Property viewing process

For my real estate business, viewing trips, sometimes known as discovery tours or inspection trips, are a key part of the due diligence and decision making process for my customers. This is the time that we should really invest wisely our time and money in the buying process.

Many people go on them, but many participants do not maximise the opportunity they offer to improve investment success.

Viewing Trip Preparation

Most people like to have some information on the properties they wish to view before traveling. It is important to have undertaken some pre selection work as it is not possibe or indeed sensible to view everything for sale.

Too much choice does not help our purchasing decisions and this is where property pre selection process is so important. With my clients we discuss how much of the due diligence work is available for each property and we review locations and prices. We then discuss which properties fulfill their criteria.

At this stage I send the PVP sheet (Property Viewing Process) sheet for an inital review of their chosen properties. This can help establish which developments and locations will not be of any interest and frankly a viewing will be a frustrating and unrewarding experience. Once we have between two and six developments to view on this sytem some morre details can be added and an adneda put together.

Second Viewing

Not everyone is the same for viewings but consider how much staminer you may have in the heat of the day and be sure to stop for lunch. Ideally allowing a week to view which would include the first day to relax and just get the geography sorted and enjoy the visit then the next two or three days with two viewings per day.

By the second day of viewing you may already be there and decided. However, before committing then remember to go back and view your top two favourites with an eye on the specific units.

We ask all our clients to provide their feedback on viewings and their thoughts on property.

Why do I do this? Very simply we have all found that it makes for better property investment decisions from clients and, at the same time, it helps us improve our service for you as we optimise the balance between location and value for money and risk.

The Property Viewing Process (PVP). This simple 10 point tool I developed for my own investing when I discovered too late that I had made a mistake by not being able to recollect the properties I had viewed.

I also found it can be hard to always remember exactly why you preferred another - and for what reason. It also helps our investors to be sure they have made the right decision taking into account price.

1/   general pros (+ve points) and cons (-ve points) of each property

2/   rate your own view on property location (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

3/   rate on perceived design (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

4/   rate on expected build quality (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

5/   rate on rental prospects (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

6/   rate on capital appreciation prospects (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

7/   rate on perceived value for money (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

8/   rate for personal own use, i.e How much would you like to stay in the property and development yourself?  (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

9/   rate property overall on how close the property matches your personal buying criteria (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

10/ rate for exit strategy - how easy will it be to sell  (marks out of 10 - for example 7/10)

add your own notes to explain rating in more detail and add comment on each viewing itself.

If you have your own viewing system or have any comments then these are very welcome.