To be hacked off when potential buyers spend less than five minutes viewing my house after I've spent hours cleaning and tidying?

[LyraSilvertongue]

Yes, I know IAprobablyBU as they're under no obligation to stay any longer than they want to but I spent hours cleaning and tidying for a viewing this morning and they came in, glanced around for a couple of minutes and left. They didn't even go out to the garden, which I'd also wasted time tidying.
I'd intended being out for the viewing but they turned up early so the boys and I went out to the garden to give them some space.
The upside is we now have a clean house I suppose.

I really believe that if someone is going to like your house, they will like it regardless of the cleanliness of your stair carpet or the sheen on your hob.

Obviously no one wants to buy a dump, but there is so much pressure on you to make your house like a bleedin show home...and its impossible!

When we viewed the house where I live now, the woman was cooking tea, the boys were playing in the garden, the living room was painted satsuma orange with pink radiators and the dining room was egg yolk yellow.

And we fell in love with the 'feel of it'

A practical point..could you arrange an 'open house' where all the viewings take place on one day?

scottishmummy!
Maidamess, we'd love to have all the viewings on one day but we're averaging about one a week so not really possible.

Sometimes people think they might be able to live with a disadvantage (downstairs bathoom) if other things (eg location) are good. Then they see the house and are forcibly reminded that they hate downstairs bathrooms. And so it goes on.

I remember a man having a five minute look of my house then saying, sympathetically, 'Thanks anyway' before leaving.

He didn't make an offer then, spidermama?

Lyra, we are SW London too and have just put our flat on the market. One viewing so far in nearly two weeks and she decided she really wanted a maisonette. They were in for less than 5 minutes, I'd just gone out to the car to go somewhere out of the way and they were out already. The second viewer cancelled. I fear it's going to be a long one...

We looked at house where they had just had spag bol for dinner & the place reeked of garlic & stinky meat.... & the woman was sitting in an armchair with a manky bucket on her knee puking into it!!

If she was ill she should just have cancelled!!

Lyra - chill, enjoy your clean house and resign yourself to the fact that this is how it is . And if I were you, I would NOT tell the agents not to bring people round if they don't want a downstairs bathroom: I have twice bought houses which had a factor which I had on my 'no' list - because I fell for other aspects, or I could see that there was a way of moving something around. They may walk in and decide that they love your house despite the downstaoirs bathroom that they always thought they didn't want. Or they might decide to buy it and then move all the wallls / rooms around. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Get a routine for clearing clutter: prioritise the front room and kitchen. I used to hurl al the baby paraphanalia into the car - high chair, etc - to make the kitchen look more spacious!

Good luck!

How can the EA be lying? To any great extent? Every aspect of houses is on the website, now - floor plan, multiple photos etc! People just go and view whatever is in their price rang, as a basis for comparison, and 'just in case'.

It is unreasonable to expect to sell a house without hassle, really.

And it's a buyers market.

Try to look at it from the buyer's perspective or get an honest friend to point out any shortcomings that you may have missed. Does the estate agent's presentation accurately represent your property? We have had a couple of viewings where we knew instantly that the property wasn't for us (dreadful traffic noise) and couldn't decide whether it was kinder not to view and be honest about why or whether to go thru the motions and then tell the estate agent why. Altho I'd prefer the former we did the latter because it seemed kinder when you knew how much effort people go to (we were selling at the time too). Another time we viewed and loved a house that was presented as 4 bed when it was 2 bed, 1 box and attic storage. We only realised on the way home that they'd probably removed most of their day-to-day possessions; it took time for the penny to drop because it had been done quite subtlely. We had to back answer in the cold light of day - am sure other people have done this as is still on the market. Think details are being sent out to the wrong people; no-one who wants a 4 bed is ever going to offer on this property are your viewers being targetted accurately?

I think they're just bringing round anyone. There don't seem to be too many buyers around atm.

Sympathies - it's not he most enjoyable thing to do.

When we sold ours 4 years ago we had 21 viewers in one weekend - luckily DW took the kids to her parents for the weekend and left me to it!! I had someone every half-hour without even a break for a sandwich, so I was quite glad when one lot were in and out quickly!

And some people were obviously just there for a nosey. It was the kind of house which appealed to the young couple/young family market, so one lot stood out a mile - 40somethings who didn't say anything, just LOOKED at lot. I'd put money on them being friends of the former owners who wanted to see what we'd done with it.

In the end we sold to two lovely girls who were... wait for it... the first of the 21 to see it!