Feedback on house viewings

[nightfeedtime]

My house has been on the market for two weeks and we so far have had 6 viewings.

Two separate people provided feedback that the house needs an extension. I find this one very tricky to understand because our floor plan and room dimensions are on the sale advert, so it's clear what the room sizes are. In my road, a handful of houses have had a downstairs extension, most have not, so it is a possibility.

I was asked by another viewer why I hadn't extended. Our house has always suited our needs but we're relocating and had always intended to in the future (we've lived here for 8 years). I didn't wish to disclose this to the viewer either but we inherited money from the death of a relative recently, making our move possible. An extension was never something we could have afforded on our salaries before.

Another viewer(family of 3) said they were looking to spend £500k on a property - mine is up for £400k - so was too small for them. I find it difficult again as to why they viewed when floor plan and room sizes are on Rightmove. FWIW, I live in a fairly desirable town in Essex and £400k doesn't get you a sprawling house and neither does £500k.

Very difficult when the feedback isn't really things we can act upon!

Cheapest house and four of the 6 viewers basically said too small. Which means it’s too highly priced for the size, or you’ve made the cardinal error of making it look bigger in pictures to get folks through the door and then they are Immediately disappointed when they see it and realise. which never results in a sale.

i viewed a couple,of houses where the owners did this. It’s such a stupid thing to do. As there is no way they will come in and be pleasantly surprised. I learned to look at Floor plans very quickly and try to visualise it.

the one we bought had a video of it, and I recall saying to my husband, at least we know they aren’t lying about rhe size with a video.

It’s often so hard to tell until you walk into a house. When we were looking, my favourite on paper turned out to feel way smaller than we thought and we fell in love with and bought what had been our least favourite based on the listing.

Yes the comments re the extension are really about price. Estate agent pics are all wide angled and it’s hard to tell the size from the photos. Yes they have dimensions but most people do not get their tape measure out before viewing a house. And some people might be willing to compromise on size etc if they love the “feel” of a house so it’s worth a look even if not exactly what they want on paper.

I just viewed a house that I knew didn’t exactly fit my requirements, but I might have sacrificed them if I’d loved it. When I saw it I realised I didn’t love it enough to go through the hassle of doing the work to it, so wasn’t keen enough to make a lowball offer, but if it had been priced lower to start with I might have felt differently about that.

Oh and the estate agent selling that house arrived 15 mins late for the viewing, didn’t apologise. And when I commented that the rooms looked smaller than the pics he said quite rudely “well all the dimensions are on the listing”. He was basically a dick and it really put me off, so you might want to check your agents are doing their job properly.

Just put vinyl over the top.

EAs are obsessed with giving negative feedback from every viewer who looks round, it is so demoralising. I just tell them the only feedback I want is an offer, and to focus on doing their job and finding me a buyer rather than grooming me for a price reduction.

When we moved into our current house nearly 10 years ago we saw a house that was next door to one we were due to see and the EA said could we see this one too.

It was big enough but rather over priced. They were very keen on feedback. The older couple who lived there who scuttled out of the house when we arrived had clearly done their own valuation and were 'holding' out for that price as they knew best.

The feedback I gave was that it was dated. Typical older person's house with frills everywhere which of course can be changed. The thing I gave most of the feedback on is that it didnt smell very nice. They didnt have pets but there was a definite stale smell that probably they had got used to. It was also cluttered and whilst that can all be removed it looked like things had been left for years so goodness knows what the clutter was hiding.

I think some people can’t judge dimensions from floor plans and the pictures make even the tiniest room look huge. Plus they’ll say that a house has three double bedrooms when you can just about squeeze a double bed in with no space for wardrobes.

i remember viewing a house on an open day and hearing another family saying they wouldn’t buy it because there was no room for the grand piano. I wasn’t sure if it was just a stealth boast, but thought it was obvious from the plan that there would be no room for one.

Estate agents will call around to everyone on their books to persuade them to have a look. You’ll always get people who from the outset don’t think the house will be right for them but are prepared to change their mind.

I sold a townhouse with a carport and got feedback that it didn’t have a garage even though that was very clear in the listing! I do agree with others that people just say something instead of we just didn’t love it.

It’s tricky leaving feedback and sometimes I’ve left feedback about stuff vendors can’t change but ultimately vendors can always change the price so if enough people are feeding back on particular issues then it stands to reason the only incentive for people to overlook the issue is if the house is cheaper.

Because they measure success in terms of viewings, because Sellers are invested in viewings as a measure of success towards a sale. Complete bollocks though. Success is measured in terms of Sale/No Sale, with offers received as an intermediate measure of success. One good viewing that leads to a sale is worth more than a hundred tyre-kickers.

I wouldn't worry too much. We were knocked down from £340k to £320k, apparently our gas fire was too old fashioned.
10 years later it sold for £420k, all the same carpets, curtains etc including the 'old' gas fire.

10 years later
😂

Op, is it a bricks and mortar agent?

I think some of them don’t give honest feedback and don’t want to say they have none. I say that as I am usually very honest with agents, but not with owners, so I will say to the agent, it’s dated, shabby, filthy, tiny, over priced, whatever and I am fairly sure that although the agents hear it multiple times they don’t tell the client if they think they will take offence. Or they tell them but use very different words to soften it, which can leave the client unsure.

no one is honest with the owner though. No one. If an owner shows me round, I will say something nice that they can’t change, oh it’s lovely but just the garden is north facing . And say the same shite to the agent. If the agent shows me round, I will say it straight.

some folks don’t want to hear it and take extreme offence. Which is understandable, but personally I’d rather know. Your feedback clearly indicates they all think it’s much smaller than they expected. Or that it’s crammed and it looks like you’re struggling to fit.

there was a famous thread on here where a lady asked why her house hadn’t sold. She had priced it way more than her neighbours recent sale.

her neighbours house was fully renovated, extended and beautifully/tastefully done. Her house hadn’t been touched from the seventies. Pristine but incredibly dated. But she couldn’t see it and felt strongly her house was much better than the neighbours so should be more expensive.

someone else took offence as a viewer had said the windows needed replacing, the owner felt it incredibly rude to say such a thing about their home.

it’s really why agents should handle viewings. Not the owners. They can get a much better feel for what’s going on, can advise on price movements based on it, and can couch it in a way rhe owner will accept.

Omg I love that look my friend has her bathroom and kitchen worktops done. It's easy to cover over if it's not for you

I wouldn't worry - we're currently viewing houses to buy and the agents always pester for feedback. It's so hard because my feedback isn't things that can be changed (road noise, surrounding houses, etc) so I never know what to say. It's hard to get a feel for space until you visit. If asked about why you didn't extend, just say the house size suited you - you don't need to say anything else

Maybe I'm in the minority then! For every house I've viewed I always get the tape measure out to see whether it's worth my while going 😂.

A few years ago, when selling a semi-detached in an inner city area, we had constant feedback that the garden was too close to the neighbour 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I mean… yes of course it’s right next to it! We did sell it though, just took a few weeks. Hang in there OP!

Sometimes (usually) estate agents photos make rooms.look bigger than they are. Even with dimensions given I find it hard to visualise somewhere without seeing it.
It's possible to know that somewhere may be small but think it could be ok but change your mind when you see it.

I am entirely unable to visualise a room
fRom a plan.