Buyers - do you prefer sellers to be home or out for viewings?

Propertyfan

When selling my house I am always present for viewings, I'm not going to give complete strangers access to my house when I'm not there.

Yeah, I agree. It's a bit of a cliche but "it's better to be safe than sorry."

DRP

Propertyfan wrote: »

There is no way in an infinity of years I would not be at my property for a viewing. God forbid, what happens if the EA lets someone in and they break something? Or it's pouring with rain but the EA and potential buyer can't be bothered to take off their shoes and they leave dirt marks all over your home? What if the EA turns on a light but forgets to turn it off when he/she leaves the property?

I'm sure these scenarios are uncommon but unless work or other commitments get in the way I would recommend the seller is always present during a viewing.

All the viewings of my property were done from 5:30pm onwards Mon - Fri. My work commitments made it impractical for me to my at home at an earlier time. My EA had no problem with the 5.30pm arrangement. And in the summer time it doesn't get dark to much later. I had a viewing at 7:30pm.

Calm down dear!

I can understand you may have sensitivity to these issues if you have had a bad experience in the past. I think in general, a certain amount of trust must be placed in the viewers/EA (unless you have specific reason to be wary?).

We 've had about 40-50 'non-attended' viewings with absolutely no probs... so we would never consider having to be present.

Dan-Dan

GwylimT wrote: »

I prefer the seller to be there as you can ask them questions, yes you can ask the estate agent but they will either tell you they don't know or lie. When selling my house I am always present for viewings, I'm not going to give complete strangers access to my house when I'm not there.

What about just your standard normal strangers? or is it just the complete kind that your wary of?

Propertyfan

I think GwylimT is right about not wanting to let strangers (complete or otherwise) into your home. If you're at work much of the time then I can understand you giving the keys to the EA and he/she lets herself in and shows people around. But I would consider that a 'last resort' option. Better to arrange a specific time when you're available. Later in the day, perhaps the weekends.

A decent EA will be happy to arrange the viewings around the availability of the seller rather than letting the potential buyers dictate the times.

rebeccatom

botchjob wrote: »

Out for the first, home for the second.

This^^

I personally felt under pressure when the seller was there. Helpful to ask questions to though on the second viewing. The first viewing is just wanting to get a feel of the space.

925dancer

As a viewer and having worked in the profession (albeit mostly residential lettings), I prefer the vendor to be out. There is generally an uneasy atmosphere when the occupants/owners are home, particularly for the first viewing.

Of course as the occupier/vendor it depends on my relationship with the EA. Have they always stuck to appointments, given me plenty of notice, ask about any issues (in my case, don't let the cats out!). If you do insist on being home, make yourself subtly scarce.

Mylo_The_Moggy

When we made an appointment to view what would be our new house, I assumed we'd be meeting the EA at the house. They gave us a certain time, & we got there 5 mins before.

Vendor opened door & I said "sorry we are a few mins early, is the EA here yet?" To which she said no, they don't come to the viewings & it would be her giving us all the info.

As it happens, she was rather nice & let us have a mooch around on our own upstairs. Any questions or anything we needed to know, she gave us all the relevant details.

Perhaps some ppl selling their houses would rather show prospective buyers round themselves, rather than an EA who might not know much about the property?

As buyers, we didn't mind being shown around by the vendor.

Torry_Quine

When we were selling our home I did all the viewings myself. Why would I pay more for someone else to do what I can do myself. Also I could do times when the estate agent may not have been free.

vixarooni

We're in the process of buying a house, and I absolutely hated it when the seller was present. I felt I couldn't discuss what I didn't like or what wouldn't work for us. Out of politeness I probably came across as keen when I really wasn't, so my partner never really knew what I thought of the property. We ended up using code words so we knew where we were both at!