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I would like to know if anyone could help me find out what the time frame is to view a home. So far I have heard 10 min. sometimes it may take a little longer. But I also heard that once you get inside the front door and don't like what you see, leave right away. Can anyone help me out with this question ?
I would like to know if anyone could help me find out what the time frame is to view a home. So far I have heard 10 min. sometimes it may take a little longer. But I also heard that once you get inside the front door and don't like what you see, leave right away. Can anyone help me out with this question ?
I've been in and out in ten minutes, and I've looked at a house for half an hour, depending on the level of interest. When we were selling our last house, one viewer stayed for around 70 minutes. He eventually purchased the home.
If you are considering such a large investment/commitment, take however much time you need.
Why are you asking? Normally, you just take as much time as you feel is needed in order to make a decision. Many houses, you don't even set foot in--you can tell they're undesirable by driving by.
I do not think there is a "time frame" that is normal. I have been in homes where the buyer walked in, took one look and walked out in 10 secs. I have also been in homes where the prospective buyer viewed everything, sometimes twice, even took measurements. They were there more than 1/2 hour.
I would guess an interested buyer will spend more time, but it is probably more about personality. Some buyers are anal and need to see everything, others see what they want and are satisfied.
I would say that if they spend less than 10 minutes they probably are not interested in the house.
Some people, myself included, don't like a house from the outside...or even driving down the street...and say, no skip this one.
Some owners get upset with things like that. Depends on the area and situation. If it's occupied, we and others have gone in to be polite. If it's vacant, if the realtor knows the buyers are looking for a lower priced flip and may hurry along...one can skip a house or two or three.
Also greatly depends on the size of the house. The style of a house. And what you want to accomplish in a home tour.
Large home will take longer. Historic home will take longer because it's normal to get into conversation about the history of the house, the stories of the previous owners, the construction, etc. And it's not unusual for historic home buyers to be looking for "historic homes"....not "a home in your town". So they may need to be acquainted with your area and sometimes only the home owner is the one who has good info on the immediate area, and is the one to best tell those stories of the history.
I think it's up to the Realtor to point out to people how showings usually go...and then have leeway. A friend told me about people who nearly did his own home inspection on every single house. In a way that could be a reasonable thing to do and one could feel the process of weeding out ones to give a second look and then whittle down to a third look and then paying an inspector was reasonable. Just not the thing to do in general.
Sometimes people feel inside a house is the time things occur to them and the time to have a talk about those ideas. Just general things.
It also depends on number in the party looking. And how quickly they can be herded. And whether they are amenable to herding
I say Take as much time as you like. If you are on a tour with your agent do keep in mind the tight schedules that were made and don't go over the time limit because there is someone waiting for you at the next house and the one after that etc. Be respectful of other peoples time including the owner who may have just taken a spin around the block while you see the house.
When we are on the broker tours we can get a feel for a house in 5 minutes so we are in and out. Obviously if you are thinking about buying than you will want to take more time.
If I'm showing a house I will show every bit of it including the attic if the buyer is interested and highlight the positive features and possibilities. Buyers need to see themselves living there and the longer they take the more that vision can come together.
If you are viewing multiple properties you should keep notes on the houses and the ones you like enough you can arrange a second showing to spend more time there and really absorb it.
I've recently viewed about 20 homes - some with my realtor, some open houses.
Although I always viewed the whole property, I knew fairly quickly if I was going to be interested. On houses I passed on I probably didn't spend more than 15 minutes in them. There were 4 houses I seriously looked at - each of them I spent at least 30-45 minutes in.
We are under contract now for a home. I went to an open house for it and spent about 30 minutes in it (I would have spent longer but I didn't like the way the showing agent hovered over me). Our whole family went back with our realtor 2 days later. We spent a good hour then since we had the time and didn't have the listing agent there. We looked at everything - in all the closets & cabinets, at all the fixtures like AC and such - and discussed how our needs would or would not be met by the home. Although it didn't meet 100% of our needs we decided the few items missing we could live without. We put an offer in on it that night.
It depends.
It depends upon the house.
It depends upon your personality.
It depends upon many other houses you have seen.
It depends upon how much research you have done.
It depends upon the neighborhood.
When we sold our house the buyer made 5 visits before making an offer. He spent hours in the house. He is a very analytical person by education and profession.
We we bought our current house, it took us 10 seconds to make the decision. Literally. And, we are both anal retentive.
Last edited by davebarnes; 02-21-2015 at 10:23 AM..
It depends.
It depends upon the house.
It depends upon your personality.
It depends upon many other houses you have seen.
It depends upon how research you have done.
It depends upon the neighborhood.
And if the buyer is wearing Depends, that may impact the time spent, too.
I book 30 minute time slots to view homes the first go round. If a buyer needs more time, then we schedule a second showing and I set those for an hour. That is assuming we are doing a long tour that day. If it is just one house, then I schedule and they can spend as long as they feel they need to.
There is no normal. I have had clients go through 13 homes in 2 hours because she made her decision within the first couple of minutes in the house. I have had clients go through three homes in 6 hours because they needed more time in each house.
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