Help, someone is unexpectedly viewing our flat tomorrow

[VitaminX]

Just found out someone is coming to look at our flat tomorrow at 12.

It's not at all how it should be for a viewing. It's not spotless and there is Lego from Christmas and various clutter all over the fucking place. It's not like it's disgusting or anything but it's not a show home and now apparently it needs to become one.

We have been house hunting for a while, looking to upsize, and the estate agent has been talking to us about a property just up the road that looks perfect. We now find out today that they are looking to downsize and would like to look at our property with a view to maybe doing an exchange. The estate agent sprang this on us and we are not prepared, having planned to find somewhere to buy and THEN put ours on the market.

What are the most important things we need to sort? Obviously cleaning and tidying but what are the things that people forget? Or the main things people look at when viewing? If we put things away in cupboards etc. to make it less cluttered will they look into our cupboards?

If the cupboards are built in they will probably look in them. If you have boxes (or can get some from a supermarket or somewhere) under beds is probably a better bet.

No, I don't expect they will look in your cupboards, and if they do they won't be looking at whether they have clutter, rather what the storage is like (if it's built in).

Make it as clean and tidy as you can, put away as much as you can and hope that they can see what they need - after all, they will be buying it empty.

I'm usually looking to check everything works- so taps turn on and off, windows open and close, the toilets flush and there's no obvious damp/mould issues.

I would understand if there was a bit of clutter around as you're clearly looking for a larger home to accommodate your family.

Put as much clutter as you can away; or they might worry it won’t have enough storage. Put it in your car if you have one, and you can. Ours was always full of stuff when we were selling.

Clean and tidy as much as you possibly can. It’s not fun and it’s a tight deadline, but honestly, you don’t want to look back and think you could have done more, if their house is the one you want.

Go to each room with a box and clear everything in the surface into that box. Coats and shoes toys screws Lego dog toys leads magazines books work blankets etc (that's what I can see from here)

Store box somewhere for the visit.

Hoover and plump cushions and clean bathroom and bleach toilet. Make beds.

Light a lightly fragranced candle or spritz room fragrance

We sold our house recently and sometimes had viewings at very short notice.

If you are really stuck for places to put things, like lego, pop them into pillow cases and stick them.in the washing machine and tumble dryer. We put all our coats in the boot of the car as they were everywhere and too bulky to get into wardrobes.

When we were looking at houses, clutter didn't bother me as long as it wasn't too much and could be hiding things (eg damp patches). I did ask if I could look into built in cupboards to see how they were configured, but again, didn't care how much stuff was in them.

If this is going to be an issue whilst you are trying to sell, buy some cheap but smart storage for toys etc.

Good luck!

You are better off getting your flat on the market asap anyway. Most sellers won't accept an offer from a non proceedable buyer and you will be classed as that as you haven't sold yet. Start the clearing and cleaning for this viewer and then get it on the market!

Get ikea bags, suitcases or boxes and put all the shite in them and store them in your car/neighbours/friends house to give you some space.

Clear your surfaces, hoover, wipe down kitchen and bathrooms and open the windows/get candles on.

Good luck!

I used to put a lot of stuff in my car when I had short notice viewings and had no cupboard space to put things in!

This ^ for sure

Yep, stuff the car with items, then park it round the corner.

I also stuffed cupboards - people opened fitted wardrobes, but not kitchen cupboards, iirc.

Clean and tidy is all you will manage by tomorrow.

And hope no one breaks into it !

I wouldn't worry about Lego & the like.

kitchen.
Dishes (obviously)
Clear sides -stage fruit bowl/nice dish/whatever
wipe fridge/oven fronts
mop floor
clean window(s)/door

bathroom
clean sink/toilet (obviously)
mop floor
Clean window

only have one 'set' of shampoo/conditioner/body wash or,

not eleventy million bottles

remove any cleaning clutter

Entrance
remove all shoes/only have a couple of coats if you have pegs/stand, hide the excess.

It's very short notice, you're not on the market, you're moving because you need more space. You LIVE there, it's not a magazine shoot!!

it would be a handy swap IF you can come to an agreement over prices, but don't get your hopes up, yours might not be anything like what they've said they want. Agents are largely hopeless.

is there a specific reason you don't want to put yours on the market before you find one you want to buy? It's not the easiest option.

Put stuff in your car and don’t have lots of stuff on top of wardrobes, the fridge/freezer or kitchen units - that screams lack of storage. I viewed a house where the ironing board and hoover was behind the sofa, they had nowhere to put it.

I used to clear all the coats and shoes from the hallway and dump them in my car, made a better entrance , just bundle toys etc up off the floor too as that just makes it look like there isn't enough space, put nice cosy lamps on and make beds really well

Open ALL the windows for a few hours beforehand and then put the heating on so it’s warm when they arrive

A smelly house is about the most off putting thing - and the smell might just be normal living/cooking smells but still is awful

I’d agree about the smells, particularly if you have pets or smoke!

if they are looking to downsize, you don’t want them thinking your place is too small so try to put away anything that makes a room look crowded. When I need to clean really quickly, I set a timer as I go into each room. Can you do 10 minutes in each room of the house hiding away clutter and tidying?

id hazard a guess that most of the stuff you’d hide away would be stuff they wouldn’t necessarily have themselves so they would see a cupboard stuffed full of toys as stuff that wouldn’t end up in their house anyway.

I would say that they don't look in cupboards, but I wouldn't guarantee that.
The first viewer we had for our last home, at the last minute I saw a towel over a door and tossed it into the airing cupboard as the doorbell rang.
First thing the EA did was take them upstairs and open the airing cupboard door. There was a soft whomph and I looked up to see the EA and viewer amid a heap of towels which had obviously been destabilised by the one I threw in.

My tips are: You can fit a whole load of stuff under duvets. They never check under the sofa and an ironing board fits perfectly there, ditto they don't normally look in the oven, but don't forget before you switch it on and at this time of year you can always cram a load into a big box, wrap it up and put it in the corner as a spare Christmas present. 🤣

How awful, I remember it well.

It is very true what people say. No matter how untidy a room is, you can get a way with it with a clean floor. Similarly a tidy room will look terrible with a dirty floor. FLOORS are the most important, along with a nice place to sit. Everything else is a bonus.

When I was looking for new house, I really liked more normal homes than perfect show home looking places.
The house we bought had 3 kids, and there were toys everywhere. It had really lovely home feel. Another one we really liked had books everywhere. Both quite messy, in a good way, very homely feel.
So I don't really think it needs to be perfect, as long as it looks clean and tidy enough.

Yeah I would put clutter in bin liners in the car 😂 then quick hoover and clean around!

No need to do the garden but if there is anything like a table or toys there just make sure it is tidy.

The estate agent sprang this on us and we are not prepared, having planned to find somewhere to buy and THEN put ours on the market.

You won't be able to do it that way round. Estate agents won't even let you set foot across the threshold of a property that you wish to view unless you already have an offer on your place.

I don't live in the UK so I suppose it's not the same system. You can definitely buy first and then sell - we did it that way round last time as well. The reason we want to do it is because it's much harder here to buy than sell. It's an area people are often keen to move into but not to leave. We have been more browsing without urgency for many months as we don't desperately need to move but want to in the next few years so we've been waiting for something good to come up. We know we can sell fairly quickly to somebody when we need to but maybe not to these people!

Thanks for the tips everyone! Just done blitzing the bathroom while encouraging the kids to get themselves ready for bed, which isn't going great haha.