Guideline have been issued for prospective buyers on how to go about viewing properties during the current lockdown.
We’ve produced a brief summary that we hope will help guide clients through the process safely.
It is best that buyers should….
Be in a position to proceed. Historically we would happily show people around properties even if they were in the earliest stages and didn’t even have their own property on the market. Now we would strongly advise that you only physically view a property if you are able to make a proceedable offer straight away.
View the property online first. Almost all our properties have Video Tours available online – and these are actual video walkthroughs, not just a collection of photos with a sound track salesperson's voice over. Please ensure you watch the Video Tour for properties that you think may be suitable to help clarify your interest in the property
Make sure you’re COVID-19 free. We will ask you to confirm that you have displayed no COVID-19 symptoms within the last 4 weeks or been asked to self-isolate during that same period. Naturally, we also ensure our staff and sellers confirm the same.
Limit the number of people viewing the property. We ask that a maximum of two adults attend any viewing. We are, of course, happy for the children of those two adults to attend.
Make sure those viewers are from the same household. Government guidelines say that no more than two households should be in a property during the viewing. One will be the seller or the agent, so the viewers MUST be from the same household
Bring your own PPE. Unfortunately, we cannot provide PPE for viewers, so you need to ensure you have the correct face coverings with you when you arrive. We will provide hand sanitiser, and ask that people wishing to wear gloves ensure they are putting on a fresh pair as they enter the property.
View the property as quickly as possible. The guidelines state that a viewing should last no more than 15 minutes. For many houses, this should be adequate, but it does require moving around the property with a purpose and, wherever possible, saving questions until you are back outside, or later when they can be put to us by email/text/phone.
If the guidelines are followed, safe physical viewings can continue to take place, and your new home will be one step closer.