House Viewing: 5 Steps to a Home You Love

If you would like to find out more about how Council Flats are working in London right now, which agencies are worth calling and which are not, you might want to read 3 ways to find a home with DSS (Housing Benefit) but if you already know what you are doing and you are looking to find viewings keep reading….

Photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

What follows is my own experience, please take it as that — experience of one person no more. In 2018 I was able to find a flat in about 2–3 months which I was pleased with so I am sharing in case it can help you get to where you want to be too.

First, let’s have a look at how to increase the chances of getting called to the right house viewings.

Who and When to Call?

Create a routine and make at least one call a week to each of these numbers:

1. Your Housing Officer
2. The team responsible for working with Private Landlords on behalf of the borough. In most boroughs these are called ‘Home Finders.’
   You may not be able to call them directly right away (and they may tell you to call your Housing Officer instead but if you ask to be given the number once you are already calling regularly they will probably oblige).

Why? I learnt that as the Home Finders team gets new properties they email these to all the Housing Officers, amidst their busy day those officers are then expected to pick which of their clients they will contact about this property. If you are not at the top of their brain …you may not get the call.

The Home Finders team I called, to further increase the chances that I might hear about a property that my housing officer might miss or not think to tell me about, after all she could be off sick or plain busy.

My point is simple: if all these people don’t know you by name and you don’t know all of them by name, you are not calling enough!

Most of the time when you call, they won’t have anything for you. This is fine. You are not expecting to hear any good news when you call, you are simply calling so that they call you themselves, when it counts. Once they say, they have nothing, be cheerful, thank them for their time and end the call.

If they do tell you about the property, don’t commit to every single one, get at details before you agree. If the postcode sounds similar to those you were already looking for, great ask them to put you on the list right away.

If not, tell them you will check it and call them back.

Here is what I would do in these situations:

1. I would use directions on Google Maps to trace the route to my most frequent destinations and check that it is under 1 hour.
   (Examples of destinations: friends and family, if you are co-parenting, is it a doable distance to the other parent’s house? Work, school?)
2. Secondly, I look at Street View in Google Maps; to first look at the property, then take a virtual walk along the street to the closest shopping area (if you won’t be driving).

Of course you can always go to view for the sake of viewing, but long trips will leave you tired.

If I didn’t like the property, I found it was important to say why otherwise they seemed to think that I was being fussy. So I would call back and simply say.

‘You know, after everything I have been through, I really need a more positive area’ OR ‘I really need to be closer to my friends.’

So without further ado…

5 steps to Get You Somewhere Where You Actually Want To Live

Treat the viewing as you would an interview — if you think you might like to live there, focus on making the right impression rather than actually viewing the flat (take some photos so that you can make up your own mind later on) if nothing else it will be good practice for when you find the one you really like. You want to have the first choice of refusal of the property.

1. Turn up at least 30 minutes before the viewing. Treat it as opportunity to better understand the area; you might see (or hear) the neighbours, you might realise how noisy the traffic actually is. All of these things can make or break your experience of living in this house.
2. Once you are in the property and you have had a look around, ask ‘What are you looking for in a tenant for this property?’
   Listen carefully for things you can reflect in your own answer.
   For example: if they say, its important that you get on with the neighbours. Ask them about the neighbours, and try to find reasons of how you would get on with them.
3. Research the area and list specific reasons why this location suits you (which will be easy to slip into conversation) such as how you love the local pool and can’t wait to start going there with the kids. This will show them that you are there for the long term and they won’t have the inconvenience of having to find another tenant.
4. If you are not working, it is still important to give them the impression that you this is not out of the question; they would be trusting you with their property and it will give them peace of mind to see of examples of other people trusting you. Here are a few ways of doing this:
   - Mention a past employer of yours, who you may re-approach about work once, you are settled.
   - If you are thinking of starting a business or something on your own, tell them about it.
   - Look up the closest charity shops local to this house (takes 60 seconds) and share which specific shop near by you will be approaching if you move in.
5. Don’t be afraid to disclose your situation fully, feeling like they understand you can create a sense of intimacy between you and the agent/landlord which can make them want to help you. Don’t talk too long but you can be honest and brief.

I truly hope this helps, would love to hear your comments below.

We can do this.

xo