To think it’s normal to take your kids to a house viewing?

[HouseMover2024]

Friend is trying to sell her house and has taken issue with people bringing their children. In her view, they should arrange childcare and it’s inappropriate for them to bring children. If they do bring their kids she thinks they should be left in the car with parents taking turns.

Friend doesn’t have children. She can’t relate to the fact that childcare outside of work time isn’t particularly easy to find.

Part of her reasoning is she has animals she says it’s not practical to remove and is worried a child might get bitten.

I have an opposing view and actually have taken my young children to viewings. I ensure they are respectful and take their shoes off/don’t touch anything. But it’s not always practical to arrange childcare especially at weekends. When my home has been on the market I remove my pets for viewings.

We have just recently moved and done a mix. Some times we went ourselves and if doing a 2nd viewing we brought our kids. They wouldnt make the final decision but it is a potential new home for them. They were always respectful, shoes off etc and the sellers were always lovely, asking oh what room do you like, do you want to help me show around the house, I don't see the big deal, we had a mix coming to view our house and I wouldn't even question it.

We've never taken our kids to house viewings except for when DD2 was 5m old and in her car seat.
Our reasoning is DH and I want to look properly and discuss the pros and cons without emotion. Also, we'd not want them to get emotionally attached should any purchase fall through.

However I don't think it's unusual to take them and wouldn't think anything odd about it.

God no, taking the kids, unless an offer has been made and accepted, is rude and a PITA 🤷‍♀️ this is a business transaction not a trip to Alton towers!

Lots of people don't have childcare available easily so have to view with child. We managed a few viewings during school hours but that meant using annual leave.

Saturday viewings we had to take our child with us - no family to help and new to the area so no network yet. I wouldn't have booked a random babysitter I'd never set eyes on before off a website for this.

Depends on how good the vendor is at selling their property. I was mightily confused when a prospective buyer thought I was the agent and started talking to me about the owners.

As for pets, our dogs are not present in the house for viewings, neither is any of their paraphernalia.

It’s only business if property is your business.

RidingMyBike

Leave them in the car and take turns?

First viewing is just me. Second (or third) viewing I'll take the kids, who certainly would know how to respect someone's property.
Your friend should remove her dog if it might bite, and let an agent show her house (or put the dog in the car or garden - then swap it back with it on a lead - for the few minutes house is being shown).
If it's a family sized place one should expect a family to view it. You want it to be a welcoming place looking its best, not put restrictions on who can view. Anyone with any sense would remove anything, be it a friend or precious ornaments, before putting a property on the market. Yes it is still their home, but you'd expect them to not have laundry hanging out or a stack of dishes in the sink or an aggressive dog.

We never took our children to a house viewing, didn’t consider it appropriate. It’s not a day out, its someone else’s home. If we were selling our house now the dog would go outside during viewings. He doesn’t cope well with strangers in his space.

I don't even remember which viewings we took our children to and which we didn't but when we last moved house the market was moving extremely quickly and our current house had one open day and we got a specific timeslot. So if they weren't in school they would have had to come. In our case at that age (5 and 7) they would have behaved appropriately and not touched anything and we would have supervised them.

Of course you take children but they need to be walking around with the parents, holding a parents hand if necessary. If I had a child that couldn't cope with walking around like that I would tag team

Our estate agent asks owners to remove dogs and all evidence of them. Bowls, dogbed.

Your friend is out of touch.

We didn't take ours. 4 people traipsing round the house seemed like too much. And as they weren't to have any say in it anyway, there wasn't any point.

I took mine to some house viewings, though tried to schedule most for when they were at school. I’d never have bought a house without taking them round first though!

we also had people come round ours with kids.

I can see how it’s not ideal, but it’s totally fine.

My estate agent brought his child because he's self employed and didn't have childcare. I was absolutely fine with it, life is hard enough already for working parents.

She should take the dog out for a walk & let the estate agents do the viewing. I tv in it's uncomfortable when homeowners are there whilst you are looking around.

I do remember taking our toddler to view a house and discovering that the owners had an enormous china duck collection on shelves everywhere... That was fun!

One of us carried him the whole time and we took it in turns to go upstairs because the stairs had many many china ducks on shelves and we weren't confident we could carry him safely past them.

But, more seriously, if you're selling a family home, families will come and view.

I do - very non Mumsnet I know! - use babysitters regularly but, since children can come on viewings, I don't see why we should fork out for them. We viewed maybe 10 houses, that would have been about £300 given travel time as well.

When we have sold houses, we have made an effort to remove fragile objects and child proof a bit.

Haha @spriots that’s hilarious!

You never felt as it was their home they should be included in any way?

Kids are like puppies - fun, but messy, unpredictable and with a capacity to wreck things. I like kids and dogs, and they appear to like me back, but showing up at a stranger’s house with uninvited children or pets is at best an imposition. You’re kidding yourself if you don’t realise that.

Well, you'd have ruled me out as a buyer.

Not because of the child issue but because I work in a school! I couldn't take time off just to view a house. Not in term time. So it'd have to be after school in the evening or the weekend.

On the dog front we went to view a house when I was pregnant with DS. The owners had locked the dogs in the kitchen with a gate across the room, which was fine. Until we got to the kitchen and wanted to step inside. Two Dobermans jumping up at the gate was a bit off putting. The owner wouldn't move them out to the garden so we could view the kitchen 'because it was raining!' We gave that one a miss - if I can't see all of the house for as long as I need to I'm not interested in buying.

I can’t remember which viewings we took the kids too but definitely took them to some viewings. I think that’s normal!

find it massively off putting being shown round by the vendor though!!

Mine genuinely wasn’t, she knew how to behave, as did my family and friends kids, some kids can behave, go round with their parents, holding their hand

im surprised so many people think all kids are uncontrollable

We took dd to some viewings and not others - the house we put an offer on we saw when she was away on residential and did a second viewing when she was back, largely so she could see it - she’s going to be living her for (hopefully) 10. Years + she should have at least an input, even if it’s not her decision in the end but ours.