Top tips for viewings

It’s an exciting (and often nerve-wracking!) time – someone has booked a viewing on your house and you’re full of hope that they will be the ones to buy it. It’s completely up to you whether you conduct your own viewings or ask your estate agent to do them. The jury is out on which is the best and if you’re confident enough to do your own it can be great, after all you know your property best and should be able to answer any questions the viewer may have.

On the other hand, estate agents should be well-versed in carrying out viewings and potential buyers may feel more comfortable revealing their thoughts about the property. However, just choose what suits you best. At PFK, we include accompanied viewings in our fee rather than charging extra like so many agents do, just let us know what you prefer and we’ll go from there. If you do decide to do your own viewings, here are our top tips for making sure they go well.

• Be positive!

Tell your viewers all the great points about your property. Think about what first attracted you to the property when you bought it – chances are it will appeal to your viewers too. Let them know what you enjoy about living there and tell them something about the neighbourhood; are there any outstanding schools, good restaurants or excellent transport links?

• Be clean and tidy

Make sure your home has been decluttered, the beds are made and your home smells fresh. Have a look at our top ten tips for staging your home to help you out. http://pfk.co.uk/top-ten-tips-for-staging-your-home-2/

• Be prepared

Think about what sort of questions the viewers might ask. Things like how old the boiler is, whether you have you had any work done and which way the garden faces are all common questions, so it’s great to be prepared with the answers.

• Be pet-free

Ask someone (or bribe a teenager) to take the dogs out and temporarily shut the cats out – there’s no guarantee your viewer will be a pet person. Don’t have bowls of pet food sitting around and make sure the litter tray is clean and put away; there’s nothing more off putting to a buyer than a pet smell. Make sure you also retrieve any dog mess in the garden, your viewers will most likely want to look around the outside of the house and you definitely don’t want them stepping in anything!

• Be friendly – but not overbearing

Have a chat with your viewers by all means, but try not to hover over them as they walk round. It’s a great opportunity to try and find out a bit more about them and let them know why the house might suit them; if they have school age children let them know about the local schools and if they’re keen gardeners (or the opposite!) let them know more about the garden and why you enjoy it. Don’t worry about finding out what they think, your agent should get detailed feedback the day after the viewing.

• Be alone

Agree who is going to show the viewers round and then try to get everyone else out of the house. It’s obviously difficult if you have small children but it can be less distracting for viewers if they can look round unimpeded. It’s possible your viewers might feel a bit awkward looking round a teenager’s bedroom if the teenager is in situ, so at the very least make sure everyone is downstairs and corralled into one room.

• (Don’t) be conscious of the time

Try to let the viewers look round at their own pace. You want them to come away feeling excited at the prospect of living in your house, not with the feeling they have been bundled out of the door in record time and haven’t had a chance to look round. If they’re still round the kitchen table talking to you an hour later then that’s usually a good sign, although at this point you would be forgiven for trying to edge them towards the door at this point!

• Be on the market with PFK

At PFK we know how important viewings are, which is why they are only ever carried out by knowledgeable sales staff who are well-trained to spot signs that the viewer might be interested in making an offer. We’re happy to work round you – some of our clients like us to do the first viewing and then carry out the second themselves, which can be a great way of approaching it. You might only want us to do viewings if you’re at work, or at the weekend, or on a Friday during changeover on your holiday let. We offer viewings six days a week with totally flexible timings, so we really can offer whatever suits you best.

If you are looking to sell, or want some more information on our accompanied viewings service, you can contact your local PFK office for a free, no-obligation valuation and expert advice. Get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., call your local office or pop in and see us – we’re always happy to meet clients and have a chat about your needs.