second viewing on saturday

[Mammina]

what can I do to make the potential buyers fall in love with our flat?! they obviously like it bec they want to see it again.. but we have had a few second viewings and nothing has come of any of them (apart from one low offer ages ago which in hindsight we should have accepted..)

Have you had any feedback? I assume you've done the de-cluttering, bread in the oven, sparkling everything that we are advised to do?

What does the EA say?

yes, it's a mixture of no reasons, or the second bedroom being too small, or our bedroom being height restricted (it's in the eaves). Loads of our stuff is in storage (well, friends' garage!) so completely decluttered, thought bread in the oven would be a bit obvious!! - it's always spotless when we have viewings. I guess I could clean the windows...

Are you doing the viewing yourself?

I did with our 2nd viewing and talked and talked. Made sure I was interest in the potential purchasers, pointed out all the good points about our village etc. Was uber friendly. Worked a treat. They took our phone number and personally phoned me the next day to offer. We batted back and forth until we reached a suitable offer.

No Fimbo we always go out and let the estate agent do it, I always thought it would make people uncomfortable looking around when were in - I certainly prefer to see places when the owner isn't there (although it's good to be nosey!). But having read your comment I'm starting to think maybe we should... hmmm

Clean windows , mirrors , pictures , chrome fittings and taps so they shine and reflect light. Put on ambient lamps if needs be. Stand at the door of each room , can you see straight towards the window and walk around easily ? Make sure things like sockets are in evidence, no overpowering smells - good or bad - emphasise what you plan to include in the sale, especially if custom fitted. local amenities if they don't know the area.

Migola - we are looking at the moment so here's some thoughts from buyers perspective. I do NOT want to be shown around by the people who live there. I don't want to see it as 'their' house, I want to imagine it as mine. And I want (on a second viewing) to discuss the weaknesses of the property openly so that I can see if there is a fix. I feel unable to do this with the owners there.

You sound like you have done the right thing by decluttering - again helps to imagine the place as 'ours'.

Finally, have you considered going back to the people who offered before and saying you'd accept their offer. We've had an offer refused recently and have agreed that we will sit it out for a bit and hope that when the house still hasn't sold in two months time, they might realise that ours was a reasonable offer...

I disagree with the above poster - I want to meet the owners because we have questions about the property that an agent can't answer. Things like when was the boiler installed? Who lives next door? What minor repairs have been done recently...

Agree with aberdeenhiker, I want to interrogate question the owner about lots of things.

Also I did all the viewings for my last house, I could sell ice to eskimos, had 3 people offer on my house. The only one who didn't offer was the one who viewed it with the estate agents.

I think it depends on how good your estate agent is, I personally would want him/her to show me round my own house just to see what he/she would say.

thanks everyone this is really useful advice. Not sure what to do though, as I am (was!) of the same thought as Blameitonthebogey. What I might do is call the estate agent & ask them to call the viewer to see what they would prefer, & maybe offer my phone number/email if they'd rather view it with EA but may have some questions?

BIameit I have considered going back to the first offer but my husband doesn't agree - the flat was with a different estate agent at the time.

When we were selling MIL's house last year, we left all the viewings to the EAs, as the house was unoccupied. One time, however, I happened to be there for some reason, so I eavesdropped on the supposed sales pitch. It was abysmal. Then, as they all made to leave, I asked why they hadn't gone down the garden to view the studio (a triple-garage-sized heated building, ideal for an office/teenage hangout/workroom/whatever). The estate agent looked at me blankly. "What studio? I didn't know about that."
I did all subsequent viewings after that and it sold very quickly (pre-crunch).

I like an owner to be available, although prefer they don't do the viewing. For our second viewings, I had the EA do the viewing, but was in and opened the door to them, then just sat quietly in one room. The buyers had a few questions they wanted to ask, and the EA was able to direct them to me.

I agree, I don't want to view with the estate agent, they have no enthusiasm for the property, except the fake variety. I like to ask questions, on a recent viewing I asked if they thought about extending and the owner had quite a few good ideas, was quite tempted, but then it was too much building work. We have also leafleted and we do prefer viewing with owners direct.