Etiquette for viewing a house (UK)

After a particularly unpleasant viewing, I have been thinking about the etiquette of viewing a house.  At the moment it might be argued that most buyers are just grateful for an offer and how the buyer behaves doesn't matter, but this won't always be the case.  Sometimes, 2 or more similar offers are made and the behaviour is the only factor that separates the winning offer and the losing bid.

I am not claiming to be an etiquette expert by any means, but I have done many many viewings, as buyer and vendor over the years.

The lady viewing recently did many things to annoy me, (probably unintentionally) starting with being late, yes sometimes it can't be helped, but apologise, it diffuses the negative feelings someone may be harbouring.  I've given up my time to be there too.

Within 3 steps inside the door, she asked how long it had been on the market, a good thing to know, but ask the agent, all it told me immediately was that she was looking for reasons to reduce the price.  She then asked me which direction it was facing and 'tutted' when she found out it didn't have a south facing garden.  Allow me to introduce maps, you can work out the direction of the property.  Especially on google maps where you can learn all sorts of other things about the location.  I'd even advise driving past before making an appointment to view, which I always do.

From my point of view as a vendor, if she puts in an acceptable offer, I have to think to myself, if the viewing was this difficult, what will the conveyancing process be like? Will she find more things to pick at, demand insurance for, and potentially pull out at the last minute having had my property off the market from genuine buyers for months?  My answer is probably and so I very much doubt I would accept an offer even without others in the immediate picture.

So my advice for viewing property...

1.  Do your research before booking a viewing, ask the agent questions. (I will write another post about how to research)

2.  If the agent is accompanying the viewing, you can be slightly more honest, but don't forget that anything you say may be fed back to the vendor.

3.  Remember if the vendor is showing you round, that they will be listening to everything you say, so save your negatives for the journey home. 

4.  It is either someones home, with their taste and things they love, or the result of hard work of a developer, so they will have feelings, and probably be easily insulted.  Be polite, even if it isn't your taste or style.

5.  The sorts of questions to ask a vendor are, council tax band, freehold or leasehold, ground rent, service charge and any other details commonly missed from the brochure.  They are never going to tell you that its a bad area or the neighbours are terrible, so don't waste time asking.  Also avoid security questions at this point, you may have no intention of committing a crime, but you can unintentionally make the vendor feel very nervous!

6.  On a second viewing, when you are showing a more serious interest, it is acceptable to ask more detailed questions about cost of energy bills, any warranties that will be transferred and security.  

7.  Be on time, or call to let them know that you are running a few minutes late and that you are sorry.

My final point is a huge pet hate of mine....

When talking about purchasing a house, the term CASH BUYER means that you have the money in your pocket (ok, the bank) and can certainly be available for completion in 4-6 weeks.  For CASH BUYER read CHAIN FREE AND CASH IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE - which could include a mortgage you have already agreed.  

I have had many people tell me they are a cash buyer when what they really mean is once they sell their house they will use the equity to buy this one, but their house might not sell for months or years.