Viewings are scarce, short and partly performative — the seller has prepared the stage, and the agent is watching you as carefully as you are watching the house. Book quickly, come prepared, ask questions that produce facts rather than reassurance, and always leave yourself a second look before money is discussed.
Book fast, view twice
In a moving market, request a viewing the day a suitable listing appears — being early is free negotiating advantage. For any serious candidate, view a second time at a different time of day and week: evening traffic, neighbour noise, parking pressure and natural light all change with the clock, and second viewings are where first-visit charm wears off or survives.
Questions that produce facts
Ask why the sellers are moving, how long the property has been on the market, whether there have been offers, what is included in the sale, the council tax band, and — for flats — the lease years, service charge and management company. Ask about the boiler's age and last service, and who the neighbours are. Agents may not know everything; what they deflect is data too.
Present yourself deliberately
Mention your AIP and chain-free status (if true) early — agents triage buyers by proceedability, and being seen as serious gets you earlier calls about future stock. Reveal nothing about your ceiling or how much you love the place; warmth about the area, neutrality about the house is the working posture.
Your action list
Practical tips
- Take a companion to serious viewings — a second pair of eyes with no emotional stake sees what you skip.
- Photograph (with permission) anything you will want to re-examine: meter cupboard, boiler plate, cracks, damp corners.
What can go wrong
- 'There is another viewing this afternoon' may be true — but it is also the oldest urgency script in the trade. Your maximum was set in Phase 2, not in the hallway.
- A viewing at exactly the flattering time of day (sun in the garden, neighbours out) is staging; the second visit exists to correct for it.
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