1st Viewing

Taff

House went on Market yesterday and got a viewing booked via EA Thursday.

Should I have asked the EA any questions about the people coming to view ie are the 1st time buyers or in a chain etc etc?

I have told EA I will meet them prior to viewing and then make myself scarce to let them look around at their liesure. However EA sugguested that somtimes they are given a key to show people around in the sellers absence. Is this normal practice?

Any other tips or guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks

puregeordie

I'm thinking about sticking my house up for sale for the first time, I would be a bit wary of just giving them the key and let them get on with it, If it were me I'd just sit outside in my car and let them get on with it.

Also I would ask before anybody was to view are they in a position to buy ie, do they have a mortgage in principle first.

cheers.

wannahouse

i would be uncomfortable to view a house with the vendor around...even if just at the beginning!
i want to see a house and walk in as i might if i were to own it, and i don't want to know anything about the vendor at this stage..it would really put me off!

lawriejones1

As a buyer I really respected a seller not being anywhere near the house when I viewed it. I wanted to enjoy the house at my leisure and imagine myself and partner living there. That's hard to do if I look out of the window and see the seller hunched over outside in the car!

It's also quite odd to assume that viewers could be thieves. Hide the expensive stuff, and ask the estate agent to make sure that nobody leaves with a TV or grandfather clock :-)

lawriejones1

puregeordie wrote: »

I'm thinking about sticking my house up for sale for the first time, I would be a bit wary of just giving them the key and let them get on with it, If it were me I'd just sit outside in my car and let them get on with it.

Also I would ask before anybody was to view are they in a position to buy ie, do they have a mortgage in principle first.

cheers.

And as a buyer I'd say yes, regardless of whether I did or not!

hcb42

as a vendor, you are also the best person to sell a house and its area. Show the people around, leave them upstairs and let them work their own way down. it is a little bit uncomfortable but it is the norm

Otherwise leave the key with the agents and make sure you have made yourselves completely scarce well in advance

dont whatever you do be there to let them in then scarper, every time this has happened to me, i feel it is bizarre. Why can you not be there if you are available. It is just a weird experience.

it sounds like you dont want to be there, so give the agent the key and make sure you are nowhere near. Not sure it is the best selling strategy though, no one can sell a house like an owner can ultimately.

[Deleted User]

As a buyer I have really appreciated it when the vendor is present, actually. Vendors can usually answer all kinds of questions that agents can't (and agents often seem to just make up the answer if they don't know it).

I think it's also useful for both sides to get a sense of the other person - obviously there's only so much you can tell by first impressions, but it can help to give an initial indication of whether it's someone you feel you can trust.

mummyroysof3

I'm getting the agent to do my viewings and ill take the kids for a walk. 3 kids running riot and bothering them is prob not the best way to sell a house lol

david29dpo

A decent agent will always ask what position the buyer is in.

Hermoine

I've always given estate agents a key so that they can do viewings when I'm out, as it maximises the opportunities they have to show the house which can only be good.

In my smallish flat it is quite awkward to be in when buyers come round, but when it gets to second viewings stage I'd rather be in, as that way I can suss the potential buyer out, and they can ask detailed questions.

olias

First few posts are bizzarre in my opinion - I have bought and sold numerous properties in my life and have never either not been there myself when selling, or not had the vendors there when buying.
I always want to be able to ask the vendors questions and would be annoyed if they weren't there to ask, as I would doubt an agent would know specific answers.

I always show viwers around myself, pointing out various things that they may not notice themselves (and the agents are unlikely to know or remember), like storage cupboards, additional power/bt/aerial points, alarm system, presence of loft ladder and boarded loft, location of the sun at various times of the day, questions about the make up of neighbours (ie are they families, retiries, young kids...) etc etc etc. I can also answer any questions they have. I then retire to somewhere like the lounge or kitchen and let the viewer have a second walk through on their own.

Olias