How many viewings did you do?

Andrew_Ryan_89

Hi, we moved into our first property last week and only viewed the place once before we moved in. On the open day, we spent no more than 5 minutes looking around and didn't do anything in depth.

Luckily, when we moved in everything was okay in the grand scheme of things. The kitchen fittings were in good condition and for the most part all the rooms were to.

However, after moving in we noticed a lot of things that we should had previously checked and probably would have resulted in us making a lower offer than we did.

It looks like the late husband fancied himself as a DIY specialist and there are a lot of little things wrong. Literally none of the doors close properly, most of the light switches are upside down, the built in wardrobes are a shambles with the sliding doors hanging off, inside look cheap and there being two massive holes in the floor inside them. Both bathroom and kitchen taps are very loose with the water pouring out of the bath taps being quite slow.

Again, for the most part everything is fine and I'm happy with the purchase. Just would be interested in hearing how many times, for how long and how in depth did you spend viewing your property or the one you're about to purchase.

cadon

One viewing, probably no more than 10 minutes and half of that was looking at the communal areas.

But it is London, and I did get the most comprehensive survey I could get for the building type. The surveyor seemed baffled by my choice of report and wrote down a lot of minor things to use up space... Having previously nearly bought a disastrous conversion, I'm happy to be overcautious at the survey stage and pay a bit more just in case!

andre_xs

We are about to buy for the first time as well (mid-terraced house). We had one viewing with the EA and the vendor present (older lady), the viewing took ~15 min. Then we made the offer, which was accepted.

Afterwards, we asked for a second viewing, and told them that we would like quite a bit of time to look at everything more closely and also to measure the rooms (there was no floor plan provided). Again, initially the EA and vendor (and my wife and 2 kids) were present, but after a while the EA and the rest of my family left and I was just alone with the vendor. I took a lot of pictures of all rooms with a good camera, and took detailed measurements of every room. I also asked to see the attic (had to bring my own ladder). I think I spent roughly around 2 hours there.

If possible, I'd like to be present when the survey is done (would be 3rd viewing). The vendor is a very nice elderly lady and told us that for health reasons she can't get out much anyway and that we are welcome to just knock on the door if we would like to have another viewing, or would like to check on something. In January, my father in law is coming to visit us anyway, and I might go with him to show him the house (he's a builder) - that would be the fourth viewing :-)

JoeyGrey

We complete next week on our new house. We spent about half an hour there the first time. Then we asked for another viewing after our offer was accepted - the EA stayed for about 10 minutes then left us with the old lady who was selling. We stayed for about half an hour again, got some gossip about the neighbours and neighbourhood and a good feel for the house and any repairs that might be needed. Then we went up a third time to measure for sofas etc, and this time we arranged it directly with the lady.


We nearly got bitten by the first house we viewed - our first offer was rejected so we asked to go and view again before we upped our offer. This time we took off our rose coloured glasses and opened cupboard doors etc, and realised it wasn't even worth our first offer, so withdrew altogether. The vendors were less than impressed but we felt like we'd had a lucky escape.

kinger101

I don't think there is a right number of times to look at a property, or a right amount of time. If you check everything you needed to check first time, and have come to a decision whether it's a deal breaker or not, they you're fine.

Once you've looked at a quite a few, you tend to be more selective about the ones you view in the first place. If the photos show a small garden, it isn't going to be a big one just because you make the effort to view it.

It takes 5 minutes to rotate a light switch. The bathroom taps are probably just worn. A DIY job would cost you £15 (tap reviver kit). Or £50 if you get a plumber. Not really negotiating positions are they. Unless you're buying brand new, you'll have decorative imperfections in any property.

I have to agree with andre of the survey. If I had my time again I would have been present when the surveyor was there. The written report was riddled with so many generalizations and caveats that it could have described any property built between 1930 and 1960.

e4rly

I viewed mine twice - once with my parents which helped a lot. I was a FTB so inexperienced, but as stated above by cadon reading the survey was incredibly useful (next time I will be much better informed!)

I knew I was buying a doer-upper so didn't have high hopes, but I was still stung on a few things (nothing major, more just frustrating).

However given that it is in London and a lot of viewings are open-house, I was lucky to be able to view it alone initially with the EA, rather than the conveyor belt style which limits questions.

kilby_007

Our first house we only viewed once and then put 3 offers in (third was accepted).

After moving in I noticed a lot of things we'd missed on the inital viewing (generally it was just issues with the paintwork and decoration which had been rushed). There were a few little problems with fixtures & fittings too.

We're looking at houses again now and I'm a lot more thorough. Generally we put in a low-ish offer and then have a second viewing if it isn't accepted before increasing it. That tactic has worked twice now because for the first property we viewed last month we ended up pulling out after our initial offer because on second viewing we noticed damp problems and about half the windows had old aluminium frames that needed replacing.

A house we viewed a couple of weeks ago had subsidence which we didn't find out about until our second viewing (after our initial offer was accepted).

So, stay vigilant because you may end up with a house with major issues!

flora48

One! According to the vendor it was never 'politic' for us to view again. The bottom line he was going through a messy divorce and was reluctant to sell the house he had built with his wife's money.

Fortunately we knew the area well and really wanted to live in this individual build. Spent 25 happy years there.

ps the boiler was duff though!

PasturesNew

I did two.... but it was bizarre really. I just knew I wanted "a house, any house, just buy one" and this one met the criteria: it was for sale, in my budget, was quite new.

I don't like the feeling of "being watched/looking around" and the EA was disconcerting. He was also in a rush and desperate to get to his next viewing, so I had to book a 2nd viewing, just to make my offer. That 2nd EA was weird and so I felt uncomfortable in his presence.

I could see it had walls, windows, doors .... so "it'd do". And I bought it.

You'll ALWAYS find stuff you didn't spot.... the older the house, the more chance the last owners had to bodge stuff. The perfect house doesn't exist, at any budget.

Old_Git

After a ten minute viewing I made an offer.
I asked for a second viewing when my offer was accepted .

Birdman2015

As far as the house we are moving into in 3 weeks was concerned we viewed once. We had lived in the same street years ago so knew the area, the house was sound, ready to move into generally. I know the boiler is 21 years old so will need replacing sooner rather than later but to be honest we had decided to offer before even viewing.