sold just a few years ago and handed over my keys without a thought. It's the empty properties you need to be more wary of, where an EA can move in themselves, or invite mates over for some tinnies.

If you're that worried, you could keep your private stuff/valuables in a locked suitcase each day, to minimise a swift pocketing. It's more likely to be the viewers/kids nicking stuff, which they could do just as easily if you were doing a viewing - you'd be surprised how often people turn up mob handed for a viewing and expect to be let in with an entire tribe of kids or a random relative in tow, they then try to split up, while the kids are left to run around like it's a playground.

googler

In the States, selling agents get the keys and typically put them in a 'lock box' which is attached to the front door or elsewhere. The code to the box is routinely handed out to other agents - the buyers' agents - so that they can show the house to their clients. It's not always the selling agent that shows the house to the buyers.

In this situation, there could be any number of folk with access to the keys, but they seem to manage OK without householders losing their possessions on a regular basis .... why do you think it's less secure for one agent - your agent - to have your keys?

Has anyone ever heard of a case of owner's property going astray during agent-led viewings?

Angela_D_3

When I was 21 I had an admin job at an estate agents, my boss was very good looking and I had quite a crush on him, one night at the Christmas party I ended up back at his flat. The next week I ended up back at his flat again, only it was completely different, I wasn't that drunk. The week after we popped to a house for lunch, i'm sure you've got the picture by now.
I personally would just make yourself available at weekends for viewings.

dander

When I last sold, I found that quite a large number of viewings were short notice and on weekdays when I was at work - possibly because I was selling a flat in London, so perhaps got a high percentage of investors - it was well worth having the agents able to get people in the door when suited them.
When i bought I was buying in a town a long way from where I lived, so I was only able to view at quite limited times - if a vendor couldn't make their property available I didn't see it and chose which one to buy from the ones that I were available.

I think the chances of theft are very, very small. If anything went missing you'd know exactly who had the keys, so they'd have a pretty small chance of getting away with it!

Davesnave

I agree with Pastures that really valuable small items should be locked away, as should anything treasured or in daft places. (We have a Staffordshire dog, thanks to a viewer's child, but it was our inability to see the potential for an accident that allowed it to happen.)

When viewing with an agent, I've always asked to photograph rooms, and they've never refused. Bearing in mind that a multi-mega pixel camera with a good lense can reproduce in great detail what's inside a house, the access points, security features etc, there are worse things that can happen following viewings than the loss of a trinket to the light-fingered brigade....;)

bandofbrothers

Hi,

When I was selling my fully empty property I always made sure I was available to do viewings that my e.a was unable to carry out due to being booked up or out of hours and even at weekends.

The property was fully empty so I sat on the stairs waiting for viewers, and I only use public transport too.

My thoughts are if your willing to go that extra bit your more likely to succeed !

Good luck.

tyllwyd

Davesnave wrote: »

... When viewing with an agent, I've always asked to photograph rooms, and they've never refused. Bearing in mind that a multi-mega pixel camera with a good lense can reproduce in great detail what's inside a house, the access points, security features etc, there are worse things that can happen following viewings than the loss of a trinket to the light-fingered brigade....;)

I would be horrified if I thought my EA was allowing people to photograph or video my house without specifically asking my consent first (which I would refuse!)

shar46y

tyllwyd wrote: »

I would be horrified if I thought my EA was allowing people to photograph or video my house without specifically asking my consent first (which I would refuse!)

Oh dear, I took photos when viewing houses, of course always with permission from the EA! Because we're buying in a different city, we always arranged loads of viewings on the same day so we didn't have to keep making trips there. We felt we had to have photos to help remind us of which house was which, especially little details which wouldn't have been shown in the EA particulars.