House viewing Etiquette and advice

The_Earl_of_Streatham

It is normal for sellers to leave small gifts about the place as "sweeteners", carriage clocks, silver picture frames, decorative items made of precious metals and such like.

It is considered very bad form to take more than one or two of these on the first viewing. Do be sure, though, to take at least a couple of items because in my experience they are no longer there at a second viewing. I can only assume this to be due to other viewers taking more than their fair share.

Hope this helps.

caronoel

Guest101 wrote: »

Because it's not your property and you have zero right to take photos.

Nope

As soon as you market your property, it is effectively public property.

Fussy vendors asking you to take your shoes off or not to open / close things really will put a purchaser off.

Innys1

caronoel wrote: »

Nope

As soon as you market your property, it is effectively public property.

Fussy vendors asking you to take your shoes off or not to open / close things really will put a purchaser off.

Really?

So that means I can have a bath followed by a kip on the sofa and eat goodies from the fridge while watching the match on their Sky Sports. Cool.........

caronoel

Innys1 wrote: »

Really?

So that means I can have a bath followed by a kip on the sofa and eat goodies from the fridge while watching the match on their Sky Sports. Cool.........

Might be taking it a bit far. By all means run the bath to test water pressure, and perhaps switch on the TV to see what reception is like.

Very unlikely that you would be purchasing food or the sofa, so that's probably unnecessary

Landofwood

caronoel wrote: »

Nope

As soon as you market your property, it is effectively public property.

Fussy vendors asking you to take your shoes off or not to open / close things really will put a purchaser off.

I presume you are joking. I know you have form, but you're not this stupid.

Innys1

Landofwood wrote: »

I presume you are joking. I know you have form, but you're not this stupid.

I'm not so sure.

Landofwood

Innys1 wrote: »

I'm not so sure.

If he's capable of using the Internet, he's capable of reasoning that a house does not become public property after marketing.

Perhaps his choice of words were unfortunate.

Daerve

caronoel wrote: »

Nope

As soon as you market your property, it is effectively public property.

Fussy vendors asking you to take your shoes off or not to open / close things really will put a purchaser off.

What total rubbish, you have zero right to take photographs on someone else's property. It's not public property "effectively" or not, it's my house.

This fussy vendor would have pushed you out of the door if you started mooching round in my home whether you'd removed your shoes or not.

If a buyer is that worried about it they can pay a professional to do a survey.

Let me know when you're selling so I can come and squat in your house for a few weeks.

roje

As someone who has recently been through the house selling process alone with 4 kids, my only tips are only view if you have a genuine interest & TURN UP. I had a few cancellations right at the last minute (the time people were due). I know noone is obliged to view but it was so difficult to run around sorting the place out and organising someone to look after the kids and dog to make the viewing experience better only to get a cancellation. Even worse, one person just didn't show up at all, wasting my time and the EAs time. It's rude, these are people's homes. They take time to prepare the house for viewing, possibly sorting childcare and taking time off work etc. to faciliate viewings too.

I didn't mind people opening cupboards, asking questions, going around alone, turning on taps etc. I expected that.

The best viewing experience I had as a viewer was the house I've put an offer in for. The owner was incredibly helpful and considerate and left me in the property alone for as long as I liked while he did some gardening, so I was able to really get a proper look and nose in cupboards etc. without feeling rude.

cns06

Don't take photos. Jeez.


Take your time, make notes.


They might rush you past the bad bits! Always do 2 laps. Have a good look round the outside too. Always check out the roof and external appointments.


Look for poor repairs and general signs of heavy wear and tear esp in kitchen and bathrooms.


IME most bathrooms will have bad points.