How often to view same house before buying?

[Knusperspatz]

Hi, this is my first post although I've been on here for a loooong time.

We are currently looking for a house to buy and everytime we have an appointment to view one, I feel very overwhelmed after we leave the house. You just can't take everything in in those few minutes you're there! I almost wish I could live in the house for a week before I decide if I want to buy it or not.

We have already viewed the house we currently like the most three times. How often do people usually view the same house again before making a final decision? How often is normal?

Me wanting to see the house again and again is probably a bad sign, isn't it? I just can't figure out if this is my dream home or not. I'm always scared I might see something more beautiful after I've made a decision and then regret buying. Such a difficult decision to make...

Most people once or twice. Maybe once you have looked at more you will have more of a feel for what you want? I think that if you dont go away feeling pretty convinced about the house then it probably isnt the right one.

Probably 2 - 3 times, but I also sat outside the house I eventually bought a couple fo times for a while (just out of view so didnt look too stalkerish) to get idea of neighourhood and traffic etc.

You get floor plans and lots of pics these days so can you spend some time studying them ??

I think most people would know within two visits if it was for them. When we saw our house we both knew we wanted it even before we saw the whole house and garden. The atmosphere and light were just so right and we knew we would be comfortable there.

If you're seeing it for a third time I think there most be something niggling you or that you're just not into the place.

Do you have a checklist of things you must have or mustn't have in your dream home? That might stop you feeling so overwhelmed as then you can check rationally how this house shapes up and evaluate houses against each other. That said, we had a checklist for our house and it didn't have everything - but we still fell in love.

Once, but we'd been looking at houses for two years so we had a very clear idea of what we were looking for. We also had a baby and toddler in tow, and the area we wanted to buy in was an hour and a half drive away, so viewings were pretty focussed.

I always get 'the feeling' when I walk into the house I'm going to buy. So for me probably once but then usually a second viewing to see it again, and double check anything I missed first time.

I find second viewings probably more useful for a process of elimination or those houses that tick all the boxes but I just don't get the feeling but need to be totally sure they're not the one.

I agree with others that if you're having several viewings and still aren't sure then it probably isn't right. Good luck.

3 for me:

Viewing 1: Heart
Viewing 2: Head
Viewing 3 (once we've agreed on the same page in terms of price): test everything works as expected - electrics, heating etc

Once on my own
With dh plus dc
With a builder
With dh and dc again

so four viewings before we put offer in

Been here nearly 2 yrs now.

Are you like this about most big purchases? If so, take as long as you need to feel right about it. If you are normally able to make your mind up quickly, then I think you maybe just don't like it enough.

definitely twice, maybe three times. We saw a house on Saturday, first viewing with a (very naughty) 4 year old in tow, so pretty frenetic, but I think we could have made an offer there and then. Our hesitation (and having a second viewing later this week) isn't actually about the house, which we got that 'feeling' about, but more a delaying tactic while we decide whether the area is right for us (it's very very rural!!).

With every house we've bought we have viewed more than once. With the house we're in at the moment we visited around 10 times before we exchanged as we had to be convinced that this was the building project for us!

Have just accepted an offer on our previous house and the buyers have viewed twice plus been back 5 times since we accepted their offer. They seem to be having it measured for blind/carpets in our time rather than in theirs which is getting a bit annoying but it's a buyers market and they know it so we put up with it

It's funny how people are expected to be able to make a decion about something costing hundreds of thousands of pounds in probably less time than they might spend trying on pairs of shoes.

But that's just how it goes. I would guess that most people view a house twice before putting in an offer - anything more than three just seems excessive. Perhaps you could just try to spend a bit more time at each viewing so you don't feel so rushed?

We viewed our house a total of about 6 times and it started to piss the vendors off. The first time we dismissed the house and then realised that we couldn't get anything better so we went back for a second viewing. Then dh went a few times with his boss and plumber etc to see if our plans for the house were feasible. Dh also wanted a look in the loft to see if there was potential for conversion, the vendors really grumbled about that.

We viewed this house twice (with a year's gap in between - the vendors were just about to take it off the market ).

I think the trouble is that it is very unlikely that one property will 'tick every box', it's not our 'dream' house but it is perfectly good for what we are looking for at the moment ie: easy to manage, near to a good school, own drive (after years of sharing a drive, never again , well within budget and smallish garden - we would love an older, character property but being realistic that would involve a lot of work & we hate diy; we have also never, ever found a house which has the sun in the garden in the afternoon/evening - that is what we would love .

You have to decide what you are willing to compromise on.