Doing house viewings - send help

[BrowncoatWaffles]

So we're selling our house. It's a nice house but it's not a show home. We have two kids and they have a lot of crap. I've decluttered and chucked loads of it in the garage so it looks pretty nice to walk about, despatched DH with the kids off to the park and am doing our first batch of viewings (seven of the things, every half hour for the next little while).

I've done three so far and am weirdly stressed about it. I feel like I'm giving people the info they need and also giving them space but the last viewing lasted nine minutes. Nine minutes. I know I'm not showing them around Buckingham Palace, but nine minutes?!

I am suddenly feeling like I could be cocking this up without meaning to. I've got 14 minutes till the next viewing and fancy a coffee but am now overthinking whether making coffee looks like a lame sales technique. Also, I might be overcaffeinated already. And probably overthinking.

Send help! What should I be doing or not doing? It feels weirdly like the stress I felt when dating. And I hated dating. And frankly I sucked at it. I genuinely wasn't expecting to feel this stressed, I'm not usually a highly strung person. Also, the first guy through the door said 'I'll level with you, it's a perfectly nice house but my gut says no' and I felt weirdly affronted by him and his gut.

This is why people have the agents doing the viewings, right?!

Give them a quick tour without too much talking besides the necessary and then tell them you will go and wait in the front room / garden to give them space to have a proper look round on their own. Invite them to feel free to open cupboards in the kitchen / have a good look at fixtures that would be included in the sale, and that you'd be happy to answer questions.

You don't need to explain every minute detail about the house but point out selling points ("we replaced the windows in here in X year and so they're under warranty for another X years", or "The heating was installed in X year, it's a gas fired combi boiler").

Any reason youre not having the agents doing viewings as this is the best way and you are paying for it?

Otherwise dont stress - just walk people round the house - you dont need to give th em much information at a first viewing - in fact too much information can be off putting. As you probably know buyers will know very quickly when they walk into a house if they are interested so the ones that were only there 9 mins probably realised quite quickly that its not the house for them.

And just because people ask lots of questions doesnt mean they are interested - some people are like this. Often the quiet ones can be more interested And they are just digesting what they see and getting quietly excited!

If you continue to find it stressful get the agents to do it - some buyers prefer to see a house without the owners present as they feel more relaxed and can comment to each other without worrying about seeming rude.

Good luck.

Practice your route/blurb ahead of time to highlight the good points.
Let them go into rooms first so the house seems bigger.

The thing I appreciate from seeing the house with the owner is a sense of it as a home rather than a house.
e.g. "We fitted 12 in this dining room at Christmas."
"I drink my mornign coffee at this kitchen table as it gets the sun."
"There's been plenty of space for me to work at home during lockdown"
"This cherry tree has lovely blossom in the spring"
Or whatever is applicable to yoru house.

If the viewers aren't local themselves, point out good thigns about the area e.g. a local shop or pub or walk or bus route. Also neighbours (if they're gooduns)

Ok, I'm feeling a bit better - and less like it's a cross between a horrifying job interview and very awkward first date. Thank you for making me feel better - also I've been doing some of your suggestions already which is a bit of a relief!

It turns out as someone with verbal diarrhoea I've accidentally mentioned some of those bits @chromis suggested already which is great. Although in hindsight, pointing out where I gave birth in the hallway probably wasn't ideal (although it was to Gut Guy after he'd said it wasn't his thing anyway so no harm no foul).

Estate agent is slightly out of area (trusted family friend) so we agreed we'd do the viewings. I hadn't really appreciated the ramifications of what that meant though.

I have however made my coffee and just necked a bar of Whole Nut while waiting for the last viewing. This makes me feel better :)