Showing Buyers Your Home

Before you start promoting your house for sale, you should decide every aspect of how you are going to handle enquiries. The arrangement you make for letting prospective buyers look over your property is known as a Showing or a Viewing, depending on where you live.

Normally these would be conducted by an agent, but as you are taking responsibility for your own house sale, you will have to do them yourself. You need to protect yourself against time-wasters and crooks.

A good policy is to arrange showings only by prior appointment, and at a mutually convenient time during the day.

When you receive an initial enquiry, ask for the individual's name, home address and telephone number, and if possible, their email address -  so you can send out house details very quickly, and confirm the appointment.

When you agree the time for them to visit, ask how many people will be coming - just one person, a couple, the whole family!

If they live in your neighbourhood you could print out a letter confirming the appointment time, and then hand deliver it. You will at least know that they live where they say they do. In any event, call back by telephone to confirm the appointment.

Resist the temptation to let casual callers look around your house. They could be anyone. Keep a showings diary (and a pen) near the front door and arrange with them to call back when it suits you. If they are serious buyers, they will return. If they don't, you haven't had your time wasted.

Personally, I would advise that you are accompanied whenever you show other people around your home. We cover the security issues in detail elsewhere, but it is much easier to control the situation if there are two of you present.

Before your prospective buyers arrive, give your house a quick 'once-over' to make sure everything is well presented.

• Ensure the house is freshly aired and that there are no residual cooking or cleaning smells.
  
  
• Make sure all the windows have clean glass.
  
  
• Open all drapes and window blinds to let in as much natural light as possible.
  
  
• Put on lights in any part of the house that is dark.
  
  
• Ensure that all the beds are made and that no one is still in bed!
  
  
• All day-to-day clutter should be cleared away. The interiors of cupboards kept tidy and well organized.
  
  
• Keep any pets outdoors. Non pet lovers might be dissuaded from even entering your house if a pet is present!

Keep with you a folder containing any paperwork you might need to refer to. This could be receipts for any work done to the house, notes on running costs (it can be useful to have copies of your utilities bills to show buyers) extra copies of your house details,  And always keep a notebook and pen with you.