What should you hear from your broker during the viewing?

Throughout my time in the business, I have met a large number of brokers - some better than others. However, in my opinion, they can be divided into three basic groups according to how they operate during viewings.

 

1. The “Door Opener”:

 

Probably the worst group of brokers, who just open the door to the apartment, say hello and then offer up a maximum of 1-2 sentences of information and sometimes not even that. Their approach to selling the apartment is: "Here it is! So have a look and let me know when you're ready to leave!”. Some brokers let potential buyers just run around the apartment and make a mockery of you if you, the owner, are present (you have a role to play at a viewing but your input must certainly not be its entire content). You answer any questions yourself, because your broker usually does not even know the answers. And when the viewers are leaving, they don't forget to mention that they have another three people interested, the commission is 5% plus VAT and they can sign the reservation contract right away.

 

2. The “genuine broker”:

 

After opening the door, they will greet you but then take the lead. They guide the potential buyers through the apartment in a logical way, offer important info and interesting facts about each room, answers questions flexibly because they are prepared and know the answers - sometimes even better than you (if you disagree with anything they say, don't argue about it in front of the potential buyers, keep it until after the inspection ????) At the end, they will suggest the interested parties walk through the property again themselves and ask any questions which come to mind. They then give them promotional materials for the property and say goodbye to them so that they can think about it and let them know (I wish every broker was like this!).

 

3. The “Chatterbox”

After entering the apartment, the potential buyer will more or less have to discover the property on their own as in the first case. Here though, the broker will be one step behind them adding some explanation or solution to a problem or just a load of other info to everything they see that might not even be true - they just say it to make the sale. The vast majority of it is gibberish and a good half of the info doesn't even apply to your property! After all, such a hard-sell broker tends to get an immediate decision out of people on whether they want the apartment or not. Whether they will sign a protocol for them and whether they can offer them something else from their sales portfolio. In short - they sell something, no matter what, here and now. 

But what is the basic information a potential buyer on a viewing should learn from each of the above types? Again, we can again identify three groups:

 

1. Legal requirements - the potential buyer should learn about PENB - the energy performance of the building; they should understand all the rights and obligations that belong to the apartment: annuity, service charge debts, burdens, liens, etc.; actual defects in the apartment - humidity, recent damage-causing events, etc.

 

2. General requirements that you should definitely know: Apartment size, dimensions. Ways of ensuring its basic operation - heating, water heating, energy in general, internet connection, etc.

 

3. Something extra - The potential buyer should learn something extra, anything that will help your apartment stand out more from others in their memory - interesting stories, relationships with neighbours, the general feel of living there. Just all the non-technical things that make a property a home ????