Estate Agent asking me to do my own viewings.

[Bonitalazenia]

Apparently they are too busy on Saturday morning. Also some requests are for after 5pm. I'd feel awkward I think.... So I'm reluctant....

I’ve only ever had 1 viewing done by an estate agent and that was because the house was unoccupied so they’d paid extra for them to do the viewings. When I sold my house all viewings were done by me. I’m in Scotland and as far as I’m aware it’s the norm.

Also some requests are for after 5pm.
I'm afraid that for those of us who work full time this is the only time we can do things like view houses! If the market is anything like it is here you can't wait until the weekend or it'll be sold. It's hardly the middle of the night! If you're not open to viewings in the early evening then you're eliminating a large number of potential buyers.

What are you actually paying the agent for if you do the viewings?

Most EAs do office hours in the week and Saturdays. Most people buying houses work, so need Saturdays or evenings. The EA won't be able to do all Saturday viewings unless booking weeks in advance which means people will lose interest, so I'd suck it up, prepare a mental script and get on with it if you want to sell you house

Also, due to the whole Covid thing you don't really need to show people round at the moment. I've been to a couple of house viewings and to maintain as much social distancing as possible the owners have let us go round on our own and they've waited downstairs or even outside, and then you can ask any questions. It makes it a bit less awkward!

When we were selling our flat I did some of the viewings and sold it with a viewing I did. In my experience when we have been shown round houses by estate agents, some are ok but a lot seemed very dis interested, had very little knowledge of the house or area and couldn't wait to get us out especially on a Saturday. The house we bought the estate agent showed us round initially but the vendors were there as they were elderly. The second viewing we did we ended up talking to them for ages about the house and what it was like to live there. This was very much pre covid though.

I have not long ago sold my last property, and one of the conditions of engagement that we gave to the estate agent was that they were to book people in for Accompanying Viewings only, l was paying them a good fee as my agent, and it was their job to do so, I was not living there at the time, and it was an hours drive away from me, but only ten mins from the Agents office!
They also called me afterwards to report on the feed back from the potential buyers. The sale and completion took just under 6 months, although we did not achieve the full asking price, but were satisfied in the end with the outcome, despite a couple of nosey time wasters who turned out to be relatives of some neighbours, and an awkward finicky and fussy buyer in the end!

Ask them what they'll knock off their percentage if you're doing viewings? Suspect they'll make time for your viewings then. I'd be useless at doing viewings - if I wasn't I'd put the house on Purplebricks or something!

I've viewed 40-50 properties and I've never had a vendor show me around. I am in London if that makes a difference.

Is this a covid thing? I bought my house a couple of months before the pandemic and I hated viewing houses that were listed with purple bricks because the owner would do the viewing and it was awkward. All other agencies the agent did the viewing and we went for one of them in the end.

It's not a covid thing or a price thing. It's just variable across the country. In Scotland it is the vendor that shows a property unless it is empty or they specifically ask and pay separately for an agent to do it.

It may be reflected in the EA fees? I don't know. We were quoted 0.75% for a high end property. A lower end property would be up to 1.25%. Maybe it's much more expensive in areas where the EA does the viewings, I don't know.

Totally normal here - I'm in Scotland and I think I've only once had a viewing with an agent. It's always been the vendor otherwise

* I would change firms immediately. The fact that they even suggested this is unprofessional and I would equally wonder how professional they would be in returning prospective clients queries.*

^This

I’ve mostly had EAs show me round but a couple of times it’s been the vendors for an evening viewing or a Sunday, they were always nice people. I did one on our flat and the EA did the rest. I’d expect the agent to do most of them tbh.

The worst ones are when the EA shows you round but the vendor is hanging round behind them, awkward! Can’t always be helped though I suppose.

The house I rent was put on the market recently, and I in while they did the viewings - it was a real eye-opener, I found. Three different estate agents and about 20-30 viewings. One was very hard-sell, OMG look how amazing it is, look how huge it is, blah blah. Quite a few bare-faced lies ('oh, I'm sure it's all very recently redone' - the fuck it was). Another one was quite matter-of-fact and didn't say much. And the third one, god bless her, clearly thought it was her job to point out the faults. She'd go round saying 'and in here the windows are awful, they'll need replacing, and I think there's a lot more damp under there, and there's clearly birds nesting in the roof you know'.

The funny thing was, I know from talking to the main agent later on that there were no particular patterns to which agents got offers put in, or how high the offers were. So I think maybe it all matters much less than we'd like to think!

I did it myself, time of day was irrelevant as long as I was free. For me the EA was there to advertise, arrange the appointments and do any negotiating. I never apologised to viewers for a part of my house that was flawed in any way or pointed out any flaws, why would I? Also I loved my house so probably “sold” it better than any EA would have done. The EA did some viewings of course if I was at work etc. That’s just how it works.

Ah, a mixture of opinions...! I have actually agreed to do a second viewing this evening at 5.30pm. As has been pointed out, most people will be working so I’m going to put my big girl pants on, practice my sales patter and do the ones the EA cannot do. Thanks for all the advice!

So i did my viewing, it was a lovely lady, I let her wander around and answered her questions at the end. I was honest about the parking (shocking) and I think she appreciated the personal perspective... so all good hopefully.

UPDATE** I have sold my house to the lady I showed it to....I'm over the bloody moon!!!!

Congratulations, it is a great feeling isn't it?

I have just sold and did all my own viewings who all offered. Some said it was nice to have the vendor show them round as I could answer any questions. We have viewed loads of properties and it’s been the vendor doing viewings, unless they are empty. I find estate agent viewings quite awkward as they follow you around and ask for feedback there and then.

I would do a little rehearsal first or have a plan in your head of a route round the house plus a couple of positives for each room. I usually pay showed people round then let them look around on their own; DH and I found it awkward when the vendor wouldn’t leave us alone as we couldn’t bounce thoughts off each other during the viewing.

Congratulations OP!

@Cattitudes

Congratulations, it is a great feeling isn't it?

Yes it is!!!!