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What makes buyers book a house viewing?

120 replies

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 08:24

We're looking to put our property on the market and had some estate agents round to do valuations (or appraisals apparently). (FWIW it's a 3 bed semi in a rural location in very good renovated order) There is a difference in fees charged and also in what is offered in their marketing package. Some do videos, some photos only, maybe premium listings, or social media postings.

So if you were looking for a new home what makes you go to view a place and how have you found out about it?

OP posts:
Tortephant · 28/07/2026 09:58

The agent, a proper floor plan, photos and location.

if no floor plan I don’t waste my time as I don’t consider the agent or seller to be serious.

bad photos show a lack of care on the agents part so I have little confidence in them handling any negotiations or sale.

experience with the agent, there are some I simply won’t deal with.

I will do a drive past or at minimum a google street and ariel view too. You can’t influence that part!

Chalotte · 28/07/2026 10:07

Good photos are essential and many agents take poor ones. I would look at recent listings by local agents and choose one with good photos.

SaltedCaramelBlondie · 28/07/2026 10:07

I've never heard of charging for photos before, that should be part of the package as surely the agents can't market your property without photos?

When we moved a couple of years ago I navigated listings in this order:
Check for the specific features we wanted - garden, off street parking.
Floorplan.
(Good) photos of every room.
A quick skim of the blurb to make sure there wasn't anything unusual e.g. restrictive covenants, r.o.w.

I didn't read any of the room descriptions. Not interested in videos. If it had the basics we wanted and looked ok from the photos we'd book a viewing to see for ourselves.

Ireolu · 28/07/2026 10:13

Price, location, size (floor plan)

I don't read the blurb. I don't watch the videos. I look at the pictures for general condition of the house but don't care re decor.

LibertyLily · 28/07/2026 10:47

Floor plan with room sizes on and good (not wide angle) photos are the most important imo, followed by a description that isn't too long or wordy but refers to any important features, ie, original fireplaces etc.

When we were looking to buy a rural property (in Wales, moving from England) in 2018, we would have appreciated a video and drone shots showing the land that came with the property. This was something our EA provided as standard for the village house we were selling, but no-one in Wales was offering this then. In fact, some EAs didn't even have a floor plan.

By the time we were selling the Welsh house in 2024, we were amazed that some local agents still didn't provide a floor plan at all! Those were immediately discounted.

Our photos were taken by a professional photographer used by the EA, the cost of these was included in the agent's fee. Initially we were told the EPC was an upfront cost, but were never asked to pay for this so assume it was added to the fee when the sale went through.

Re number of photos - I like to see at least one of every room plus several of the outside space(s). I'd rather see pics of hall/stairs/landing than pointless 'arty' shots. We once had an EA who also used a professional photographer, but the contract they had with them was to only supply EIGHT photos, regardless of the property size/price. Our home had five beds, three reception rooms, three bathrooms, utility, office and a vast kitchen plus 0.3 acre garden, so it was ridiculous to have so few pics. We insisted on supplying our own in addition.

DaffodilValley · 28/07/2026 14:44

CypressMoon · 28/07/2026 09:17

I've never heard of agents charging you to do the photos. Is that a new thing?

Yes, that shocked me too. One of the agents we consulted last year wanted £900 just for the photos. They wanted 5% of the sale price and home report was extra. I simply don’t have that type of money and I can’t see how photos could possibly cost £900!

jackiesgirl · 28/07/2026 14:51

We used to get huge flurries of viewings when ours was posted on social media

KeepPumping · 28/07/2026 16:22

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 09:12

Thanks, for your replies. It's kind of where my head is now. We were in the process of appointing an agent after the appraisals and had paid up front for the photos while still negotiating the Terms. The photos were awful, they made the house look nothing like how it is. I know everyone says this but whenever we've had trades round and the work experience lad with one of the agents, they all really like the house and garden. There is no way those photos would have got them through the door!
So I've been negotiating fees but really I want to confirm the importance of which bits of the marketing are a must. Now obvs Rightmove/Zoopla but what else? I agree I need a floorplan with measurements, but do I need a video? They give a very different view to even what good photos make of a house. Or are good photos enough? As to price, well there's the difficulty. We're in a rural area but only about 6 miles from town, we're not isolated but in a hamlet. Property ranges from £3.35m to us! :D How to get the price right when places sell infrequently and are often very different...

If viewers are turning up the price is right, if not the price is wrong, or demand for the area has fallen like many areas now.

Mildura · 28/07/2026 17:07

jackiesgirl · 28/07/2026 14:51

We used to get huge flurries of viewings when ours was posted on social media

Really interesting to hear!

So there was a major increase in viewing numbers when your property was posted on Instagram (or similar)? I'm always intrigued to find there are all these serious buyers around who respond to social media, but aren't catching the Rightmove listing!

MyDarlingRose · 28/07/2026 17:15

Basically - is it on Rightmove in my budget and does it look nice?

That’s it. Other than that all you need is for them to bring people to see it quickly and have lots of availability to do this.

MyDarlingRose · 28/07/2026 17:17

DaffodilValley · 28/07/2026 14:44

Yes, that shocked me too. One of the agents we consulted last year wanted £900 just for the photos. They wanted 5% of the sale price and home report was extra. I simply don’t have that type of money and I can’t see how photos could possibly cost £900!

That’s mental. We sold 2024 and photos included an they got 1.5%.

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 17:21

KeepPumping · 28/07/2026 16:22

If viewers are turning up the price is right, if not the price is wrong, or demand for the area has fallen like many areas now.

The viewers won't turn up if they can't get the information or if the information such as pictures doesn't appeal to them! You've not got a background in selling that's for sure.

OP posts:
Fourlittlepiggies · 28/07/2026 17:23

Things you can’t change - location and size of the house! But to answer your question - good photos of every room (but no arty photos of nothing), floorplan with measurement on it. Video is nice to have but wouldn’t sway me either way. Responsive agent - I emailed one about viewing a property last week and they haven’t bothered to reply!

Likeiloveyou · 28/07/2026 17:35

Don’t make it “offers over” unless you are in Scotland. Many of us will immediately scroll on.

XVGN · 28/07/2026 17:46

The gold standard for me (although I'd imagine that there must be some equal or better examples elsewhere in the country) is a good video. And I mean good - not just the photos played on a slide show, or a super-fast walk around with hideous background music. Or a video without mentioning the price in the video or title - I don't bother watching those as I don't want to waste my time. Or some superficial EA who only knows the adjective "superb".

Here's a good example of what would attract me:

Ineffable23 · 28/07/2026 17:58

Floor plan with measurements in feet (personal preference, assume others may prefer metres so I would do both) on the floor plan.

Decent photos. Preferably not taken with a mega fish eye lens though I guess that may get people through the door.

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 18:04

XVGN · 28/07/2026 17:46

The gold standard for me (although I'd imagine that there must be some equal or better examples elsewhere in the country) is a good video. And I mean good - not just the photos played on a slide show, or a super-fast walk around with hideous background music. Or a video without mentioning the price in the video or title - I don't bother watching those as I don't want to waste my time. Or some superficial EA who only knows the adjective "superb".

Here's a good example of what would attract me:

I have to say that video is very much a version (with moving pictures) of how good estate agent property details papers used to be. Practical details like size, and 'important' details like radiator, double glazed window, etc for each room, and also pointing out the 'extra' features of the room. Most of the stuff you read through now is utterly useless and a waste of time. 👏

OP posts:
7238SM · 28/07/2026 18:17

We bought 5yrs ago. It was completely derelict, had no floor plan and only 1 photo of the front showing broken and boarded up windows. We viewed and made an offer there and then!

We'd looked at many homes before, and my list was:
-I wouldn't even look at anything listed on purple bricks
-Nothing with 3 storeys
-No loft conversions if the roof was sloping and low
-I wasn't looking at the time for cul-de-sacs or no through roads but definitely would now
-Rooms sizes and floor plans

Expectinglittlebean2026 · 28/07/2026 18:17

Good quality photos that show the space was a must for us. The house also needed to be in good quality condition and not cluttered. I wouldn't bother with a video as I never watch them. Parking was a must for us and a south facing garden.

For selling the house we used an independent estate agent and the difference between him and who we bought from (a high street chain) was ridiculous. The high street chain couldn't have tried less to sell us a house, and we really saw the difference between who we used and who they used. We also gave the estate agent some key pieces of info about the area (local shops, schools, walks, good restaurants nearby etc) and he vetted the people to make sure there were no time wasters. We had 3 viewings and all 3 offered :)

GOODCAT · 28/07/2026 19:51

Be on the right search engines from the outset. Friends currently trying to sell theirs. The agents put it on you tube first, over a week later on their own website, then another week later on some more obscure property search and only on Rightmove a week after. They did get viewings early on but they got more once on Rightmove.

I would have expected it to be on every platform thought appropriate immediately.

Yes to floorplans and decent photos. Video is helpful and if you are rural, I would say necessary as people are more cautious about travelling further unless they are pretty confident the trip is worthwhile.

KeepPumping · 28/07/2026 22:39

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 17:21

The viewers won't turn up if they can't get the information or if the information such as pictures doesn't appeal to them! You've not got a background in selling that's for sure.

Not sure you understand how people tick TBH, if they see a cheap or well priced house they will drive out to see it no question, if they are seriously looking that is, they might not make contact with the EA/Seller at that point but they will look to see what is on offer, on the other hand no amount of information and slick photos will sell an overpriced house now, people just can"t get the mortgage debt any more.

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 22:44

KeepPumping · 28/07/2026 22:39

Not sure you understand how people tick TBH, if they see a cheap or well priced house they will drive out to see it no question, if they are seriously looking that is, they might not make contact with the EA/Seller at that point but they will look to see what is on offer, on the other hand no amount of information and slick photos will sell an overpriced house now, people just can"t get the mortgage debt any more.

"What makes buyers book a house viewing?" is the question.

OP posts:
KeepPumping · 28/07/2026 22:47

sbplanet · 28/07/2026 22:44

"What makes buyers book a house viewing?" is the question.

Edited

Ok, they will book a viewing if the house looks like a a bargain

Gingerbreadlattetoppingsontheside · 28/07/2026 22:51

Floorplan. Location, price. Pictures make sense to the floorplan

NoWordForFluffy · 30/07/2026 08:17

I'm not looking to move right now, but I keep an eye on the market / Rightmove to see what's going on.

I want to see a floor plan, measurements on it ideally (or at least in the listing; I've seen some listings without measurements anywhere). I want good photos of every room. No 'arty' photos of taps etc.

If there's fake grass, I wouldn't go to view. Or if the garden was fully paved.