What would make you buy my house

[missingperson]

Am selling house through internet estate agent which means have to do all viewings myself.

Am interested to know what kind of viewing people prefer.

Its a big rambling Victorian place with lots of character but not all mod cons. The best thing about it is that its in a really family friendly area with lots going on locally -arty, bohemian, nice parks, good schools.

However estate agents have been warning me that sellers are liable to say the wrong thing - voice thier anxieties etc.

So what do you expect from a viewing - do you just want me to show you round and say nnothing or would you like me to point out the goodpoints. WOuld you trust me more if I point out a few not so good points but therefore appear more honest.Tell me about your good and bad experiences.

Help !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will have made my mind up about 30 seconds after I walk through your front door so theres not much you could say to change my gut instinct.

I would just show around, leave the small talk to the agent.

I've never had an estate agent show any of our houses - not sure if it's a Scottish/English thing. Don't bother doing any selling or pointing out good/bad points - just the facts are fine.

If I was doing a viewing with the owner I'd prefer it if they just left me to have a wander around - that way I could chat to dh about it without feeling like I might offend the owner. You might not feel happy about doing that of course.

If you show them around, don't tell them too much - just 'this is the kitchen' type stuff - unless they ask questions. Don't let yourself babble too much, don't go out of your way to tell them the negative points but don't lie about them.

Remember if they have decided to look at your house they probably have a good idea of what the area is like already.

Personally, i preferer to look around in piece and silence. I hate it when owners/agents keep talking and try too hard.

I was told to not enter the rooms-especially the smaller ones- with the viewers but stand by the hallway.
(i am 10 1/2 stone btw, so not huge

I have viewed lots of houses recently - both with sellers and estate agents. I would prefer the owners doing the viewing as I have been surprised at how little the agents know about the properties, but I dont advise a "hard sell" attitude.

It's nice as a prospective buyer to be given space to look around on your own after the initial guided tour.

(BTW my experience of internet estate agent viewings has not been good - eg being given viewing times that have not been confirmed with vendors or e-mails not being answered.
I am now reluctant to try to arrange viewing with internet only agents.)

Don't point out anything negative.
Point out a few good points but don't overdo it. Be ready to answer any questions they may have. Try to put a positive spin on things without lying.
Let the viewers wander around on their own so they can get a feel for the place without feeling they're being watched/hurried.

We had one viewing where they agent was obviously desperate to sell the place and just kept babbling at us and completely put us off.
Less is definitely more when it comes to viewings.

Thanks for this - seems to be less is more but please keep posting as as many views as possible are welcome.

Not sure how to let people have privacy to chat as don't want to leave unattended too long in case they nick something. Maybe could let them sit in playroom - then they can only nick Lego .

Another question - we have 4 bedrooms - one is quite small (big enough for a single bed & wardrobe) but fine as a kids room. This especially as we also have a huge playroom so kids don't need to keep many toys in their rooms. Plus the other 3 beds are big (2 of them big enough to fit 3 beds in)

We use it as study so have 2 desks in there (about same size as a bed) in position that bed would go.

Have heard that you should show it as a bedroom but to do this would involve moving a load of furntiure round (cluttering up other rooms with my desks).

Does it really matter that its a desk instead of a bed - maybe should cover it with a duvet for those who have little imagination

What do you think ladies?

I would keep it as a study, if someone likes your house they will be able to imagine it as a bedroom easily enough

Really we should actually view it so we could tell you what we love for you to point out to viewers but then I am a nosey devil..........

Having been witness to some people's complete lack of being able to imagine things when we last sold, I would stick a bed in there (a 2 foot 6 inch one).

Could the desks break down and be stored for now and you use a folding camping table temporarily ?

I would let them see the rooms in peace and quiet for a bit at first but make sure to point out anything like new boiler, up-to-date wiring, recently fitted bathroom, original and / or working fireplace, double glazing / original windows, built-in storage, eat in kitchen, access to garden - all those things are attractive to me but I can't necessarily tell if they're there without being told.

I would clear out study and present as a bedroom as far as poss, our house had a study which we thought was a single bedroom and it turned out to be a small double when we moved in - bonus for us!

BTW be careful with viewers that they are genuine and not burglars checking out your house - hopefully that doesn't happen very often but would be on my mind!

I would go for a very basic "and here's the kitchen" approach, maybe point out one or two good things if there are things like the garden faces south so it's nice for evening drinks which the buyers might not notice, but otherwise keep schtum. Do say for them to ask any questions they want to and have an answer ready for things like "why are you selling?" and "do you get on with your neighbours?".

We did a lot of viewing on our old flat and dh was a nightmare, pointing out light switches and making people look in cupboards , total overkill! I had to ban him eventually...

My pet hate is viewing houses where the owner is there. I'd much rather do it anonymously with an agent who leaves you alone to wander round.

I far prefer to view houses with minimum input from sellers, and would prefer it to be an agent rather than the owners. That said, I don't think it makes a huge difference to whether I'd buy somewhere or not. We'd pretty much decided to buy our current place based on location and knowing the room sizes. Anything else could be fixed

I'd also have no problem visualising a study as a bedroom if needed...

Good luck!

When we looked round the house we are now in (moved in 3 months ago) the 1st time the vendor showed us round. She didn't have 1 good or nice thing to say about the house. Every room had a 'drama' in it for want of a better word. But needless to say we went with our gut instinct and tbh all her negatives weren't necessarily negatives for us. She just ultimatly helped us get a long list of problems that meant we could knock the price down more. After that viewing we looked round 2 more times and for both of those we specifically asked to be shown round by the agent and it was much easier for us.

Oh thanks for all input re bedroom study dilemma. Flat packing desks not an option - (old solid wood jobs.

The issue about burglars - surely most burglars could get most of the info they need from an estate agent showing them round. We haven't got any holiday plans or anything.

Tips about garden (it is S Facing) is helpful.

Am going to practice showing a few friends round.

I would have every detail available on the nearest good school and, providing that a child would be more or less guaranteed a place there, play that up. It would make it or break it for me.

If the smallest room is OK as a single room, then I'd put a bed in there (hire a self storage unit for a couple of months and put the desks plus other stuff that will clutter up your house in the meantime in there) - sounds like your desks are big enough that it might still seem small, so you might doubt that there was room for one.

Look at other houses in your area on Rightmove - see what you don't like about them, then try to avoid in your house.

If theres anything major (like central heating) that you think people might seriously worry about in terms of lack of mod cons, then you could always get a quote to be able to tell them a price if they ask about it.

We asked our estate agent when we sold if we should make our study look like a bedroom, and he said not to worry, that people knew that studies = single bedrooms.

My mum says the difficulty is being nice to people who you think are just taking the opportunity to nose round your home.

As your house is Victorian you've probably already weeded out the showhome/beige carpet/no clutter/no imagination brigade, so I'd go in from the character and history angle. Pick maybe 4 or 5 particularly stunning or interesting things about your house - sunny room, secret cupboards, those servants bell thingys etc, and tell viewers about those. Don't give a running commentary on all the details and don't point out the obvious. Also pick the best 2 rooms and show them first and last. It's called the primacy-recency effect. They will be the 2 rooms that people remember.

The thing about showing your own home is that you tend to want to fill the silence with waffle, and it is usually about negative points "This is the smallest bedroom, it overlooks the neighbours horrible garage and it is very damp. The stain on the ceiling is from a leak we had last year"

If you live in a house the good points become overlooked very quickly and only the negatives jump out at you. Not the best frame of mind to try and talk up your house and make a sale.

Think the best idea, as you've mentioned, is to involve an honest speaking friend, and ask her to point out the best bits of each room to you so you can refresh your memory and then in turn tell buyers about these good things.