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 !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree re schools - one of the biggest pluses in our area is schools.

Read somewhere about a vendor like me preparing a little local info pack to give to viewers and think might do same so that if don't get chance to waffle on can hand it to them.

Don't say anything negative about your house at all - doesn't make you come across as honest, just negative!

Personally I didn't like owners showing me round their houses as it was really difficult to be honest with DH about what we thought as we went round, and also difficult to leave quickly if the house really wasn't for us. So agree with others who say "keep it factual". On a first viewing, so much is about getting a general feel for the house - I really don't care if you've got a combi boiler or if you just replaced the guttering or if you used to have a computer here but don't any more (as various sellers tried to impress us with).

Also really think you should leave viewers to have a bit of a wander alone (with you obviously fairly nearby) - I would be very surprised if anyone nicks anything! Put away any piles of £50 notes or bowls of diamond rings lying about and you'll be fine.

And as someone else has said, you've got to link to your house's ad now so we can all nosey!

PS Don't say, as you look out from the master bedroom at the garden with potential buyers, "you see that big tree there, well the reason it's missing some branches and has a big scorch mark up it is because the tenants who have just left had a massive bonfire and set fire to the tree, but we've tried to plant a few more plants and hopefully they will grow, it was terrible actually, it's really made a mess of the tree..."

We still bought the house though!!

Janice - thats a great tip, thanks. Historically, I have been no good at selling but dh (indifferent, no hard sell, less knowledgeable about period features etc) has managed to get offers in (albeit ridiculous ones - one was less than what we had paid for it in a bullish market - I was fuming).

actually your op had me gagging to move there, wherever it is

Harsh friends have given house the once over and told me to de-clutter. I already thought I had .

Have done a bit more decluttering and now the place is beginning to look bare & clinical. Am starting to hate Sarah Beeny et al for making us all think we should be living in minimalist white walled granite topped cubes.

Am loving all you people like ninah/janice et al who clearly can see beyond surface gloss. But am warned by harsh friends that you have imagination but less money.

Am wondering if want these heartless types to buy my home. They would probably wreck it by installing an en suite bathroom in every room and get rid of my reclaimed wood kitchen units and replace them with laminate MDF. Plus maybe they would send children to private schools and not engage with local community events. Queue - sweeping generalisations and allowing heart to rule head in large scale financial transaction.

But really - I would want to look at a house and know that it had been a happy family home - not cube where children only have Nintendo DS because it is the smallest least untidy toy in the world that will keep them quiet for hours.

you are so right lol, love it but doubt I could afford it
however I'm sure there are people around with taste AND cash ...

You do tend to be blind to your own clutter though. I'm sure your house has loads of style and character but that doesn't need to be books tumbling from every shelf and piles of things in corners - that gives a subliminal message "not enough storage space". I love old houses to bits but they can look just as good when there is room to see the features. I don't believe it's bare and clinical for a minute.

Warning - the buyer of our London house ripped out my bespoke F&B painted reclaimed kitchen and put in MDF with integral appliances. I grieve that but then: her house, her choice, we took the money. If I'd known I'd have gone and got the doors out of the skip!

It is ok tootired - when the world goes into climate change meltdown and we are knocking on the pearly gates (or other world religion equivalent) St P will know that we, the lovers of real wood, not MDF, should be let in to wallow in heavnely clutter whilst cube types will be left sitting in white space no mans land stroking their i-Phones and perusing their old bank statements while their hearts have turned to hygenic polyeurathene.

Yours zenly

MP

the Bible reveals the good lord is a lover of real wood

I agree that people can get very blind to their own clutter - even if it's lovely stuff, it can be very distracting going round someone's house. I at least have gone round people's houses staring at the photos and trying to see if I recognise anyone, looking at all the books, trying to guess the sellers' professions, etc etc.

The best house tour ever was one given by a three year old girl and her dad who hadn't realised that when you move, you take your stuff with you. Major selling points on that house included her dolls house and her dog.

OK have bowed to pristine presentation pressure. House almost devoid of any clutter whatsoever and now does not feel like my house at all. Have got flowers a plenty and have cleaned windows, have even got air fresh spray for bathroom and those blocks of stuff that turn your toilet water blue (although hope no buyers want to look in the toilet).

Cannot find anything now as it has all been put away. Am having to restrain children from rummaging through piles of clutter now stuffed into cupboards to find the most important bit of clutter that THEY NEED RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!

Have become very tense and shouty whenever anything is thrown/ dropped or in fact even when anyone breathes in case something gets dirty/ cluttery.

Have been thinking again about the whole showing round thing. Actually am a bit shocked that agents just let people wander round on their own - how do they know that people won't just nick stuff?

Also am wondering about evening viewings - this would be the best time for us and presumably most people who work. But the children will be at home and may be in bed - how do people manage this situation - my kids won't wake up if light turned on but would it make it awkward for viewers?

The standard around here is to have a viewing slot at the weekend for people who work 'normal' hours.

Maybe the fear of people nicking things is why everyone declutters when they sell?

We have just sold, and I've done all the viewings myself. I have taken the lead of the people viewing, some are really chatty, others prefer not to talk much.
I have, every time, shown them round and pointed out that it is a new kitchen, the conservatory is x years old etc, and then offered them the chance to look round on their own afterwards, which most have.
Lots have asked about what we are leaving, carpets etc and Ive gone into more detail, but only if they've asked.
Most viewings have taken between 30-45 minutes.
We went to view a property where the estate agents showed us round in silence, and I felt really uncomfortable, like we had to whisper, and others where the vendors showed us round and were really chatty, much preferred this.
I suppose it's each to their own. Good luck!

I prefer seeing a house without the owner there because it can be a bit embarrasing if you want to discuss good and bad points with your other half.

We've been house hunting recently and to give you an idea of odd experiences..

We saw a house where the owner clearly didn't want to switch the lights on - she was showing us round in the dark and kept drawing the curtains when we went into a new room. I had to ask to switch lights on so that we could see what we were looking at.

We saw one where the owner was so chatty (not even about the house, just stuff in general) I actually had to interupt her to ask to go and see the rooms - othwerise DH would have seen them all while I was there talking to her!

For those coming at weekends would Sat or Sun be better - normally can do Sat morning or Sun morning when only have one child at home but on one weekend next month can only do Sun due to b'day party.

Is Sun ok?

Get some really good photography done and maybe a virtual tour like this
It helps cut down on time wasters just being nosey and those who do view in person are already half way to buying, it's almost like a second viewing for them.

With the timing of viewings, I'd say you need to be as flexible as possible. It really put me off if vendors basically only had one specific time when they would be prepared for us to view the house. It made me think they didn't really want to sell!

And as a buyer, we had several other properties on a shortlist and if it was difficult to view a property we would just decide not to view it. Potential sale lost!

For some people, Sat would be better, for others Sun. Some wouldn't want to see the house while the children were asleep, some wouldn't mind. You just need to offer potential viewers as wide a range of options as possible and let them choose.

I really don't think that people would nick stuff from your house when they are viewing! Do you have lots of priceless objects on display?! If you get a bad feeling about someone and think they aren't genuine, then by all means trail round after them, but otherwise do let them go to some bits of the house alone.

Maybe you know this already, but a big turn-off for me is having all the family watching East Enders when you're trying to look round the living room, or teenagers lounging in the bedrooms when you're trying to imagine whether your wardrobe would fit. It made me feel like we were intruding, which makes it pretty hard to imagine yourself living there. Get the rest of the family to go out somewhere during viewings.

I'm another who prefers not to have the owner follow me around everywhere, I like to discuss with OH without having to censor what I'm saying!