As we enter the festive period of merriment, eating, drinking, dancing and carousing (and being immortalised on somebody’s mobile phone in a compromising position with the new girl from Accounts), I am led to reminisce about various experiences that I have had over the years in the property business. From the mundane; people not turning up for their viewings, people cancelling sales because the cat has died, through the rather odd; having to go to their grandmother’s funeral and establishing that this is internment number 7… to the truly bizarre, all of which could be in a Carry on Film. I will never forget the day that I went to measure a house as part of a divorce proceeding only to find the wife in bed with her new …. girlfriend. At least I was not on a viewing with potential buyers.
If you are serious about selling your property, you have to make sure that you maximise every opportunity to display the house to best possible effect. There is no accounting for taste, but most people would probably agree that naked bodies in the bedroom might detract from the overall viewing experience. As a seasoned professional who always accompanies the viewings I always ensure that I am at the property ten minutes before the appointment, to ensure that all the lights are working, everything is in working order and all people are fully clothed.
After all these years I still cannot understand why some agents think that it is perfectly acceptable to send someone – who nobody knows – to view your property and thereby enter your home unaccompanied. Any professional, respectable estate agent prides himself on working closely with his client – who is the vendor. In my opinion, not bothering to accompany a viewing means that they aren’t bothered about selling your house. And further more, if they do send a member of staff to accompany a viewing, let’s hope that they are not the modern day equivalent of Del Trotter who spends all their time on their iPhone after opening the door and saying, “Help yourself”.
Now that I have got all that off my chest, Happy Christmas!
