Second viewing as standard

[Candyflossdog]

I completely get if you aren't sure on a property that you might want a second viewing, or if you are discussing something over the weekend and want another look. But I do hate over the years this idea that you have a second viewing as standard. I had someone see my house today, really liked it, told the estate agent on the way out they'd like to come back for a second look ... Well go and look now FFS.

If you want to see the area at a different time just do a drive by or walk around. But it's a pain in the arse to tidy, sort the baby and dog out, go out for an hour at a time that suits them because "when buying a property you have to see it twice"...no you don't. If you have another question then go and look.

If you think of something afterwards, fine. But otherwise you're just being a pain in my already sore tits.

I think it depends on the house our first home we only viewed once it was a cheap starter home. 2 up 2 down terrace nothing to see really. Our forever home we viewed 3 times as really wanted to be sure of our decision

YABU

Personally if that was your attitude to me, I wouldnt buy your house.
I couldnt be doing with all the probable hassle to come.

Houses can few different on second viewings.

The house we wanted, in my head, was a lot smaller than it culturally was, so the second viewing made the decision.

You are being so unreasonable I can’t find the words to express my dismay. I feel sorry for your buyers.

next place you buy, you only get to see it once, for like 11 mins, with an estate agent chattering in your ear.

Now you decide. Now! No second looks! Seem fair?

For me it’s a case of first seeing a bunch of properties that seem suitable based on online research / local knowledge or whatever, and then narrowing it down to a couple for a second viewing. So if I say to the agent I want a second look it’s because it’s made it onto the shortlist. I’ll probably want to see it at different time of the day / day of the week if I have concerns about light, noise, local activity.

As a vendor, I’d see a second viewing as a positive, and would worry that a buyer that’d only viewed once would end up e in flakey and pull out later on. And it’s just common sense to leave a little time between the two viewings to reflect, consider and compare rather than just have a longer first viewing, A vendor anti second viewings would, to me, look like they had something to hide

Of course you’d want a 2nd viewing. You are being very unreasonable

First viewing you look with your heart. Second with your head.

YABU and quite ridiculous

I went back for a second viewing and felt the bedroom floor give way underneath me where the board had rotted and I hadn’t stood first time around, so you’re being unreasonable!

YABU. So by your rules, someone can't have a 2nd viewing unless they have a very clear reason why! Are you ok OP? Had any drinks tonight? 😕

Ive said repeatedly I have no problem with second viewings if something occurs to people afterwards. What is pissing me off is when someone is stood at the property, with the estate agent, it has been presented for a viewing and is empty and says at that point they want to come back for another look. Why can't they just go back in then?!? It isn't going to change between today and next week.

If something occurs to them after, fine. But deciding then that they want to look at it again? Just go back in!!!

@Candyflossdog as most of us have said, it’s about letting things settle and looking with fresh eyes, not double checking if the boiler is in an inconvenient place or some other thing to quickly check by going back in.

I agree OP. I've never been back for a second viewing. If I like it and it ticks all the boxes then I buy it. Indecisiveness drives me mad. There are a lot of time wasters around.

I agree. You do your drive buy and research before you even view. This weeds out at least 60% You view and you either like it enough to offer or it's not for you. You have a second viewing after offer accepted and then all the other stuff (surveys etc).
If you don't know what you want enough to have to view 10 houses twice before offering on one then you need to sit down and make a list.

Yep that's me - on the offers I made this year - two were made on the first viewing. Properties that I needed a second viewing - there was a nagging doubt. On my Sale - I totally accept that people will want to come back. Which they did - to me that was a postive as they did and made an offer. Everyone is different.

Buying a house is a huge committee. It's always a good idea to go away, think about it and come back for a second look
I don't even like to buy furniture or kitchen appliances without having a second look?

When we were FTB, we had first viewings on about 10, second viewings on two, bought one of those. Didn’t need to do any drive bys as we were renting locally.

How were we “time wasters”?

Yeah, if someone is spending 100 of thousands of pounds on something, I reckon they’re entitled to another look round. And I say this as someone thoroughly sick of cleaning and tidying my house for viewings.

I had to come back for a third viewing! The brochure said 4 bed detached when in fact it was 5 bed!

My strategy when house-hunting last year was roughly as follows:
First viewing: get a feel for the place, check out whatever wasn't clear from the floor plan, ask any questions about immediately obvious issues.
If first impressions are favourable, go away, pore over the photographs, floor plan etc, think about how the space would work, where does the light come from, would my furniture work and so on; check out house price histories and planning history of that house and any neighbouring ones.
Second viewing: take DP along for a second pair of eyes and second opinion (I was buying solo but he is very practical), and to look more closely at any areas of concern or things I wasn't clear about.

With the place I ended up buying, I actually made an offer after the first viewing (it wasn't officially on the market yet), but still went back for a second viewing with DP the following week just in case there was anything I had missed that he would pick up on.

If you are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds, you want to spend more time than if you are picking a new sofa.

Most people would be happy that someone is interested enough to come back for a second viewing instead of being pissed off at them. It’s not just about if something occurs to you afterwards. The first viewing is about first impressions and seeing if you like it. The second viewing is to go back with a critical eye to see all the details you weren’t specifically looking for previously because you’re probably talking about spending hundreds of thousands of pounds so you’d be an idiot not to, even if you’ve already made the decision in your head to offer.

You need to see the property again after taking time to think it over and discuss it with friends. Sometimes you see it differently the second time. No need to do a big tidy for the second viewing if you can’t manage that.

What is pissing me off is when someone is stood at the property, with the estate agent, it has been presented for a viewing and is empty and says at that point they want to come back for another look. Why can't they just go back in then?!? It isn't going to change between today and next week

YABU. DH and I bought a house recently. We saw several on the same day and it as only the one we were very interested in that we wanted a 2nd viewing of. In our case, we returned with DH's cousin who is a builder and tape measures.

I couldn't just 'go back in' on my 1st viewing because A) cousin lives 2hrs away and B) I didn't think I'd be interested enough to carry around a tape measure around for each viewing!

Kindly OP, do you have any special needs that means that despite the multiple people explaining similar, you are still seeing this in such a black/white way???

Blimey!

I have bought 5 times now and always done a second viewing.

And declined to buy others that I had loved but spotted flaws in second time around.

You notice different things on a second viewing.

I have always been more than happy when people come back.

A bit of tidying is much less hassle, and usually cheaper, than anyone changing their mind later or waiting for a survey to reveal that damp patch…

YABVU.

Exactly! They may also want to bring a more experienced house buyer who has owned various houses eg parent to go with them for the second viewing. My son and DiL have bought two properties and both times they really liked the houses they asked me to go with them for the second viewing.