Viewings, an uncomfortable experience

michelle2008

I dislike viewing vacant properties if they have no furniture - my current house was a new build and I had to take a tape measure to get a feel for which bedrooms would fit a double bed etc!

But a little bit of imagination goes a long way!

dibuzz

Ex left it all to me and only arranged viewings for when he was working so getting the family out of the way wasn't possible for me.
I just had to hope the boys (3 and 5) and 2 week old daughter would behave and the boys wouldnt say anything about the milk bottles in the oven and dirty washing in the car
Everything was clean but with 3 little ones it certainly didn't look like a show home and with one couple I had to excuse myself to feed the baby whilst they looked round upstairs. they took ages and I think they were scared to come down but they did buy it so can't have been that bad.
I did feel uncomfortable when we viewed that house 6 years before though as there was a little boy asleep on the sofa and Sunday dinner cooking away in the kitchen and I felt like I had to be quiet and when I came downstairs they were sat round the table waiting.

lizzyshep

I have seen both vacant and occupied properties and much preferred doing the latter. I feel it gives you a better idea of what the house will be like to actually live in when it's got furniture etc there. If there's no furniture it can make the house look bigger than it really is. I also like chatting to the vendor as you find out a lot. My husband and I were looking for a house recently and decided to do it all in one weekend so if we found somewhere we liked we could offer on the Monday . We booked about 10 viewings and did find somewhere on the Saturday, however on Sat evening we found another house on Rightmove that we didn't have a viewing arranged for. It looked amazing so on Sunday we found the road and knocked on the door, hoping the seller would be in! We felt quite bad as we wouldn't have liked that done to us but. we were so glad we did as the house was perfect! We put an offer in the next day which was accepted and hopefully we'll be moving in about 3 weeks. I realise it sounds like we rush in but we did our research before and always intended it to be quick, priority was to get somewhere we liked within budget and we did that!

ILW

The secret is to ask if you may use their toilet.
Stay in there for about 20 minutes and leave an enormous, unflushable richard.
They will remember you.

cottonhead

I prefer viewing lived in properties so you can get a feel of room sizes with furniture etc but not when the owner is actually there. One viewing we had, the estate agent showed us round but the owner followed ud round the whole time, looking at us and butting into our conversation. Almost like she wanted to know if we were good enough to buy her house! Its offputting and made us want to get out there quick rather than take time to critically look at the house.
A bit of mess wouldnt bother me that much becauase it will be gone when they go. Nasty smells, stains on walls / carpets and mould would though. One house we went to stank of sick. Didnt even bother finishing the viewing !

Louise.H

Usually the owners who showed us round were very civil but on one occasion the woman followed us everywhere and kept saying "beautiful home isn't it?" It was far from that. The house we've just bought was also rather awkward as it was a probate and the sister was demanding her share, they kept telling us how "we really don't want to leave, this is our home". I felt terrible but it had to be sold and it was everything we wanted in a first house.

Estate agents can be just as awkward, on viewing a home that had clearly belonged to an old lady he announced "yes sadly she died in this very room a few months ago..." I really wanted to know that! I presume he was trying to wangle it for a friend and was putting us off but still .

Bluemeanie_2

My intention was not to come over as "sanctimonious" if that comment was aimed at my post. The way I see it is, when I sell a car, the first thing I do is give it a clean. When I sell my unwanted dresses and clothes on ebay, I give them a wash first. If I sell am old wardrobe I give it a wipe down/clean...

All I think is, if you are trying to sell, what is likely your biggest asset, you would make a quick effort to present it in it's best possible light. Even if you have not neutralised it, decluttered it etc, I would think you would at least wash the pots and make sure the floors are clean etc.

Even if I was not trying to sell, I like to keep a cleanish house. I wouldn't want anyone thinking I live like a pig!

I don't mean "evidence" of a family living in a house would put me off. i.e. Coat around and shoes lying in the hall. But plates with 3 day old food on that have not been scraped! Gross!

Hoof_Hearted

googler wrote: »

What a load of ****

Are you really saying that viewers walk around the house differently when you're there than they would with an agent? That somehow their footwear magically cleans itself, and they float round with you, not even touching the floor, whereas they 'tramp' round with an agent....?

Not in a good mood today, eh Googler?

What I meant was that it is easier being active by showing potential buyers around rather then being passive while an agent, who only knows superficial things about the house, does the guided tour.

I did the tour and then said people could look around them selves for as long as they liked then they were welcome to come back with any questions. It must have worked as we had six offers.

However, I did make sure that the house was immaculate before each viewing.

And, of course (and this is what really annoys EA Googler), saved thousands of pounds.

googler

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

Not in a good mood today, eh Googler?

What I meant was that it is easier being active by showing potential buyers around rather then being passive while an agent, who only knows superficial things about the house, does the guided tour.

My mood is fine. How can it be 'easier' to take time out of your day, evening, weekend for 30 - 60 mins each viewing, as opposed to leaving the agent to do them?

For most standard-sized houses, how much can there be that the homeowner knows about the house that either isn't plainly obvious, or can't be passed on to an agent?

jimpix12

If someone is about to spend 25 years of their life paying something off, they will be much more likely to buy it if it doesn't have a slovenly sort watching TV in a filthy vest giving you the evil-eye inside it. I think that is the point the OP was making. And I agree. If you can "see past" that, then good for you, but it's not worth alienating those who might not be able to.