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Original poster

Who best to conduct viewings - estate agent or us?

29 replies

CutesyUserName · 21/03/2023 04:23

Going on the market this week and we're not sure whether it would be best for the estate agent to show prospective buyers the house or if it should be us.

We would rather the estate agent do viewings, but, the house is very old and without anything like it locally (the 3 valuations we had to price the house for market had £125,000 between them! - we went for the middle price), and we're not sure if given all that, an estate agent with little knowledge of the house would be best to make a first impression on a prospective buyer.

When you're viewing a house that's different with a lot of history, what would be your preference?

OP posts:
Thisisthedawningoftheageofaquarius · 21/03/2023 04:26

Estate agent - and that’s what you’re paying them for!
would be weird with owner imho
best of luck with sale!

Merrow · 21/03/2023 05:08

Definitely estate agent. Brief them to say you're open to answering any questions? What's your concern that they won't be able to address?

FiveShelties · 21/03/2023 05:10

Always use the Estate Agent, otherwise why bother having one. I hate looking around houses with the owner present.

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 21/03/2023 06:18

Estate agent. The prospective buyers will be more honest with them if they don't like the house rather than giving some bullshit story about funds or distance to school etc. then you know to discount them straight away.

Reallybadidea · 21/03/2023 06:25

Estate agent definitely, it's really annoying having the owner show you round.

But we wrote a sort of crib sheet for our agent which they could refer to if necessary. I really hate going to viewings and asking pretty straightforward questions and the agent not knowing the answer and saying "I'll find out and get back to you".

snowysnowglobe · 21/03/2023 06:56

Estate agent. I hate viewing houses with the owner present.

CatOnTheChair · 21/03/2023 07:09

Interesting previous answers.
NOONE round here has estate agent viewings. They are all done by the owners.
So, I'd say what is typical for your area? And go with the majority.

Recoba · 21/03/2023 07:13

Personally I much prefer looking round houses with owners rather than estate agents - having looked round quite a few houses in the last 6 months the estate agents are usually a combination of clueless, untruthful, and incompetent. The owners give you a much better sense of the house, how it's worked for them raising a family (we bring our toddler along to viewings) with school runs, access to local walks and amenities, and sometimes which bits of the house they find annoying or difficult.

If it's an unusual house, as most of the ones we've looked at are, the estate agents will be even more useless. I'd go with with somewhere like Inigo (online house selling for old properties), and do your own viewings.

UsingChangeofName · 21/03/2023 07:20

If selling, I'd get the EA to do it.

As a buyer, I find it much easier to get (potentially uncomfortable) information out of the owner. The EA usually say they don't know / could ask later for you, but owners tend to be much more open about information that might be useful for you to know.

Move22 · 21/03/2023 07:26

First viewing with estate agent.
second viewing ( if there is one?) with the owner.

TinaYouFatLard · 21/03/2023 07:29

I hate being shown around by the owner. It’s impossible to be honest and I feel like I don’t really feel like I take it in fully because I’m too distracted by feeling like I have to behave in a certain way!

EA for certain.

CellophaneFlower · 21/03/2023 07:31

I prefer owners that show you round briefly, let you have a wander, then make it clear they're available for a chat after for any questions. Preferably just 1/2 owners though, not the whole family. 1 awkward viewing I had was an agent, the elderly vendors, family, and the lady vendor was getting her hair cut 🙈 Another was agent, vendor was sat watching tv and practically ignored us and there was a bedroom full of giggly teenage girls. We did buy that house, but only as it was perfect for us!

It's really uncomfortable to view when the house is full and people are getting on with their normal lives. Feels really intrusive.

seaduck · 21/03/2023 07:34

It's the done thing around here to have the owners do it. I actually prefer it, agents never know any answers to things, or the history. You find out much more from owners. Having said that, when we were selling I showed them around but then made a point of letting them have a look around alone (obviously hid any valuables!) and sitting in the garden so they could discuss more openly.

Original poster
CutesyUserName · 21/03/2023 10:16

I think your responses are pretty much as we'd thought - most prefer estate agent viewings and a few prefer owners. When viewing a house I like it when owners show because they know the answers to questions about their house, but I also like it when estate agents show because you don't have to be mindful of house owners feelings.

Our agent has suggested initial viewing with them only, and second viewing (fingers crossed!!) with us, which I think is the route we'll go down.

There will be questions the agent won't immediately know the answer to in our case, but anyone that is genuinely interested won't be put off by that.

OP posts:
MrsSkylerWhite · 21/03/2023 10:17

Agent every time. Being hovered over by the owner is awful.

TeaChocKitKat · 21/03/2023 10:27

Estate agent for me! I've always felt uncomfortable when the vendor has done the viewings or been around for them. I had one viewing where the the vendor tagged along and then insisted that I answered a feedback questionnaire before I left!

MrFirstTimeBuyer · 23/03/2023 00:19

We viewed maybe 15-20 properties. Might just be a coincidence, but the one we ended up buying was the only one where the owner showed us around.

From my perspective it was more helpful (owners had all the answers and are less likely to outright lie while agents are generally useless/untrustworthy), and it allowed me to make a judgement on them personally (I felt they were fair and trustworthy), so I stuck around even when the chain fell apart several times (not due to their fault). If I didn't have the confidence in them, there's a very good chance that I would pull the plug.

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 23/03/2023 01:19

Never with the owner, always withba real estate agent.

Tockomtele · 23/03/2023 02:20

Estate agents don't know half the good points about a house that you do.
I've never felt the need to express my views on someone's house to an agent, I point out the good things and then discuss at home and get back to then.

Twiglets1 · 23/03/2023 06:39

I always prefer viewings to be done via the estate agent. More professional & you can be more honest about your reactions which is then good feedback to the owners

PleaseJustText · 23/03/2023 08:06

This is an interesting divide. We've always had the agent show people around and we leave the house 10 minutes before the viewing.

CellophaneFlower · 23/03/2023 09:42

It makes a big difference how you are if you conduct the viewing yourself. If you're too eager, it's really off putting. You can totally sell your house to someone without coming across as desperate, but there's a fine line!

If I were to sell my current house I'd 100% do the viewings myself, as there are real selling points that I know agents would miss, as I didn't find them myself until I'd lived here for a while.

BarrelOfOtters · 23/03/2023 11:25

We viewed our old unusual historical house with the Estate Agent. Which I much prefer.

We sent a couple of questions post viewing, via the Estate Agent, but they were very practical ones. Fundamentally you view a house as is and I'm not sure how much I'd need to know from the owners. They left a newspaper clipping when we moved in that gave the history of the house and really detailed note about some of the stranger workings of it that was incredibly helpful.

BarrelOfOtters · 23/03/2023 11:26

Also when you sell you can tell the estate agents the good points to emphasise - you don't need to do it yourself.

Snugglemonkey · 23/03/2023 12:32

Interesting. We just sold ours and showed it ourselves. Largely because we preferred that when we were viewing. We showed them around then invited them to have a wander themselves.

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