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Original poster

Owners being present during a viewing

37 replies

lboogy · 25/03/2019 11:48

General question - for those of you who stay in the house when there's a viewing , why do you do it?

I always leave the house when there's a viewing . I find it awkward personally. I'm selling myself and I always leave for viewings. If I see the owner is in the house it stops me from lingering and looking around properly

I also hate when the owner tries to sell me the house too

OP posts:
wigglypiggly · 25/03/2019 11:56

I stay because it's my home, I don't feel obliged to leave or feel awkward. The buyer might ask questions that the agents cant answer so it saves them having to call me. You can ask the buyer about the area, neighbours, noise and stuff like that especially if you dont know the area very well. I'd rather sell direct to someone and save myself thousands in e.a. fees who sometimes don't really do very much.

Original poster
lboogy · 25/03/2019 12:01

@wigglypiggly so why bother with an agent at all? Why not do it through an online estate agent ?
If I have questions I email the agent, I might not have all the questions I need to ask in my head on the day. I'm also less likely to give any feedback that day because doing so would be rude directly to the owner

It does amaze me the pride some owners have in their houses when there's a lot of work needing to be done (not saying that applies to you )

OP posts:
WinterHeatWave · 25/03/2019 12:04

Because it opens up the possible viewing times beyond office hours.

AnemoneAnenome · 25/03/2019 12:05

From previous threads, there's a bit of a north-south divide about agents vs owners doing the bulk of the viewings.

Not everyone has the ability and inclination to go out for every viewing. We've done viewings while resident kids were in their PJs. We did drag our children out of the house when we were selling, but they were little enough to stick in the buggy and we were only on the market 2 weeks. Friends were on the market a year - I think they gave up putting themselves out too much in the end, just to keep their sanity. People with older children may not want to drag them away from homework. Lots of reasons.

Lweji · 25/03/2019 12:10

I think it's useful if the owner is in.
Much better to have any questions answered immediately.

The estate agent is there to get buyers, even people who weren't necessarily going to look at your house. Plus they do the actual selling of the house and they evaluate potential buyers better than us.

Original poster
lboogy · 25/03/2019 12:12

I totally get the kids part as I don't go out to viewings before 12pm and I tend to do them on a Saturday when DH can be around too
But lots of the time the owners kids clearly have left the home

OP posts:
Ragwort · 25/03/2019 12:13

I much prefer to meet the owner & have a chat, and I am very happy to meet any potential buyer and have a chat, didn’t realise it was such an ‘issue’ for some people. Obviously if people want to look round without me being there I would go out, but can’t say it’s ever been a problem. Confused.

alonerinlona · 25/03/2019 12:14

I go out because I have a barky dog who doesn't like strangers lol.

If not I would probably find a quiet corner and sit in it and not get involved

dizzydaisies · 25/03/2019 12:16

Not always convenient to go out! If I did stay there though, I wouldn't follow them around as they did the viewing, but just stay out of the way.

TeaStory · 25/03/2019 12:17

I stayed because I was way too uncomfortable having strangers in my home when I’m not there, plus I had a very sensitive pet I needed to ensure wasn’t bothered (it’s amazing how many people would let their kids poke him).

ShannonRockallMalin · 25/03/2019 12:19

When we viewed our current house a few years ago the whole family was there. The wife showed us round and the husband and son sat in the living room watching tv. Their two huge dogs has been confined to the garden so we couldn’t go out there! Very uncomfortable. We knew we really wanted the house and wanted a second viewing but they wouldn’t let the agent do the viewings and made constant excuses as to why it wasn’t convenient for us to come again. Good job we were so keen on the house or it would have put me off.

wishingyouluck · 25/03/2019 12:30

We are on the market now too and I definitely want to be out, and they have said it's best to be too. It is a bit of a pain with a toddler though. The house we are interested in, they refuse to be out and we have seen it twice now with owners following us around the house - it is quite off putting. Sometimes you want to be able to discuss the good and bad bits for your family, and things you would change without potentially offending somebody.

curlyrebel · 25/03/2019 12:45

I viewed a lot of houses last year and preferred it when the owners weren't at home (unless they didn't have an agent showing us around). It felt easier to view the house properly, open cupboards etc without feeling intrusive.

However when we came to put our house on the market my DH refused to trust the agency with our house keys. It was actually really annoying and inconvenient because often it was me who had to stay at home with our toddler and open the door to viewers.

Some viewers didn't seem to mind and asked me questions. But I did feel that others felt like they were intruding. It's possible it put some off looking around properly. Saying that, i had a better idea of who was really interested than relying on feedback from the agent and I even corrected the agent a couple of times when they gave wrong information. One said the road was permit parking when it isn't!

TellerTuesday4EVA · 25/03/2019 12:55

Agree with Anemone regarding the north / south thing. I live up north & it's very very unusual to have a viewing with an agent & not the homeowner.

KitKat1985 · 25/03/2019 12:59

I agree OP. I've been shown around by owners before and it made me uncomfortable because the owners were desperate to sell but the house wasn't really for us once we viewed, but they followed us around the house the whole time trying to gauge our reaction and kept showing us more and more things and it was just awkward trying to hit the balance between wanting to be polite about their home, and not wanting to be so keen that we gave them false hope that we were going to buy it.

DontCallMeShitley · 25/03/2019 13:01

I have always been at home for viewings because I am always at home, and if I am working I just carry on. I have always had accompanied viewings, except for second and third ones so let the agent get on with it.

It is useful to be there to stop viewers unruly children from trashing my belongings, one toddler went straight for my laptop and started bashing on it, another uncontrolled child ripped something off the wall and broke it while the father looked on so ideally viewings would be done without small children.

When selling the family home I left keys with the agent and went back one day to pick the apples from the garden, found the entire tree devoid of fruit.

funmummy48 · 25/03/2019 13:09

There's nothing worse than looking around a house without the freedom to say "well, those tiles would have to go, they're vile" or "why on earth did they do that". If it's going to be your potential new home, you need to be able to discuss your likes/dislikes and potential changes freely.

jackparlabane · 25/03/2019 13:17

It means viewers can come see the place any time you are in rather than having to take time off to come with an agent. Our viewers all came in evenings after work. Most places we looked at had owners there, though if the agent showed us round, they tried to stay out of the way until we had questions.

sugarbum · 25/03/2019 13:22

In my case, I stayed in my home, because we did a part exchange, so there were umpteen estate agents wanting to make appointments, none of them hired by us, so they were not getting a key to my property.
I stayed out of the rooms they were viewing so they could comment without my presence. I also found that everyone who viewed had questions to ask, which none of the estate agents could answer.

ginghamstarfish · 25/03/2019 13:27

Where I live it's not usual for agents to do the viewings unless the house is empty. They charge extra for it.

Lauren83 · 25/03/2019 13:31

I don't mind the owners being in I find it quite useful although I viewed a house a while back at an agreed time and there were 6 of them sat down for tea when we arrived watching TV, one of them left the table to show us round and there was scum in the bath, worn underwear in the bathroom and McDonads wrappers on the bedroom floor. People are strange

Bluntness100 · 25/03/2019 13:36

I dislike it when the owners are there, I always feel I have to walk about saying it's lovely. With an agent I can be more honest during the viewing.

I like them to be there for the second viewing though, as then they can answer any questions etc and if feels more personal.

But first viewing I find it awkward.

mastertomsmum · 25/03/2019 13:58

I think it's fairly common to be there when there is a viewing. Unless it's a time when you are out at work. I certainly wouldn't leave the house just because someone was coming to view.

Many years ago we sacked an agent because they failed to lock the door to our flat after a viewing.

Mildura · 25/03/2019 14:08

Estate agent here.

Much more preferable when the owner is not present, viewers tend to speak more candidly, and it's far easier to get a true indication of the interest (or not, as the case may be) if the viewer is not just being polite because the owner is within earshot.

More of an argument for being present during a second viewing.

Redglitter · 25/03/2019 14:12

I've never known an agent do a viewing when an owner is there. If the owners around they do it if not the agent does. I've never known anyone leave their house because they had a viewer coming

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