How to decide whether a property is worth a viewing

The answer, straight away

Before going to see a property you run six checks, and together they take half an hour. They exist to avoid what consumes most in this profession: afternoons spent on houses that were never going to work.

One: is it genuinely available

Does an instruction or written willingness exist. Does the person offering it speak to the owner directly or did they hear it from somebody.

A long chain is the most reliable sign that something is wrong.

Two: has it ever been published

Thirty seconds on the address or a photograph. If it sat online for two years, the price history changes the negotiation completely.

Three: do the numbers work

Price per metre against completed comparables in the area, not against asking prices.

If it is thirty per cent out, you find out why before travelling: either there is something you do not know, or the price is not real.

Four: does the position hold up

Orientation, noise, actual distance to amenities, access.

A satellite map and five minutes on the street name tell you nearly everything. On many properties the viewing only confirms what could have been known beforehand.

Five: what holds it back

Constraints, unclosed permissions, energy rating, easements, co-owners.

You ask beforehand. A serious seller answers; one who stiffens at these questions is telling you something.

Six: does it match the client's real requirements

Not the preferences. The two or three points without which they would not buy.

If one is missing, the viewing only serves to make you say no somewhere less convenient.

What to do when two or three do not add up

Do not cancel: ask. Often the answer settles it in two lines, and occasionally it reveals a problem that just saved you a day.

Why that half hour pays

An agent doing ten viewings a month who eliminates three this way recovers thirty-six afternoons a year.

Thirty-six afternoons is the time it takes to win two new instructions.