How long do you take 'viewing' a property?

moneyistooshorttomention

To answer the point re getting annoyed at things viewers are doing - it boils down to:

- leave the place as you find it (it's not fair to expect the owner to have to lug a stepladder around and get up on it to put the curtains back to normal after you've been). The house should look absolutely identical to the way it was when the HO walked out the door before that viewing (except for the internal doors being open/shut differently - the EA's way I guess of saying "Yes, I really have been in showing your viewers round").

- as the home-owner knows you will almost certainly have a second viewing, then leave any "poking and prying" (like looking inside the wardrobe doors) until the second viewing. That way the HO isn't left thinking "Every Tom, !!!!!! and Harriet has been poking/prying round my home at my personal possessions etc - not just the ones who were interested enough to come back for a second viewing". It helps alleviate the loss of privacy a bit for the HO if they can think, for instance, "Out of 30 viewers only the 3 who were seriously interested did poking/prying - at least the other 27 who didn't like the house at first sight didn't do so as well".

- have the courtesy to return the EA's calls asking for feedback (after all the home-owner has given up privacy, time, etc so that you can have that viewing). So the least you can do is be polite enough/helpful enough to ring the EA back and give that feedback. For all the home-owner knows every single viewer could be thinking "Don't like the colour she has her hallway wall in" and they will have all taken HO's time/privacy etc coming into HO's home and not let HO know that they'd sell the house faster if they got a painter onto doing those walls.

Re my viewers being local - either the EA told me they were or I googled them and established they were myself.

lessonlearned

Citric - poor you - your story is so awful. What a way for the Landlord/Vendor to treat you. That is really shocking. Your EA was just piggy in the middle I'm afraid and would have had very little control over the situation. I know it's no consolation but they probably were embarrassed about the way their client behaved. I know I would have been.

Money - you are in a bit of a no-win situation here.

If you had conducted your own viewings then you would have had more control over the situation and you could have stopped people going through your stuff.

As it is you have abdicated all responsibility to the EAs and you are very much at their mercy.

I am afraid that it is your EA who is grossly negligent in this case.

If I had been your EA conducting viewings on your behalf I would not have allowed viewers free reign to rummage through your wardrobes etc. That is totally unacceptable.

A quick peak to look inside a fitted wardrobe - if it is on an outside wall - just to sniff the air and check the lower corners for damp is acceptable.

The EA should control this, they should open the wardrobe door, hold back the clothes hanging on the rail to allow the viewer access thus ruling out any "rummaging".

The point is, when showing viewers around the home of a Vendor who is still in residence, it is incumbent on the EA to monitor the viewers very carefully.

Sadly it has been known for viewers to steal things......

Money - you may think you have chosen a good EA, but whoever is doing the viewings is letting you down. They should not be letting every "Tom, !!!!!! and Harriet" free reign to roam your house at will.

Allowing viewers free reign in an empty property is one thing, however it is not acceptable when the Vendor is still in residence.

Your gripe should be with your EA. You need to complain.

Re not returning the EA's calls for feedback. This is all too common.

However, generally the feedback is usually pretty non-committal anyway and is of little real value. Most people come up with something pretty vague by way of an answer. It is rare to get any real insight as to why viewers are shunning a particular property.

TBH - if there are any real issues likely to be putting people off then the EA should be aware of them anyway. The EA shouldn't need feedback from viewers to tell them what's wrong.

A lot of EAs are generally too polite, too embarrassed or too intimidated by the Vendor to tell the truth.

Now I'm not suggesting this is your property, but put yourself in an EA's position for a moment. The EA knows the house they are trying to sell is a vastly overpriced stinking flea pit . If you were the EA would you have the courage to tell the Vendor......:rotfl:

Yes I've had exactly this scenario. :rotfl::rotfl: It was a part exchange deal for a developer. I couldn't get the Vendor to see reason about the state and asking price of their property so, on my employer's behalf, I refused to take her house in part ex. My employers would have had to overpay on her house and sell it at a huge loss.

In such cases many EA's maintain a diplomatic silence and won't speak the truth. So, they fall back on the old "we'll try and get some feedback ruse".

Safer that way. Many Vendor's will not face the truth.

"Oh my house is the best one in the street" Ha!! Wish I had a £1 for every time I've heard that one.

If that is the case - then why isn't it selling.

Davesnave

citricsquid wrote: »

Long distance viewings are terrible.

They are if you use public transport. They are just expensive otherwise. We took a couple of winter breaks in the places we were interested in, which at that time of year were almost as cheap as staying at home. If you like somewhere in the late autumn or winter, then the chances are you'll enjoy it even more in the warmer months.

Most of ours were 60 - 140miles each way, so if we got two in one day that was normal, and three was special. We tried to do drive-by viewings on less interesting or newly listed places during the journeys, just in case, so every outing was planned almost like a military campaign.

We got to know a lot of fish & chip shops!

Near the end, a nice young lassie managed bash into our car , which was handy, because it meant we had a brand new one to do the last few weeks of viewings. They said,"It's unlimited mileage," so we took them at their word. Even so, they were a bit surprised to see 4k miles on it when we got ours back! :rotfl:

lessonlearned

Dave - Love your story about the car....

In cases of long distance viewings then treating them like a "mini break" is the best option. Like you say - plan it like a military campaign.

Davesnave

lessonlearned wrote: »

Re not returning the EA's calls for feedback. This is all too common.

However, generally the feedback is usually pretty non-committal anyway and is of little real value. Most people come up with something pretty vague by way of an answer. It is rare to get any real insight as to why viewers are shunning a particular property.

Of course viewers lie. We did it all the time if places didn't seem very good value, and by that I mean out by a nautical mile.

Mostly though it was more than that: something the vendor (or we) couldn't change, so what would have been the point of being 100% truthful?

lessonlearned

I agree - it's all about good manners.

Most viewers are generally far too polite to speak their minds, hence the vagueness of their answers.

A little white lie can save a lot of embarrassment.

moneyistooshorttomention

..and some vendors do appreciate being told things exactly "as they are". The one definite negative comment I received so far was analysed as to whether that might be just "them" or the truth and was then acted upon and I changed things.

The EA was downright asked to give their honest views on the house and specifically asked about whether several points re the house would be a problem to viewers at all. It was quite clear from bosswoman EA's look on face/attitude that she personally liked the house:)

I shall make the point re its the EA (if anyone) that opens wardrobe doors to serious viewers requesting it. Whilst on the subject, I noted lessonlearned's comments about "light light everywhere" and am ruefully aware that it is the fashion at the moment to make a great thing about light - and "light" is something these little Victorian terraces don't have basically. What they have instead is "cosy" and "sense of history" etc and I have had positive feedback about that. For those who want that fashionable "light everywhere" - then I think I had best specifically query whether the EA is putting on the lights everywhere for viewing and request they do so if not. Most walls in my house were white long before that became the fashion generally (because that was what I had seen in the houses of people I am friendly with).

Personally, I'd prefer to know to have feedback even on things I cant change - might as well know just HOW upset to be with neighbours lack of care for their properties:rotfl:. Not a happy factor - particularly when a total stranger has taken one appraising look at the outside of your house when you were commenting to her that its for sale and she instantly said "Your house is lovely" - so I know I'm definitely not letting the side down myself in the neighbourhood...I've got the kerb appeal.

Better_Days

Davesnave wrote: »

Of course viewers lie.

I tend to be fairly straight with the EA's but ask them to sanitise my feedback. I hope they do, I certainly don't want to be mean. Some EA's aren't interested in my comments (Haart are the worst offenders) once they realise I'm not going to offer for a property.

I told 2 EA's recently that I thought that if they ever wanted to sell the property they should do the viewings rather than the vendor. One vendor was a chap on his own, started the viewing by proudly showing us where he had taken out the under the counter fridge and replaced it with a very deep drawer the same size as the fridge, in which he had placed his smelly and scuzzy rubbish bins. I suggested to the agent that in my view this was not a 'unique selling point'.

The most difficult properties to give feedback on are the ones that are neither good nor bad, I neither really like or hate. They fit my criteria, but for whatever reason don't feel quite right.

moneyistooshorttomention

lessonlearned wrote: »

I agree - it's all about good manners.

Most viewers are generally far too polite to speak their minds, hence the vagueness of their answers.

A little white lie can save a lot of embarrassment.

Actually, I've been thanked by an EA for the very straightforward comment I made about a house I am interested in - as I had said "THE problem that house has with getting sold is x". The EA thanked me for being so honest and said she would tell the vendor. Darn place got sold pretty promptly after that - five years after it had gone on the market...

lessonlearned

Better_Days wrote: »

I

The most difficult properties to give feedback on are the ones that are neither good nor bad, I neither really like or hate. They fit my criteria, but for whatever reason don't feel quite right.

You've hit the nail on the head here.

Very often it is exactly this. On paper the property ticks all the right boxes. It is only when you actually view it that you realise it's not "The One".

Sounds daft but it's a bit like when you fall in love and you get that "thunderbolt" moment.

You just know when it's right and when it's not. It's not something that is easily explained - it is just "felt".

Years ago my husband and I had been searching for a house. We had been forced to pull out of a property that we liked because the survey was just too dire - even for my gung ho approach to renovations.

We had found our dream location though. We found another property to view. We pulled up outside, stopped the car looked at each other and grinned. We had found "The One".

We hadn't even set foot inside at this point, we just knew it had our name on it. The inside could have been a flea pit for all we cared.

Anyway we viewed it. Inside it was a psychadelic 70's pad. Didn't matter that could all be changed. We lived there for over 5 years, had our babies there and loved it. We only moved because of my husband's job relocation.

The point is, on paper, the house didn't tick any of our boxes. It wasn't even remotely what we were looking for at the time. We wanted the quaint olde worlde cottage, we purchased a 70's throwback.

It just felt right.

Money - re Victorian Terraces. Then can be dark and pokey - they can be light and airy. They all vary. They can be made very cosy and homely. They can be elegant and stylish. It all depends on the decor treatment and a few designer tricks of the trade.

Putting the lights on for viewings on a dark winter's afternoon makes perfect sense. If you have a nice fireplace then light the fire, real or gas doesn't matter, just make it warm and cosy.

I hope the EA's arrive in time to do all this for you. They should be if they are doing their job properly. They shouldn't need to be told - they should be doing it automatically.