Property owner not being present during viewings.

joshly

On my last 2 property sales I was the one to show the people round.

I have had this current property on with an agent for over 5 months and I was there with the agent to show prospective buyers round.

Now I have gone with another agent and they prefer it if the owner is not there and like to show the viewers around by themselves.

They seem to be getting me viewings though, twice as many in 2 weeks as I had the previous 5 months.

What is your view on the owner not being present during the viewings?

DRP

joshly wrote: »

On my last 2 property sales I was the one to show the people round.

I have had this current property on with an agent for over 5 months and I was there with the agent to show prospective buyers round.

Now I have gone with another agent and they prefer it if the owner is not there and like to show the viewers around by themselves.

They seem to be getting me viewings though, twice as many in 2 weeks as I had the previous 5 months.

What is your view on the owner not being present during the viewings?

I have never had a viewing with the vendor present (well , maybe 1 or 2 times the vendor was in the house somewhere but stayed out of the way and the EA conducted the viewing).

Perhaps it is a regional thing? I'm in Bristol

I prefer it this as the EA is a 'neutral' , so this limits any awkwardness dealing with the vendor.

e.g. probing questions , examining behind furniture or in kitchen cupboards!

tim123456789

I learnt the lesson of not being there when I sold my first house.

One of my first viewers rudely asked "you've put it up for X, but what do you really want?"

I had no answer for him, I hadn't even considered the question, I was just a naive seller being led by the EA and looking for best price, and it wasn't the question itself it was the "matter of fact way he asked", like he knew, that I knew it was over-priced (which I didn't).

After that, it's EA shows them around every time!

tim

phoebe1989seb

It definitely does seem to depend on the individual EA - when selling in Hampshire a few years back we were expected to conduct the viewings, but more recently selling in that area (different EA) they did them and expected us to vacate the property.

When looking to buy in Kent and Essex (and sell in Essex), the vendors did the viewings, but when we bought in Wiltshire (2011) the EAs again did them, although on one occasion at least the vendor did remain in the house for the duration of the viewing.

Personally, whilst I do feel that the EA is earning their fee by doing the viewings, they can never have the same inside info on the property that the vendor has.........

googler

joshly wrote: »

Now I have gone with another agent and they prefer it if the owner is not there and like to show the viewers around by themselves.

What is your view on the owner not being present during the viewings?

Leave them to it. Especially if selling a small house or flat. It'll just make it seem smaller.

You can go and do something more enjoyable than dealing with the general public.

googler

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Personally, whilst I do feel that the EA is earning their fee by doing the viewings, they can never have the same inside info on the property that the vendor has.........

Honestly, what can there possibly be about the standard 2/3/4 bed in this country that couldn't easily be communicated by the owner to the EA?

Hidden doors? Secret passageways? Tunnels for smugglers?

Ivana_Tinkle

Stay out of the way, seriously. It's so much easier. There's possibly an argument for being there for second viewings in case the buyer wants to ask something, but otherwise just let them get on with it.

We once viewed a house where the owner followed us and the agent around the whole time, going on and on about how cheap the council tax was, how cheap their gas bill was etc etc. Given that the council tax was going to be the same as for all the other houses we were viewing, and the gas bill would obviously depend on our lifestyle, I have no idea what they hoped to achieve, but they just looked completely desparate to sell.

Itismehonest

It's something to be agreed between the vendor & their agent but I'd always have the EA do it if possible.

A vendor has already decided they want to move so in their mind they've already sold their home & looking for somewhere more suitable. That means they run the risk of either overselling their property or unwittingly pointing out pitfalls.
Plus, it's a good part of what we pay EAs a fortune for. It's their job.

Dan-Dan

As a buyer , i would like to meet the seller at some point , that might just eb me but i like to see who im giving thousands of ££££££££ to

ognum

I did the viewings all the properties I have lived in and sold. That has been three.

All three sold within a few days and at over asking price.

I like to do the viewings I like to size up the buyers!

On the last buy to let I bought I met the owner, the house was over priced, when the EA had left I went back to talk to him about what his situation was. It turned out he was desperate to sell, I did a second viewing the next day and put in one cheeky offer and got the house, maybe I should have offered less!

Even the EA was shocked at the price he accepted!

I like to meet vendors and I like to do viewings myself.

mufi

After completion, my purchaser lied about a conversation we'd had while I was showing him around and started down the litigation road. We eventually saw him off, but the whole episode was a ghastly nightmare.

After that I would never show anyone around a property again - I'm currently selling my mother's house and the agent is doing all the viewings.