How long do you take 'viewing' a property?

lessonlearned

Re - my comments about light.

We live in the northern hemisphere, with long dark depressing winters. People need good light. It's only in recent years that people have become really aware of this need. It's not just down to fashion. People just seem to gravitate towards light - it seems a natural reaction.

I read recently about an experiment in which children were observed at play. They were placed in a well lit room. Half of the room was lit by artificial light, the other half was bathed in natural sunlight. The children, without any prompting, naturally gravitated towards the sunlight and totally ignored the space that was artificially lit. Interesting.

The other biggie is space.

We are a small overcrowded island and many of us live in small cramped houses. The average American house comes in at around 3000 to 4000 sq ft. The average British equivalent is around 1200 to 1500 square feet. A huge difference.

Humans don't really like being crammed into small spaces - the phrase "rats in a cage" springs to mind. Most humans have a need for personal space, that's we dislike being packed on trains like sardines and why high density living can often lead to aggression and random acts of violence.

In Britain space doesn't come cheap. This is where the advice to de-clutter and make the most of space comes in.

A house that appears light and spacious will always be more attractive than one that appears cramped and gloomy because it answers our basic biological needs for light and space.

We may not always be aware of why we make certain house buying decisions. They are often entirely sub-conscious but delve a little deeper into the human psyche and you begin to understand how some of the decisions are arrived at.

Of course marketing gurus know all about this stuff - hence the use of show-houses on new build developments.

Davesnave

When I said I lied, I didn't mean I said nothing relevant, just that the main thing that put us off might not have had a mention.

Mostly, I tried to say something nice about the property, as there were very few where one couldn't do that, and I also picked out something the owner could improve, though it was often something that wouldn't have actually made us reject it.

As a vendor I know how frustrating it is to hear negatives about the immediate neighbour's property, or being in the 'wrong' school catchment and that sort of thing.

lessonlearned

Dave - you sound like a nice man.

I'm sure your comments would have been polite, courteous and well intentioned.

Tancred

I recently made an offer an a house after only one viewing. My wife viewed it again, separately, and she was happy with it. Key things for us were location, size and overall condition. The minor things can be fixed. Two thumbs down were the lack of double glazing and an old boiler that clearly needs replacing, but we got a £12k reduction off the asking price, so we can live with these issues.

Now it's up to the surveyor for his report.

vectistim

First house I bought the viewing might have been as long as ten minutes.

Last house I bought, saw the price had come down, called my parents up to go and view, next thing I knew they'd offered for me and it had been accepted. I then didn't actually get inside until a few weeks after completion.

Ciderarmy1987

Tancred wrote: »

I recently made an offer an a house after only one viewing. My wife viewed it again, separately, and she was happy with it. Key things for us were location, size and overall condition. The minor things can be fixed. Two thumbs down were the lack of double glazing and an old boiler that clearly needs replacing, but we got a £12k reduction off the asking price, so we can live with these issues.

Now it's up to the surveyor for his report.

Are you joking !!!!! You are getting a survey! what is the point? You have to expect things to be wrong with the house unless you are buying a new build! Why not just wait until you move in to find out about any "minor" problems that the surveyor might flag up!

martinsurrey

Tancred wrote: »

but we got a £12k reduction off the asking price, so we can live with these issues.

I've tried to resist but I just can’t!

I assume you're moving out of "the Royal County of Berkshire" as you just "don’t stand a chance" of getting a reduction on asking price there (or so I read somewhere from someone who sounded VERY sure of themselves...

DaftyDuck

Tancred wrote: »

...says something profound...

Tancred wrote: »

...says something completely contradictory to the earlier statement...

I rely on people like Tancred (and the only other Forum Member who appears to occasionally agree with him ) being in the housing market; they'll allow me a long and comfortable retirement...

Dan-Dan

Tancred - have you sold now then ?

lessonlearned

martinsurrey wrote: »

I've tried to resist but I just can’t!

I assume you're moving out of "the Royal County of Berkshire" as you just "don’t stand a chance" of getting a reduction on asking price there (or so I read somewhere from someone who sounded VERY sure of themselves...

I have managed to resist...........:rotfl::rotfl: