Sellers doing viewings rather than EA?

[Done41]

How do you feel about this? Do you prefer the seller or an estate agent to do viewings?

This is the first house I’ve sold so I’m lacking experience!

I think there are pros and cons to each. Whatever you do OP, don’t do what some vendors did to me years about when I was house hunting. The EA persuaded me to view a house I wasn’t keen on, because it didn’t have a garden. But it was in the right area, and had been on the market for a long time. It was an elderly couple living there, and the house was like my Gran’s house. Every room had thick patterned wallpaper, fully carpeted with incredibly dated carpet. The whole house was just so dated, and I knew I couldn’t be bothered to redecorate. I was polite and non committal, but as I left, the lovely old lady asked me outright if I’d be making an offer. She said they’d had lots of viewings but no offers, and couldn’t understand it. I was honest and said I wouldn’t be making an offer, and she asked me why. Luckily I was able to say it was the lack of garden, rather than having to be honest about the prospect of ripping apart their hideous decor! It was so awkward.

I have done it both ways. As pp said, in Scotland it’s entirely normal for sellers to be doing the viewing and often in evenings or weekends.

When I have done it, I generally do the tour quickly then leave the viewers to go round themselves. I have no issue with anyone looking in built-in cupboards, wardrobes , etc; nor do I care what you want to ‘improve’ : I just want your money

I think it’s a bit odd personally and I wouldn’t like to do my own viewings. However we are relocating and the area we are moving to, it seems the norm for the seller to do their own viewings.

Are your EA fees lower?

As a buyer I have always preferred looking round when the vendors aren't there as I feel like I can't look as freely or openly discuss with husband as we are going round. Having said that if it was the right house it wouldn't affect my decision to buy or not (usually). The house where we live now and the one before that - our viewings were at weekends and the vendors were there, as well as the EA and we still wanted the houses!

The only time it actively put me off was when the vendors were waiting in the hallway with the EA and formally "met" us and started following us around as we looked through the rooms. The EA said something to them and they went out. EA said they were downsizing and had bought a smaller house opposite where they presumably went. But 20 mins later as we were finishing up they came back and started following us round again and asking questions about where we were moving from, how old the kids were etc. I don't mean in a small talk way. It felt like a bloody interview! The house didn't quite tick all the boxes but the vendors, and knowing they would be living opposite, put the nail in the coffin!

As a seller, initially I preferred the EA to do the viewings without us there but sometimes people can only come weekday evenings so I was fine to do those. Felt a bit awkward at first but got used to saying "just look around and pretend I'm not here" unless they had any questions. I sold my first flat to a lady i showed round so it obviously didn't put her off too much. The only time I felt annoyed was when a man openly criticised it to my face - said "ugh no fitted wardrobes" when he went into the bedroom. Rude.

I like to make the EA actually do something for the money they charge.
if I wanted to do the viewings myself then I would use purple bricks or similar

Lower than what??
We paid 0.66% (Inc vat). That was an offer - they are typically under 1% (then have VAT added)tho.

I don’t mind either way, but I would want the vendor around to ask questions. Both houses we made serious offers on the vendors either did the viewing or were present (made us cups of tea and fed the dc biscuits while we asked them questions).

Our neighbours have been trying to sell for over a year and EA has done all viewings (second home) and we often have people coming over to ours with questions or the EA agent knocking with a question, because they have no idea either. Just having someone around who knew the property well would have been helpful.

Sorry, stupid question without a comparison!

Yes that does sound lower than what we had which ranged from 1-2% I think. One was 2.5%.

When we bought our house years ago it was almost always the seller showing us around. The best sellers were the ones who let us look around ourselves, but were friendly and asked us if we had any questions afterwards. We had some great experiences of sellers making us cups of tea and biscuits, or inviting us to sit and talk, some even introduced us to their neighbours. The best thing about it done that way is the owners know the property.

The few houses we saw that were with the EA we found were very quick and also often they didn’t know the house well enough to answer any questions.

We left it to the EA to conduct viewings. I wouldn’t know what to say to people. Anyway, that’s part of what we pay them for.

I hate being shown round by the sellers. I feel always feel I should hurry up and get out of their way as I know how much people hate having others trudging round their homes. I'm currently mid-move and I had one viewing with vendors and asked for another two without them. I much preferred the final one as the vendor had moved out by then and I could actually sit for 15 minutes and get a 'feel' of the house. You can't do that when the vendors are there.

I did my own after I watched the estate agent not really selling our house - when I did my own viewing my house was snapped up. I always let the viewer have their time to look around on their own and never rushed them.

Definitely prefer the EA. It is uncomfortable when done by the seller no matter how good they are at showing the best bits of their home.
Find a good EA and give them lots of information so that they can sell it well. When I was looking I was immediately put off if I found out it would be the seller showing around.

It used to be always the seller who did the viewings and it has changed in recent years that the agent wants to do it instead. My agent when I sold last did viewings at evenings and weekends. The problem was that I was expected to leave the house on cold, wet, dark evenings during the viewing.
I think the householder can point out things and answer questions better than the agent, but viewers are more likely to be honest with the agent.

It's a little bit awkward, but sometimes you can ask useful things about the neighbours etc. depending on what the vendors are actually like. When I bought my current house, the vendors showed me round and it was horrifically awkward because they were clearly splitting up but pretending they weren't (no idea why - maybe not to look too desperate!), and there was a fully made up bed in the spare room and, perhaps coincidentally, a massive lock on the master bedroom door! I still bought it though. Some of the other houses I viewed a representative of the estate agent let me in, but mostly (this is Scotland) they were not the well-informed agents, just admin staff with the keys. One hilariously commented that the house I was viewing was overpriced, in her opinion, and that you'd be paying £100k extra just for the sea view. They also quite like nosing round the houses with you commenting on the vendors' decor choices!

We always did viewings that were arranged for when we were at home but the agent had a key to do them if we were at work.

I actually prefer being taken round by the seller myself. You definitely get better informed info than an agent (usually very junior) who has no idea or makes up an answer!

On one occasion a seller inadvertently told us that someone parked in the lane behind their house and went off for the whole day blocking their cars in necause the station was so close when I asked about the track behind the house where the drive/garage was. The look of horror that passed her face when she noticed me frown at DH and she realised what she had done.

Completely normal in Scotland. Vendors always do viewings.

I’ve never been shown round by an EA and when selling always done the viewings.

I’ve bought and sold several houses.

My DD asked me to come with her to viewings for her first home. It was the vendor that really 'sold' the property that DD bought. She arrived home as the EA was showing us around. He clearly knew little about the place and seemed to be making it up as he went along. He couldn't answer any of our questions knowledgeably.

The owner was really positive, was able to answer all the questions about parking and neighbours and so on, and her whole demeanor and warmth made us feel good about the place.

I much prefer and Estate Agent but I flexibility in my work so can go to view during working hours.

i did view a house with a friend that it was the couple who were showing it. It was awful as they were clearly separating and kept making nasty digs at each other.

In an ideal world, I would like the seller to show me round first and give me all the intel on the house/local area (if I wasn't already familiar with it) as they tend to be a bit less guarded that EAs.

Then if I was seriously contemplating making an offer, a second viewing with an EA so I could do all the turning on taps/checking things more closely without worrying about upsetting the owner.

Our current house we were shown round by the seller. He did a quick tour of the house with us, then made an excuse to pop out to the corner shop for a bit while we looked round by ourselves, then answered our questions when he got back. He was so much better informed than the EA who had shown us round our previous place. Had info to hand like when was the boiler last serviced, his kids were in the local school so he had good knowledge about that, recommended some nice local walks, told us about the neighbours etc etc. Obviously they're not impartial and want to sell the house, but they're much more knowledgeable and personal than a disinterested EA, IME.

I think it can be a little awkward when the vendors do it but so often EAs are beyond useless and know nothing about the property so I'd say on balance I like to speak to the vendor.

Looking back all the properties we ended up putting offer on, were the ones where the vendor showed us around ..

I did all the viewings when I sold my house, and even an open house weekend once!

I did none for my late mother’s house because it was too upsetting

Personally I’d MUCH rather meet the owner if possible - ask about the history of the house, how old the carpets are, what is the sunniest part of the garden - the EA is always rubbish at that. Also I’m stuck doing a transaction that can take months - I want to size up what the seller is like.

I do not trust EAs an inch. Pack of liars IMe