How to do a house viewing as a seller, any tips please?

[Travelcrazy]

We have two viewings for our house on Sunday and we are showing them round, any tips how to do it and what I should say or not say please. One is a first time buyer so I am keen to get it right!

Yeah. Be casual but purposeful.

So do I just leave them to walk around on there own?
Thanks for the replies

Don’t constantly chatter on. We did a viewing with a seller once and they talked the entire time which made it hard for us to look at anything properly or speak to each other about anything.

Yeah I would do because if you’re there it’s really difficult for them to have a frank discussion between themselves without risking offending the vendor- ie “is this bedroom too small?” Or “I really don’t like this bathroom- can we afford to replace it?”. As a viewer I’ve sometimes just said to the agent “this isn’t for us- I won’t waste your time” after 2 mins whereas when the vendor is there you already have to go through the motions and if the vendor is literally standing next to you you feel like you need to make polite comments about everything.

I wouldn't give them a tour but encourage them to ask all the questions they want. If you give a running commentary and follow them round they will be noddingly half-listening to what you say while wishing you would let them concentrate on deciding whether that crack is something to worry about or not. You could hand them a list of things they might like to know about the house. Good luck!

Take them round, let them go in the room first, you stabd in doirway so not too many people in the room. Point out anything yoy need to e.g new boiler, leaving blinds/curtains, new windows etc etc.
At the end ask them to have another walk through on their own, to shout if theyve any questions.

I give a quick tour pointing out selling points and answering any questions and then disappear and tell them to look around again at their leisure.

I would let them in and then go in the garden or sit in the car it it's raining. Be on hand at the end to answer any questions

I did a tour, but once each room was showed, I left the room so that they could discuss in private. I also pointed out anything such as 'painted last year', 'roof replaced 4 years ago' etc.

Whatever you do, don't announce each room - buyers can see that it's a kitchen or a bathroom. You could perhaps suggest different uses for a room (eg a small bedroom could be a dressing room or study).

Do point out things like new boilers or recently replaced roofs. But never say 'oh we've been meaning to sort that for ages....'

I used to work in commercial building sales and did a few viewings of a rental property. I have also watched every Kirsty and Phil programme. Have a think about any highlights you want to point out. Ie new roof, electric garage doors, quiet plot, not overlooked.

Then also think of how to combat any downsides. Ie you may have a small study and people will want to work from home, if they say, the study is a bit small, you can point out that there are two reception rooms so they could work from the room you current have as a toy room.

Or if they say garden is small, you can say the park is in the next road where your children play and there are masses of walks from the house.

If they say the kitchen is old, say yes it’s probably due a new one but you didn’t want to put one in that they wouldn’t like, it’s a personal choice, the house has been priced with that in mind and they can have their dream kitchen rather than put up with someone else’s taste. Point out it’s still very serviceable while they settle in and get around to buying a new one.

If they say they hate it, don’t take it personally. Thank them for coming and hope it’s helped them work out what they don’t want. You may end up bumping into them again if they buy nearby.

thank you some very useful tips here, fingers crossed!

When we sold ours either I or DH did it but not both of us. We viewed a property and the wife did all the talking and the husband just followed us around silently and it was really awkward. We just pointed things out like boiler, flooring etc. mad sure they knew how close it was to schools, shops etc and then let them wander.

Get the EA to do it.

We had the EA do viewings when we sold our last house. The people who went on to buy it then wanted to meet us to ask us questions at their second viewing. When we viewed our current house we were shown round by the woman vendor while her husband sat in the conservatory and barely interacted with us. It was very strange. We went round on our own after being given the tour.

The EA won't do it because it is Sunday so no choice