How many houses did you view?

rosyw

dorset_nurse wrote: »

Am I the only person that viewed one?! lol

No! :rotfl: I knew exactly what I was looking for and spent a huge amount of time trawling the net looking for possibles, I found only one that I actually liked, viewed it twice and have now been living in it for 15 months! I've kept an eye on what has come on thr market since and still haven't found another that I would even consider viewing - maybe I'm just a bit picky? :rotfl:
Work out what you really need, and what would be a nice added extra, and take it from there.

Louise.H

We viewed around 25, some were purely to see how much the value had increased on them as we knew they'd been refurbished and this is what we intended to do with a house. The one that was our favourite actually wasn't much on the brochure; bad photos, vague descriptions etc. Sadly it didn't work out but we complete in two weeks on our second choice - another one that was far better when viewed than the brochure implied.

We wasted our time viewing a few, I didn't google the area in question before (oops) and ended up discovering there had been various nasty incidents including a murder on the estate.

clw1

We viewed 35 over a 6 month period before we found the right house. I found that the estate agents pictures can be deceiving and that you really had to view to decide.

One other tip is to print off the details for any possibles and drive round to look at the outside as we found that there were quite alot that we could discount as we disliked the street / area.

mogwai

I am still looking atm, and have viewed 18 so far. Of these I've only seen 2 that I could see myself in, and only 1 (of the 2) that I really loved. Unfortunately the house is under offer now at asking and OH didn't want to stretch to that as it needs loads doing to it (( am waiting to see if the sale falls through, lol..

Ironically, this was the house that I'd skipped over in the ads loads of times when arranging other viewings, I didn't like the front pic so didn't even click on the ad. I still think about that house from time to time <sob> But I would recommend seeing a house if it ticks the boxes, even if the pics arent that appealing.

Am taking a break (phew) as have viewed these all in the last few weeks and they are all starting to look the same lol..

Have another 4 booked to view next sat!

skinnyman9000

Well we’ve done some further homework over the past week and we’ve currently got a shortlist of 7 potential properties. They’re spread out across 4 different areas, we like the areas on paper but we’re doing a drive round over the weekend to get a better feel for them, although one of them is in what we call our ‘star location’, the place we want to live most, unfortunately the price/availability of houses there reflects this.

Next I have questions regarding the viewings themselves.

How long should we take in each property on a first visit?
How many would you recommend we visit in a given day?
What are the usual protocols when viewing what is essentially someone’s home?

We’ve never viewed a house before, I’ve viewed rental properties before but they were empty at the time, so we’re a bit nervous on how to go about viewing someone’s house. Any tips from people?

Therese1

I viewed loads before buying my first flat cos I had no real idea what I was looking for.

However, with my present home of 8 years - I wasn't even thinking of moving - I was just driving down the street and saw the for sale sign!! Decor was a relic of the 70's but I just "knew" when I walked in that I would buy it! No real reason to ever move again! (until I see another sign perhaps!)

OK, I would never advise anyone else to do this but it worked for me :j

Mind you, I am now thinking of BTL so back to the "loads more viewing" rule for me!

Doshwaster

I think I viewed 10-12 but ended up buying the very first place I looked at. From the moment I walked in the door it just seemed right.

Everyone's different. I have known some people look at dozens of places as they are waiting for the absolutely perfect house to come on the market and will reject a property for the most trivial reasons - while others are happier to make compromises on price, location, size or current state of the house.

It's a good idea to look at places at both ends of your budget range to see what extra you can get for your money and whether it is worth spending the extra money. You may think you have a good idea of what you are looking for but it's not until you really start doing viewings that you get to face the reality.

A good tip is to make some notes immediately after viewing a property. Sit in the car and write down your immediate thoughts. After a few viewings they will all merge into each other and you won't remember the details of each.

yvonne13_2

I viewed 12 and I was so picky I got on my own nervous.

I remember the first house I viewed, there was a mat oustide the front door with a picture of a cat on it and when the owner opened the door a cat jumped onto my chest hence my foot never passed over the doorstep as the cat warned me off, tee hee

phoebe1989seb

Doshwaster wrote: »

A good tip is to make some notes immediately after viewing a property. Sit in the car and write down your immediate thoughts. After a few viewings they will all merge into each other and you won't remember the details of each.

We have always done this too......and in the days before floor plans became the norm we used to draw a rough sketch of the layout immediately after the viewing too

Doshwaster

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

We have always done this too......and in the days before floor plans became the norm we used to draw a rough sketch of the layout immediately after the viewing too

Doing a layout sketch while things are fresh in the memory is still a good idea for FTBs as, in my experience, floorplans are only the norm at the middle and upper ends of the market. For cheaper properties most sellers don't seem to think it's worth the extra cost.