Performing viewings yourself - any tips?

googler

Tinkaf1 wrote: »

And what do you propose to do with them when they are little and the vendor can only do weekend viewings? Leave them in the car with the window down a bit?

3 options come immediately to mind;

1 Get a babysitter.

2 Be polite, and ask for the vendor's approval. Turn up at the house, and say to the vendor "Do you mind if me and husband/wife/partner view the house separately, so that one of us can stay with the children in the car, and leave me to concentrate on the house? I'll come round first, then I'll watch the children while he/she has a look." That way, you'll either get the vendor agreeing to this plan, in which case one adult looks around, then the other, or you'll get the vendor saying "Oh, it'll be fine, bring the kids in too" ... then you have their approval for the children, rather than charging in with them all in tow, whether the vendor likes it or not.

3 If you're viewing, as you describe, near to your parents, ask a parent to come along and look after the kids while you both go in and view.

Tinkaf1 wrote: »

I have NEVER come across children that would run round a house, opening cupboards and bouncing on radiators like you describe!! And what if you had a viewer who came and their child DID behave like a cat 1 fruit loop? You simply open your mouth and say "Excuse me, could I ask that you hold onto your little one please, we are worried something might get broken" Not too difficult I don't think.

I have. And so has someone else who posted here recently.

You're putting the vendor on the spot to either - issue the warning in advance of the kids running around, or - being 'polite' and waiting until something happens - it's too late to issue a warning like this once something IS broken, isn't it? You should be taking the responsibility to ensure your children won't run around like this before the vendor gets near the stage of warning them or you.

Parents become innured to breakages, I feel - they take it as part and parcel of the kids growing up. I get the impression some parents feel that childless couples are over-sensitive on this topic, whereas all the childless couple see is a lack of control by the parent..... and the breakages.

Neil_in_Bristol

timmyt wrote: »

Don't do your own viewings. Use a HIgh STreet Agent. They pay their way by squeezing a Buyer for more than you could negotiate and they keep the move going by chasing, they vet the strangers coming to your door, and they have local knowledge.

Big mistake not to use a High Street Agent, as you could miss out on thousands more.

Many of the high street agents who showed us around houses were worse than useless. Most of them clearly wanted to be spending their Saturdays somewhere else, and they rarely knew anything about the property.

Literally half of the viewings we asked for didn't happen because we gave up chasing the agent for an appointment, and we only got a follow-up call on 2 occasions.

After my experience buying, I would never use a high street agent to sell my home.

Racky_Roo

I sold with House Network and one of the things my viewers really liked was that I printed off my online brochure for them along with a fact sheet I put together about the local area stating distance to local amenities, bus routes, Doctors etc. It meant they had something to refer back to when they were thinking about the house later rather than having to go back online to see the details, this is especially useful if your viewers have been to see several houses in one day.

I bought a bunch of lillies for £3 from Tesco and put them on the dining table. They last 2-3 weeks, smell great and just one small bunch really makes an impact.

Always open all the windows for 30 mins to air the house, then if it's cold, turn the heating on - no-one likes a cold house

Put all toiletries away in the bathroom, it looks messy and I don't want to see how many types of conditioner you can fit in one bathroom

I also agree not to talk too much, they will ask you questions if they have any, and finally, let them go round on their own once you have done the viewings. I always went downstairs when they were upstairs and visa versa so they could talk in private

chambta

I viewed a house last week that was absolutely filthy. Overflowing ashtrays everywhere, piles of books everywhere and a youth drinking lager in the garden.

We didn't make an offer.

Financial_Savvy

We have just agreed a sale, but as we weren't using an estate agent we had to do the viewings ourselves.

We had two viewings which were both over an hour, which is a good sign - stats show I think the longer they are in the property they better.

Doing viewings yourself gives a personal touch and you can explain what you have done to the property, number of owners etc.

poppysarah

Financial_Savvy wrote: »

We had two viewings which were both over an hour, which is a good sign - stats show I think the longer they are in the property they better.
.

An hour!

How big is your house?

googler

poppysarah wrote: »

An hour!

How big is your house?

With a healthy conversation about the area, schools, local facilities, etc. I could see a viewing of a standard 3-bed taking 45mins to 60 ...

jackomdj

We are currently looking and have taken our children on viewings. We do nof have family local to us and I would rather use my friends for important babysitting (ie if oh is away & there is a school meeting). Also you don't know how many houses you are going to view before you buy, I think friends would get fed up after the first few.

So far the children have been well behaved and people have been happy to have them in their homes.

Tinkaf1

googler wrote: »

3 options come immediately to mind;

1 Get a babysitter.

2 Be polite, and ask for the vendor's approval. Turn up at the house, and say to the vendor "Do you mind if me and husband/wife/partner view the house separately, so that one of us can stay with the children in the car, and leave me to concentrate on the house? I'll come round first, then I'll watch the children while he/she has a look." That way, you'll either get the vendor agreeing to this plan, in which case one adult looks around, then the other, or you'll get the vendor saying "Oh, it'll be fine, bring the kids in too" ... then you have their approval for the children, rather than charging in with them all in tow, whether the vendor likes it or not.

3 If you're viewing, as you describe, near to your parents, ask a parent to come along and look after the kids while you both go in and view.



I have. And so has someone else who posted here recently.

You're putting the vendor on the spot to either - issue the warning in advance of the kids running around, or - being 'polite' and waiting until something happens - it's too late to issue a warning like this once something IS broken, isn't it? You should be taking the responsibility to ensure your children won't run around like this before the vendor gets near the stage of warning them or you.

Parents become innured to breakages, I feel - they take it as part and parcel of the kids growing up. I get the impression some parents feel that childless couples are over-sensitive on this topic, whereas all the childless couple see is a lack of control by the parent..... and the breakages.

I don't know where you get the idea from that I am viewing properties near my parents. As I mentioned earlier our family live about 200 miles away! I either view in the week without them, or at weekends with them. No other option.

You use clever language with connotations of lack of control to strengthen your argument against children. I personally do not "charge in" anywhere thanks. LOL. You have obviously had some crappy experiences, but unfortunately seem to have come into contact with "riff raff" by all accounts.

It is a sweeping generalisation that all children are brats on a rampage until clipped around the ear by some poor vendor trying to protect their Royal Doulton. If you were to open the door to a nightmare family from hell, Mr and Mrs Slob and their 6 out of control children bouncing up and down, then fair enough, be upfront about them keeping control of them. But you really shouldn't make assumptions about the children and their behaviour. When we viewed the rental properties we walked around one empty house and the landlady was showing us the bedrooms. She opened a door to show my children who were just in front of us and my eldest said "may I go in?" so far from the behaviour you describe.
As a seller trying to sell the house we left behind I couldn't give a fig if the viewer brings a bear along with them if they are likely to put in an offer! LOL!!
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one. As far as viewing is concerned, a first viewing I would always like to do just as a couple (more because of the fact that my children tend to find wonderful things about every house and beg us to buy it, then feel sad when we say we didn't like it!) and then if we thought it was the one, take them for the second viewing. As a seller I try to be as accomodating as I possibly can, they can bring the whole family if they like. Fine by me. If they start acting up they will be told, although this has never ever been a problem with the viewings so far. I like to give people a chance instead of assuming they are all terrible.

googler

Tinkaf1 wrote: »

I don't know where you get the idea from that I am viewing properties near my parents. As I mentioned earlier our family live about 200 miles away! I either view in the week without them, or at weekends with them.

I misread you - I took it from what you said that you were looking to move closer to your parents. Sorry 'bout that.

Tinkaf1 wrote: »

You use clever language with connotations of lack of control to strengthen your argument against children. I personally do not "charge in" anywhere thanks. LOL.

And you use way too much text-speak. I'm not suggesting that you 'charge in' anywhere, and it's not 'clever language' with 'connotations' - I'm merely making the point that you COULD find other ways of accommodating your children when viewing other than by entering the house / going in / crossing the threshold (however you want to put it), WITH your children and without explicit consent from the sellers to bring your children in.

As I said, you can phrase it and act in such a way that, without explicitly asking the sellers if you can bring the children in, you can establish whether or not they're happy for you to bring them in.

Tinkaf1 wrote: »

It is a sweeping generalisation that all children are brats on a rampage until clipped around the ear by some poor vendor trying to protect their Royal Doulton.

Your words, not mine.

Tinkaf1 wrote: »

If they start acting up they will be told, although this has never ever been a problem with the viewings so far. I like to give people a chance instead of assuming they are all terrible.

I'm not 'assuming they are all terrible' - I related one instance that was posted here by another (the radiator coming off the wall while being climbed upon by a child), and another similar one which was related to me, and broadly suggested that viewing families should gain the explicit consent of the owner prior to taking their children into a viewing.

"If they start acting up they will be told" - unfortunately, parents' warnings often come too little and too late, if at all (see the radiator incident above).