How to carry out the perfect viewing.
Is there such a thing as the ‘Perfect Viewing’? Maybe not, but there are certainly steps you can follow to make the viewing as near to perfect as possible and give yourself the best chance of getting that offer….and the best offer!
Did you know that on average it takes between 10-12 viewings before you sell your home?
Is there such a thing as the ‘Perfect Viewing’? Maybe not, but there are certainly steps you can follow to make the viewing as near to perfect as possible and give yourself the best chance of getting that offer….and the best offer!
We have all been there, endlessly viewing lots of homes until you find your dream home. The experience can be very mixed and often left to chance. Surely not I hear you say, all you need to do now is let the viewers have wonder around the property, right?
Absolutely NOT!
Of course, you can leave it to chance, but this is your moment to showcase your home to the next potential owner. Afterall you have spent a huge amount of effort, time and money getting them to the property in the first place, excellent photos, beautiful description and a tonne of marketing so you want to make sure the viewing goes as well as it can.
Whether you decide you do the viewing, or your agent does the viewing (see my blog on this subject) preparing and planning before the viewing is crucial to success.
So here’s my guide for the perfect viewing!
Before the viewing:
In any form of sales (and let’s face it the viewing is the biggest one) you need to know your potential buyer and the property you’re showing them.
Find out as much as you can about the viewer from your agent:
- Where they are moving from
- Why they are moving – this links in with their DBM (explained later)
- What is their dream home – how does this compare to your home
- Are they in a position to make an offer
- Who will be attending the viewing
- How many others have they viewed.
Preparing the property!
✅ FIRST IMPRESSIONS - make sure the front of the property is welcoming and looking at its best. This is so important to get the potential buyers in the right mindset. If they approach the property and they find areas of work or concern, they will then start to look for additional work meaning lower offers.
✅ KEEP THE PROPERTY CLEAN AND TIDY - keep as much off the floor as you can to show and make the space feel bigger. If you have kids (and the mountain of toys they come with) tidy them away.
✅ TURN ALL THE LIGHTS ON – this may seem odd but it creates a warm and friendly feeling around the property even on the sunniest of days.
✅ PRESENTATION – This is an obvious one but the overall presentation of the property should be showing the property off at it’s best. A good guide is to keep the property in the same state as you had for your photoshoot. Also think about your own appearance (or that of the agent) as this will have an effect on the potential buyers impression of you as well as the house.
✅ PETS and KIDS – if you have pets or kids try and take them out the house for the viewing. They act as a distraction to the potential viewers (remember they are there to see the house not spend 10 minutes petting the family dog).
✅ BE PREPARED FOR QUESTIONS – most buyers have typical questions they will ask on a viewing.
- Where is the nearest pub
- How much are the bills
- What’s the broadband speed …etc etc.
So be prepared to answers questions including Why are you selling? If they ask about the price, ALWAYS refer them back to the agent.
During the Viewing:
Whilst my views are that you should let your agent do the viewing, for lots of reasons (read my blog on this here) but there is the odd occasion when you find yourself doing your own viewings.
You don’t take your car to the garage and change the tyre yourself.
✅ Start in the best room downstairs – research indicates that buyers make up their mind positively or negatively, in the first 14 seconds of a viewing.
✅ Let them walk in to each room first and stand behind them towards the doorway, this way they see the room first and not your back as they walk in.
✅ Show them round first telling them what you love about the house/each room (people buy on emotions) then give them a chance to walk round on their own so they can talk to each other openly/visualise their stuff in each room.
✅ If they have experienced a strong positive reaction to the property, they will subconsciously be looking for more clues that this is the right home for them. Called confirmation bias, it’s an important process your buyer needs to go through in order to justify their decision to make an offer. If you rush them, or talk too much, they won’t have the mind-space they need to complete this process.
✅ Don’t mention any problems you have fixed - they are fixed so no need to mention!
✅ Try find out what they want to buy and what’s important to them (DBM - dominant buying motive) i.e. they may want an open kitchen/diner, try and spend as much time here as possible and finish the viewing...give them a chance to ask questions in this room/place.
At the end of the viewing thank them for coming round and advise that your agent will be in touch. It is really important at this stage that you don’t engage in a conversation with them to try and find out if they liked the property, they will only tell you what you want to hear and they haven’t really had time to process it.
After the viewing:
Your agent will ring them to get some feedback and hopefully and offer. If they don’t offer make sure your agent gets objective feedback, find out if there is anything else that you could do or if there is a pattern emerging.
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