What do you normally do when viewing houses for sale?

[7in1Pond]

Viewing houses is such a funny thing- it's something you never see anyone else do so you don't know whether the things you do are the same as other people.

I usually take a tape measure with me and an EA the other day seemed completely baffled by it.

What do you do? Do you open up fitted cupboards and have a look at things? Flush the loo and run taps? Or do you just stand in the middle of the room and gaze around? Each room once or multiple times? I would love to know.

Why on earth would you be annoyed?! They're going to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds. If I like what I'm seeing on the viewing I run every tap and flush every loo, otherwise how would you know if there were issues? I look in all built-in cupboards including kitchen otherwise how do you know about storage.

Surely you expect that on a viewing so would tidy them up beforehand.

Presumably you're not there at the viewings so you wouldn't even know what people had done or looked inside.

kitchen cupboards are more or less the same size, so if I looked into them it would be to see what condition they were in not the size!

While I wouldn't be 'annoyed' per se, I don't get the 'how would you know about storage?' argument. They aren't Narnia! You can tell how much storage you have from...looking at the outside.

For something like the space in the bedroom/bathroom than houses/used to house the boiler - yes, fine, that could be quite a substantial storage area where it's not always easy to tell the size. But for something like a kitchen cupboard the space is pretty obvious, they can hardly go back further than the unit, can they. Has anyone really changed their mind about buying a house because the depth of a kitchen cabinet was half an inch smaller than they expected?

Cupboards, especially kitchen cupboards, can be a magnet for mould due to lack of air flow and damp. Why wouldn't you check for that??

Depends on the state of the property. We’ve viewed loads of houses in the past year or so.
In the more modern ones I don’t bother running taps or checking in storage cupboards.
In the houses that need a bit of work doing then I sometimes check those things. One house had kitchen cupboard doors that looked fine, but dated, but inside some of the shelves were missing or they were just so dirty. So then you know that if you moved in you would have a lot of cleaning to do / not as much usable storage space as it appears.
I also check the views from the windows, mostly checking how overlooked the house is.

I’d bring a tape measure if doing a second viewing and wanted to get an idea of how our furniture would fit.

Obviously have a good luck around to see if space could work for us. We always look in roof space and signs of cracking on outside walls.

My husband is a builder and acts as if he’s snagging the houses we viewed when looking to move. I also check WiFi speed. Also drove by at different times of the day to see what parking was like.

I really don’t understand why people bother with the running taps, checking condition of cupboards etc. if you like the house, all that is fixable. There really aren’t enough options in most places to be that fussy. Also the measuring - it’s in the plans, you already know. We’re about to put ours in the market for the first time in 20 years. I really hope no one is opening my (stuffed to the brim) cupboards.

Check for signs of ghost activity.

Also the measuring - it’s in the plans, you already know

I don't think people are talking about measuring the size of the rooms but more detailed measurements like window heights etc to check whether you can use a room as you wish. I've definitely done that when assessing small bedrooms- two rooms can have the same dimensions but fit very different stuff depending on where the door, window, fireplace etc are.

It's kind of mad that viewings are so brief, when you are spending so much money. Really, I like at least two or three and to sit down with a cup of tea with the vendors. This is what we've always offered our buyers, with great results.

Ours is being listed on Tuesday. Happy to let potential buyers do whatever they want if it makes them feel comfortable enough to make an offer.

We viewed our, fingers crossed, new house on Saturday. It was empty but we didn’t actually do much cupboard opening and I forgot to bring the tape measure. We spent most of our time excitedly deciding where our furniture will go 😆

It mattered more to me that it felt right. The house is bright and airy, well situated and structurally sound. All the cosmetic stuff we can fix later.

Absolutely I flush the loo and run the shower. Shit water pressure- no second viewing. I’ve just put a proper pressurised system in my house and it’s both life-changing and relatively spendy.

It’s fixable but it tells you how much to offer since you have to factor in the cost of fixing it. Wouldn’t you rather someone look in the cupboards and make a realistic offer the first time, instead of having to drop it after the survey based on things they could have identified themselves?

I would never buy a property without a second viewing

Going out in the garden is another one, to check how overlooked you feel but also to get a sense lf noise.

We eliminated a house from our options based on how loud it was out in the garden, being close to the motorway.

If rooms are cluttered look up at the ceiling to get an idea of the floor space. You'll be able to check for damp stains, cracks etc at the same time.

Mostly get a general feel of a place on a first viewing, ignore the owners decor, fittings and furniture, look at internal and external space, location, proximity of neighbours, dryness/ damp smell, views out the window etc.

Are you looking for turnkey or do-up? Priorities will be different for each.

My cleaners yesterday washed out all my kitchen cupboards and the fridges. My oven sparkles and the water system has been updated. No interest so I'm having a staging person. I've never in my 17 house purchases looked at anyone's furniture but apparently people do. Curtains I understand but not liking a house due to someone's sofa, bed etc is just nuts!
My husband trys taps and definitely moans if he can't see a garage.

We bought this year. It was empty when I first viewed so just looking round but no worries about invading anyone’s privacy. Toddler DS looked in all the low level kitchen cupboards (🫣) I just looked in the boiler cupboard to see if it had any storage space. Second viewing with DH we noted the location of plug sockets and he’s always interested in where the internet connection comes in. Asked more in depth questions about service charges etc. We asked for a 3rd viewing when we were serious about putting an offer in and measured a few smaller alcoves, distance between windows and from where the door opened to the opposite wall (so actual usable space rather than the measurement on the floor plan). Thought about where we could place furniture and the potential for changes. We would have tried the taps for water pressure but the water was off so we just had to hope (it’s not great but liveable). DH chatted to some neighbours that happened to be passing by. We put our offer in a couple of hours after that 3rd viewing.

I didn’t mind potential buyers looking in our built in wardrobes and kitchen cupboards, they need to know what the potential storage is without them having to worry about ripping out and replacing right away.

To add, our survey flagged that two windows needing replacing and it needs repointing, had a rough quote for just less than £10k and happily the vendor agreed to reduce by that amount. There is a stonemasons just down the lane (we actually share a boundary wall with him) so we’re hoping we might get a better quote for the pointing from him when we get to it!

It's funny that so many people don't like people checking the quality of the product they are buying. Something to hide perhaps?

So, also check that all the windows open and shut and have locks that operate.

We bought our house without a second viewing. We'd travelled 70 miles to view it during the week and there were multiple viewings booked over the weekend. It ticked most of our boxes and all the important ones so we offered asking price and the viewings were cancelled. That was 3 years ago and no regrets - it's as near a perfect house for as as it could be.

Honestly, when you think about how much money it is, it's mad how little time we spend. I've definitely spent longer trying on a new dress than I have viewing a house 😂

I know, it's crazy!

Our last-but-one house we drove 3.5 hours to get there and told the EA who was marketing the - empty - house we were coming a long way so hoped to have a decent amount of viewing time. When we arrived we were rushed around the 2000 sq ft house before being encouraged to head into the large garden. We clearly said in front of the EA that we'd be going back into the house for a second look around after exploring the garden. As it happened the lovely, mature garden had been allowed to go wild so parts were inaccessible, meaning we were back at the house quicker than expected...but she'd locked up and hustled us out the door because she had another appointment 🙄We were there less than 20 minutes.

When we booked our second viewing we stressed that we needed an hour at the house as there was lots (a cellar, garage and three attic spaces) we'd not had time to look at on the first viewing. That time they actually gave us the keys and didn't even accompany us to the house.

No to all your suggestions, they're bonkers for a first viewing.

Just look at the area, each room and the garden.