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Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 3:57 pm
by brightncheerful
House now on the market, a few days earlier than envisaged which means only a day or so to get everything spick and span But photos look good on Rightmove, etc.

We have two viewings booked for next week. I know I must wear a mask and the prospectives will also mask wearing and we must keep our distance and minimise conversation. (Also avoid coughing and spluttering :joke) . Mrs Bnc thinks viewers won't want to open cupboards or touch anything but I'm not so sure.

Has anyone viewed or conducted a viewing of a house or flat during lockdown or more recently? If so then are there any special factors we should bear in mind?

tia

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 4:05 pm
by Watis
brightncheerful wrote:House now on the market, a few days earlier than envisaged which means only a day or so to get everything spick and span But photos look good on Rightmove, etc.

We have two viewings booked for next week. I know I must wear a mask and the prospectives will also mask wearing and we must keep our distance and minimise conversation. (Also avoid coughing and spluttering :joke) . Mrs Bnc thinks viewers won't want to open cupboards or touch anything but I'm not so sure.

Has anyone viewed or conducted a viewing of a house or flat during lockdown or more recently? If so then are there any special factors we should bear in mind?

tia


Mrs BnC's doubts can be instantly assuaged by you being on hand to open any cupboards, etc. upon request.

Watis

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 4:06 pm
by Lootman
Assuming that the viewers will be accompanied by an estate agent, why do you need to be home for the viewing?

The last house I sold, I decided to let the agent handle all the viewings, and I made a point of not being home. And as a buyer I feel more comfortable viewing a place without the seller present. It means my wife and I are free to say negative things about the property without risking offence to the seller.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 4:52 pm
by brightncheerful
Lootman wrote:Assuming that the viewers will be accompanied by an estate agent, why do you need to be home for the viewing? The last house I sold, I decided to let the agent handle all the viewings, and I made a point of not being home. And as a buyer I feel more comfortable viewing a place without the seller present. It means my wife and I are free to say negative things about the property without risking offence to the seller.



The agent is not conducting the viewing, I am. Whenever I have sold my homes over the years I have done the viewings. I am used to wandering around other people's properties, flats particularly, without any need to converse unnecessarily or be overfly helpful. The guidance to estate agents for viewing during lockdown etc os that there should be no conversation inside. but that any conversation should be outside. Whether as the agent won't be present that would still apply I have no idea, I shall go with the flow.

--

Mrs Bnc will not be present during the viewing. Yes, I know I can open the cupboards but what I want to know is whether there is any informal 'code of conduct' under the social distancing measures for house viewing. Is it so much different that before, Are viewers more careful, etc?

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 6:39 pm
by UncleEbenezer
Watis wrote:Mrs BnC's doubts can be instantly assuaged by you being on hand to open any cupboards, etc. upon request.

Watis

Ah, yes. The owner knows all the glitches, and can make wrecked stuff that needs expensive replacing look good-as-new.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 7:27 pm
by PhaseThree
We have had our house on the market for the last two weeks and have had 7 viewings in that time. The last one was 2 hours ago with another two scheduled for tomorrow.
The viewings are conducted by the agent but I can't see that that changes the situation. The "house" rules are as follows:-
- Masks are compulsory.
- Medical style gloves are compulsory.
This applies to the agent and all viewers. During any interaction with the viewers or agent I wear a mask as well.

The agent brings the gloves and masks and passes them out to to the viewers the second they get out of their car. They are worn at all times they are inside the property.

So far everyone has been extremely happy to work under these constraints.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: July 31st, 2020, 10:47 pm
by PinkDalek
brightncheerful wrote:[Yes, I know I can open the cupboards but what I want to know is whether there is any informal 'code of conduct' under the social distancing measures for house viewing.


The section entitled What does this mean for my property move or purchase which is scheduled whilst measures to fight coronavirus apply? below provides plenty of Government advice:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

The places we’ve let recently all started with virtual tours etc. How is yours marketed for sale?

Oh and as you are a former denizen of and worthy contributor to Property Investing Practical, is there a reason you are not asking on the equivalent board here? I’m sure there are many interested in the questions you’ve been asking recently and, in years to come, I would be looking there and not at DAK. A social history as it were for when, hopefully, this is all over.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 4:56 am
by Mike4
PinkDalek wrote:
brightncheerful wrote:[Yes, I know I can open the cupboards but what I want to know is whether there is any informal 'code of conduct' under the social distancing measures for house viewing.


The section entitled What does this mean for my property move or purchase which is scheduled whilst measures to fight coronavirus apply? below provides plenty of Government advice:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

The places we’ve let recently all started with virtual tours etc. How is yours marketed for sale?

Oh and as you are a former denizen of and worthy contributor to Property Investing Practical, is there a reason you are not asking on the equivalent board here? I’m sure there are many interested in the questions you’ve been asking recently and, in years to come, I would be looking there and not at DAK. A social history as it were for when, hopefully, this is all over.


Over?

The smart money says we (the human race) will be living with COVID-19 in perpetuity, just as we live with the common cold. We will get better at managing it, but it will never go away.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 9:22 am
by DrFfybes
We started viewings the day after lockdown started to ease a couple of months ago, and had the buyes back last week with a tape measure.

Our process is...
Before they arrive, open the windows, at least a little bit.
Open all doors.
Get hand sanitiser in the entance hall.
Keep your distance. 1 person shows them around.
Open the door, step back,*TELL THEM TO LEAVE IT OPEN* (natural reaction is to close it behind them.)
Invite them to use the handwash (or go into the kitchen and wash hands). This means their hands are clean on entry, unlike the gloves they might have used in the last 4 viewings.
Viewers wear masks - We don't. The mask is to stop them spraying virus over your house, if you spray it then you already have it. TLC electrical do 10 pack for £4.20 including VAT - B&Q charge £7.
Keep your distance.
Allow them to enter rooms first (normal anyway) and follow at a distance. If they want any built in units opening then either note which ones and wipe handles afterwards, or do the the "social shuffle" and open for them.

We finish in the back garden, and then they leave via the side gate.

Paul

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 11:11 am
by dealtn
I'm not buying, or selling, at the moment, and have only done so a few times in my life. On each occasion I have been involved in a transaction I am very conscious that in addition to "viewing" the property I am also "viewing" the people, be they owner or agent, Consciously, and sub-consciously, I am picking up all kinds of signals about the type of person I am dealing with, and what that might mean by way of negotiation, how smoothly the transaction will proceed etc.

Now this may be controversial, and I am sure there will be a range of opinions on this with respect to what is positive/negative, but someone that is "overly fussy" about sanitiser, gloves, masks, door opening etc. is "telling" me about all the "i dotting" and "t crossing" potential in the transaction compared to someone who is more "lassiez-faire" and willing to allow "Common Sense" to prevail.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 1:27 pm
by PinkDalek
Mike4 wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:[A social history as it were for when, hopefully, this is all over.


Over?

The smart money says we (the human race) will be living with COVID-19 in perpetuity, just as we live with the common cold. We will get better at managing it, but it will never go away.


Mea culpa, what dreadfully loose wording I used up here at 95° Fahrenheit, especially on DAK. Thank you for the ticking off. I should have said "when, hopefully, we get used to the new (ab)normal with regards to house viewings".

I also committed the cardinal sin of not reading each and every word on this topic. When I asked BnC The places we’ve let recently all started with virtual tours etc. How is yours marketed for sale? I hadn't spotted he'd already mentioned But photos look good on Rightmove, etc. My mention of virtual tours was I think relevant though. Our agents used video tours from the get go (and had been doing them BC) which, as I understand it, went some way to cutting out the time wasters and look good as he gets more proficient with the camera and the commentary.

One thing he doesn't do with his gloved hands is open the storage spaces. That might obviate the need for physical viewers/showers (not the correct word for people who show the visitors around) to open the doors to them and take a video peek inside.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 1:49 pm
by Mike4
PinkDalek wrote:
Mike4 wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:[A social history as it were for when, hopefully, this is all over.


Over?

The smart money says we (the human race) will be living with COVID-19 in perpetuity, just as we live with the common cold. We will get better at managing it, but it will never go away.


Mea culpa, what dreadfully loose wording I used up here at 95° Fahrenheit, especially on DAK. Thank you for the ticking off.


You're welcome, glad to have been of help!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 8:40 pm
by bungeejumper
DrFfybes wrote:Our process is...
Before they arrive, open the windows, at least a little bit.
Open all doors.
Get hand sanitiser in the entance hall.

Shurely you've forgotten something? The seductive smell of freshly brewed coffee or freshly baked bread? I think you can get those in a spray can nowadays. If not, you ought to be able to. :lol:

O/T, but I'm reminded of when I sold my bachelor pad nearly 40 years ago. It was a newish-build starter home, and it should have sold immediately at that price - I had loads of viewings, mostly from young couples, but no offers.

Finally I spotted my error. A proper forehead-slapping, how-could-I-have-been-so-stupid moment. :| It was too masculine - no female touches at all. A quick dash over to my girlfriend's place, returning with a carrier bag full of wimmin's stuff, up to and including pairs of tights in the bathroom and a liberal scattering of Cosmopolitan magazines. It sold the next day.

Psychology is a wonderful thing. :D

BJ

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 9:11 pm
by Lootman
dealtn wrote:Now this may be controversial, and I am sure there will be a range of opinions on this with respect to what is positive/negative, but someone that is "overly fussy" about sanitiser, gloves, masks, door opening etc. is "telling" me about all the "i dotting" and "t crossing" potential in the transaction compared to someone who is more "lassiez-faire" and willing to allow "Common Sense" to prevail.

Agreed, and I think DrFfybes' seemingly endless list of do's and don't comes preciously close to that kind of characterisation.

That said, in a typical property transaction the seller isn't usually the one who nitpicks. Once the seller has an offer he is willing to accept, he usually just waits for the buyer to do all his due diligence, and then exchanges. It is the buyer who nitpicks by, for example, quibbling about various issues raised in an inspection and asking for this and that to be fixed, or money off the price in lieu.

So I worry more about an anal-retentive buyer than an anal-retentive seller. The latter might reasonably be considered to have looked after and maintained the property well. Whereas a mischievous buyer can gum up the works with endless complaints.

This might be due to the fact that I was a landlord for many years, and developed some pretty reliable indicators for what kinds of people were going to be trouble, and which would just go with the flow.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 9:38 pm
by Mike4
bungeejumper wrote:
DrFfybes wrote:Our process is...
Before they arrive, open the windows, at least a little bit.
Open all doors.
Get hand sanitiser in the entance hall.

Shurely you've forgotten something? The seductive smell of freshly brewed coffee or freshly baked bread? I think you can get those in a spray can nowadays. If not, you ought to be able to. :lol:

O/T, but I'm reminded of when I sold my bachelor pad nearly 40 years ago. It was a newish-build starter home, and it should have sold immediately at that price - I had loads of viewings, mostly from young couples, but no offers.

Finally I spotted my error. A proper forehead-slapping, how-could-I-have-been-so-stupid moment. :| It was too masculine - no female touches at all. A quick dash over to my girlfriend's place, returning with a carrier bag full of wimmin's stuff, up to and including pairs of tights in the bathroom and a liberal scattering of Cosmopolitan magazines. It sold the next day.

Psychology is a wonderful thing. :D

BJ


This reminds me of the house (our home) before last we sold. It was a huge house with a garden rather too small, well kept but rather plain. We thought we'd reflected in the price but three months went by with dozens of viewings and only a couple of stupidly low offers from chancers.

Anyway we decided the garden was probably the problem so we went to the garden centre and spent a couple of grand on stuff to pretty it up. Big potted plants, swing seat, all manner of stuff to make the garden look really nice and stylish. Estate agent said it looked really good and just as a kite-flying exercise, put the price up by £25k. (This was 25 years ago!) First to view offered us the asking price in full and proceeded to buy it.

The funny thing is, when we moved out we took all the stuff with us we bought to tart up the garden, as it was all loose/free-standing...

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 1st, 2020, 9:44 pm
by Lootman
Mike4 wrote:
bungeejumper wrote:
DrFfybes wrote:Our process is...
Before they arrive, open the windows, at least a little bit.
Open all doors.
Get hand sanitiser in the entance hall.

Shurely you've forgotten something? The seductive smell of freshly brewed coffee or freshly baked bread? I think you can get those in a spray can nowadays. If not, you ought to be able to. :lol:

O/T, but I'm reminded of when I sold my bachelor pad nearly 40 years ago. It was a newish-build starter home, and it should have sold immediately at that price - I had loads of viewings, mostly from young couples, but no offers.

Finally I spotted my error. A proper forehead-slapping, how-could-I-have-been-so-stupid moment. :| It was too masculine - no female touches at all. A quick dash over to my girlfriend's place, returning with a carrier bag full of wimmin's stuff, up to and including pairs of tights in the bathroom and a liberal scattering of Cosmopolitan magazines. It sold the next day.

Psychology is a wonderful thing. :D

This reminds me of the house (our home) before last we sold. It was a huge house with a garden rather too small, well kept but rather plain. We thought we'd reflected in the price but three months went by with dozens of viewings and only a couple of stupidly low offers from chancers.

Anyway we decided the garden was probably the problem so we went to the garden centre and spent a couple of grand on stuff to pretty it up. Big potted plants, swing seat, all manner of stuff to make the garden look really nice and stylish. Estate agent said it looked really good and just as a kite-flying exercise, put the price up by £25k. (This was 25 years ago!) First to view offered us the asking price in full and proceeded to buy it.

The funny thing is, when we moved out we took all the stuff with us we bought to tart up the garden, as it was all loose/free-standing...

In the US it is common to "stage" a home. This usually means the seller moving out, taking all their stuff, and then the professional stagers fill the place with high quality furniture and art, right down to fresh-baked cookies or bread, flowers and the rest, all carefully chosen to boost that kind of appeal.

It costs a few grand to rent the stuff and have stagers install it. But many realtors advise it as absolutely increasing the offers you will get as a result. People are often impressed with all the wrong things.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 2nd, 2020, 9:17 am
by bungeejumper
Mike4 wrote:This reminds me of the house (our home) before last we sold. It was a huge house with a garden rather too small, well kept but rather plain. We thought we'd reflected in the price but three months went by with dozens of viewings and only a couple of stupidly low offers from chancers.

Anyway we decided the garden was probably the problem so we went to the garden centre and spent a couple of grand on stuff to pretty it up. Big potted plants, swing seat, all manner of stuff to make the garden look really nice and stylish.

A pity that our near-neighbours didn't think the same way as you. They placed their picturesque village house (terraced, no front garden, small rear garden) on the market at a truly ludicrous price - north of £700,000 - without apparently noticing that their back garden was a shambles. Not to mention a heavily-used dog toilet. :? Some dog owners seem not to notice that sort of thing.

Six weeks and no offers later, they had the whole garden re-turfed. Funny, that.... Six months on, they've dropped their price by a third but still no takers. There's a moral there, but I'm not sure they can see it? I think their estate agent wants shooting for not having put them wise at the outset.

Another neighbour tried for nearly a year to sell his tiny stripped-pine-floored home, but he couldn't fathom why he didn't get any offers. Anyone could have told him that the whole house smelt of labrador - the very walls seemed to be impregnated with the stale acidic stink - but he was blissfully unaware of it. Eventually somebody tipped him off, and he fumigated and replastered the joint (after moving out), and eventually it sold. Another estate agent who ought to have been sent away for re-education. :|

BJ

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 2nd, 2020, 9:54 am
by Mike4
bungeejumper wrote:A pity that our near-neighbours didn't think the same way as you. They placed their picturesque village house (terraced, no front garden, small rear garden) on the market at a truly ludicrous price - north of £700,000 - without apparently noticing that their back garden was a shambles. Not to mention a heavily-used dog toilet. :? Some dog owners seem not to notice that sort of thing.

Six weeks and no offers later, they had the whole garden re-turfed. Funny, that.... Six months on, they've dropped their price by a third but still no takers. There's a moral there, but I'm not sure they can see it? I think their estate agent wants shooting for not having put them wise at the outset.

Another neighbour tried for nearly a year to sell his tiny stripped-pine-floored home, but he couldn't fathom why he didn't get any offers. Anyone could have told him that the whole house smelt of labrador - the very walls seemed to be impregnated with the stale acidic stink - but he was blissfully unaware of it. Eventually somebody tipped him off, and he fumigated and replastered the joint (after moving out), and eventually it sold. Another estate agent who ought to have been sent away for re-education. :|

BJ

In defence of estate agents (do we have any on here?), some of their clients have agenda we can only guess at. 20 years ago when I was busy buying houses to do up as rentals, a two bed flat worth about £120k came on the market at £270k, which I took to be a misprint. I called the agent (who I knew quite well), and asked him if it was April 1st and what the real price was. He went all formal on me and said that was the price his client had instructed him to market it at. I asked what was special about it to command such a price and he said 'nothing'. All my probing about the ludicrous price was fended off with the same line, client instructions.

It stayed on the market for about a year at that price unsold, then vanished from the adverts. I never found out what was going on. However, in the world of boats sometimes something similar happens. A canal boat comes on the market at a very ambitious price (often a historic or rare boat) and all enquiries about it are treated with disdain. Very hard to get more details or a viewing, and all sensible offers are rejected. General opinion is that when this happens the seller really, really, REALLY does not want to sell it but has been forced to market it by external circumstances e.g. a divorce/court order/etc. Hence the high price and obstructiveness to enquirers. I wonder if something similar was going on with that high priced flat.

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 2nd, 2020, 10:10 am
by dspp
Mike4 wrote:
bungeejumper wrote:A pity that our near-neighbours didn't think the same way as you. They placed their picturesque village house (terraced, no front garden, small rear garden) on the market at a truly ludicrous price - north of £700,000 - without apparently noticing that their back garden was a shambles. Not to mention a heavily-used dog toilet. :? Some dog owners seem not to notice that sort of thing.

Six weeks and no offers later, they had the whole garden re-turfed. Funny, that.... Six months on, they've dropped their price by a third but still no takers. There's a moral there, but I'm not sure they can see it? I think their estate agent wants shooting for not having put them wise at the outset.

Another neighbour tried for nearly a year to sell his tiny stripped-pine-floored home, but he couldn't fathom why he didn't get any offers. Anyone could have told him that the whole house smelt of labrador - the very walls seemed to be impregnated with the stale acidic stink - but he was blissfully unaware of it. Eventually somebody tipped him off, and he fumigated and replastered the joint (after moving out), and eventually it sold. Another estate agent who ought to have been sent away for re-education. :|

BJ

In defence of estate agents (do we have any on here?), some of their clients have agenda we can only guess at. 20 years ago when I was busy buying houses to do up as rentals, a two bed flat worth about £120k came on the market at £270k, which I took to be a misprint. I called the agent (who I knew quite well), and asked him if it was April 1st and what the real price was. He went all formal on me and said that was the price his client had instructed him to market it at. I asked what was special about it to command such a price and he said 'nothing'. All my probing about the ludicrous price was fended off with the same line, client instructions.

It stayed on the market for about a year at that price unsold, then vanished from the adverts. I never found out what was going on. However, in the world of boats sometimes something similar happens. A canal boat comes on the market at a very ambitious price (often a historic or rare boat) and all enquiries about it are treated with disdain. Very hard to get more details or a viewing, and all sensible offers are rejected. General opinion is that when this happens the seller really, really, REALLY does not want to sell it but has been forced to market it by external circumstances e.g. a divorce/court order/etc. Hence the high price and obstructiveness to enquirers. I wonder if something similar was going on with that high priced flat.


Instructions from wife to sell boat have been known to be cause of that sort of pricing strategy :)

regards, dspp

Re: Selling house viewing: any experience?

Posted: August 2nd, 2020, 10:23 am
by Mike4
dspp wrote:Instructions from wife to sell boat have been known to be cause of that sort of pricing strategy :)

regards, dspp


Yes good point. When you meet a couple who own a boat (living on it, especially), it often strikes me that one is full of enthusiasm for boating and the other is ok about it and happy to tag along for the time being, but would not have bought a boat left to their own devices. Can easily lead to what you describe. Shame really, but quite common I think.

Anyway just realised this is DAK so we must stop the topic drift.