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Original poster

Viewings-home owner or estate agent?

65 replies

Pastnowfuture · 03/02/2022 20:40

Looking for opinions on whether it's better to conduct our own viewings or whether we should let estate agent do it. My husband would like to let estate agent do it but I think buyers might be put off if they don't get a chance to speak with us? When I was buying I preferred to hear directly from the vendors about neighbours and why they were moving etc.

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 05/02/2022 05:30

I prefer an agent and actually cringe if the owner is home - even a tenant is awkward. You only have a short amount of time to assess the property and want to be able to have a good look in every room and articulate your thoughts honestly to the agent plus bring up any negatives that they may be able to respond to. So much easier if the owner isn’t in the way.

Heytheredemons · 05/02/2022 06:25

I've always found viewing with the vendor very intense and uncomfortable as they are too emotionally invested in the property. Much prefer viewing with the agent and treating it like a business transaction and being able to be a bit more open and critical.

Vasectomyreversalhopeful · 05/02/2022 07:13

Definitely agent. My heart drops when I see it is the vendor. I feel that I have to rush and be really positive and I don't feel able to ask any difficult questions.

FiveShelties · 05/02/2022 07:23

Agent every time, it is awful viewing with the owners. I have bought and sold around 10 times and always used an agent.

If you are listing with an agent let them earn their fee.

RandomQuest · 05/02/2022 07:39

Definitely agent. Sorry if this sounds blunt but I want to point out everything I hate whilst walking around and think about how I could change it. You can’t be honest with the vendor for fear of offending them.

BuffaloHigh · 05/02/2022 07:50

I didn’t even know viewing with the owner was a thing until I saw it on mumsnet. I’d find it really odd. I don’t want to have to be polite.

Onebabyandamadcat · 05/02/2022 08:17

Its so strange how different people's experiences are. I've bought and sold 5 times and always done my own viewings and so has every vendor for houses we were looking at. Most of them took the same approach as me though - gave the buyers a quick tour then told them to have a wander themselves and I'd be in the garden (or somewhere else when it's freezing) when they're ready to answer questions.

PrincessPaws · 05/02/2022 12:59

Agent for me, we were totally put off by the homeowner for one house we were seriously considering offering on - she kept banging on about how she had overpaid for her onward purchase because she loved it and had to have it, and as a result needed an offer of x (ie someone to overpay) on hers. She also told us how she had done the staircase (3 story townhouse) after putting her furniture in upstairs, so now it was too small and she'd probably have to take the windows out on moving day to get the furniture back out

I wasn't disappointed, at least we could make a decision in full view of the fact it would be a nightmare move. We decided not to offer and ended up with a much nicer place

ruthatkellerwilliams · 05/02/2022 13:12

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Londongent · 05/02/2022 13:23

Much prefer an agent, so that I can be brutally honest. If you insist on doing the viewings then as a PP said do a quick tour and leave them to wander around the house so they can ask questions later. As long owners don't follow you around then it's not a problem, otherwise I feel like I am invading someone's home and time

MrsFezziwig · 05/02/2022 13:27

@Heytheredemons

I've always found viewing with the vendor very intense and uncomfortable as they are too emotionally invested in the property. Much prefer viewing with the agent and treating it like a business transaction and being able to be a bit more open and critical.
I did the viewings for both the houses I have sold and am baffled by some of the experiences that people profess to have had. Not sure either why you would be “emotionally invested” in a house that you’ve chosen to leave!

I didn’t do any of the things that people are complaining about, didn’t follow people around but just showed them the layout and then left them to it, so they could discuss things freely and then come back to me with questions (which obviously I knew the answers to far better than the estate agents).

I had multiple offers on both houses so clearly I have hidden talents as an estate agent!

Conversely, when I looked round houses with viewings done by the agents they were pretty much useless.

JLQ1020 · 05/02/2022 13:29

I hated going to viewings with the owners. If we were discussing moving things to changing things you felt like you were insulting the owners. Also I feel you got a better poke around without the owners there.
I also felt more comfortable asking questions of the estate agent.

Fluffymule · 05/02/2022 13:40

I did mine when I sold last year as I was at home all day and could be more flexible than the agents who were mad busy.

However I hate viewing houses myself with the owner following behind, I agree it can be awkward and limiting.

So I welcomed the viewers, told them to take themselves around the house alone at their own pace and that I would be out sitting in the garden waiting when they had finished and would be happy to answer any questions they might have then.

It worked well (and luckily it was warm springtime for me sitting on the patio!), and I always offered them a chance to walk around alone again before they left.

goodnotbad · 05/02/2022 14:09

The owner was sitting in the kitchen of the house I am buying for most of the viewings I had on it - even though it was an agent taking me round.
In fact, this was the case on many of the properties I viewed.

I did feel very awkward and felt like I needed to whisper to the agent as I was worried about offending the owner with my plans of redecorating. Also, I think the kitchen was the worst place they could have been sitting as it meant I couldn't really look properly at it!

Anyway - it ultimately didn't put me off buying but if you are going to do the viewings yourself I would say give the prospective buyer a bit of space.

Good luck.

RhythmOfTheLight · 05/02/2022 15:05

I prefer to view with an agent (and also let the agent do viewings on my sale)

I don't want to get to know the vendor, I like to keep it strictly business. Plus, you 'see' more if you do it with an agent because you can be more nosy and say what you are thinking.

Rosebuud · 05/02/2022 15:08

Agent. It’s awful when the seller does it. You feel you need to be polite. You can’t say that kitchens shit and it’s in need of some work, how fixed are they on price, or it’s far too small, and the pics were decieving. You need to walk around saying how lovely. Like someone showing you pics of their favourite child 😂

Kite22 · 05/02/2022 16:48

Not sure either why you would be “emotionally invested” in a house that you’ve chosen to leave!

Really?

You can't see that the house you've grown up in, or the house your Mum died in, or the house you dc were born in, or the house you have lived in for 30 years and have memories of all the emotional events in that time would have an "emotional investment" for most people ???

lakeswimmer · 05/02/2022 17:45

There are some interesting views here. We're selling our house and have done 23 viewings in the last week. I'm working from home and did a lot of them in my lunchbreak. If I hadn't, I'd have had to go and sit in the car to get out of the agent's way. I've really enjoyed doing them and hope that both DH and I have been warm and welcoming. We're moving because we want an extra bedroom not because we don't like the house or the area and we've told people that.

The most frequent questions were related to parking arrangements, whether the neighbours were resident (we're in an area with a lot of holiday homes), whether the broadband is good enough to WFH, mobile phone reception, how the heating works and local walks - none of which could have been answered by the agents. They can discuss how awful the kitchen is and what else they want to change after they've left the house! It can't have been too off putting as we've had 11 offers.

We're going for a viewing on a house tomorrow which will be done by the owner and I'm not bothered. If DH don't like it much we'll say so after we've left.

partystress · 05/02/2022 18:02

Agent for sure, but get a friend to act as a mystery shopper and call to ask about it and report back. If they don’t sound enthusiastic on the phone, they’re not going to do a good show round.

Fairylightsongs · 05/02/2022 19:06

I've really enjoyed doing them and hope that both DH and I have been warm and welcoming

Yeah there it is, people want house viewings to be effectively cold, they want to view it, say what they need to say and leave. They aren’t looking for the owners to be enjoying it and being all warm and welcoming like it’s a social event. This is what makes people uncomfortable and like they can only say nice things.

Mosaic123 · 05/02/2022 21:47

Today I went with DS to see a small house. The owner and agent were present. We just praised everything highly and talked properly when we were outside. It would have been sightly easier without the owner.

languagelover96 · 06/02/2022 10:02

I prefer the owners but each to their own. I find it easy actually to start a conversation with someone about anything. If I was selling a property, I think I would want to do it myself and only rely on a estate agent if I need to.

MrsFezziwig · 06/02/2022 10:17

@Kite22

Not sure either why you would be “emotionally invested” in a house that you’ve chosen to leave!

Really?

You can't see that the house you've grown up in, or the house your Mum died in, or the house you dc were born in, or the house you have lived in for 30 years and have memories of all the emotional events in that time would have an "emotional investment" for most people ???

I lived in my house for nearly 30 years. But having decided to leave, I wasn’t so “emotionally invested” that I was sobbing over people viewing. Obviously if you can’t handle it you should let the agents do the viewings.
Trethew · 06/02/2022 10:42

When I sold last time the house was in a remote area and agents were reluctant to conduct viewings so I did it. My method was to walk them round the house fairly briskly saying I was giving them an idea of the layout, then told them to wander at will, open any doors they wanted etc and come and find me in the kitchen if there were any questions. Seemed to work fine for both parties.

SatinHeart · 06/02/2022 10:46

Estate Agent all the way. You can be more frank and ask useful questions if the owner isn't there.

We never met our vendor during the whole process of buying our house and I was perfectly happy with that. Keeps it strictly business.