Most viewings last forty minutes and happen at whatever hour suited two diaries. That is enough to establish the plan and not much else. Everything a house does badly, it usually does badly at a particular time of day.
Light is not a fixed property
A north-west room is a cold room at ten and a very beautiful room at seven. A south-facing glazed wall with no shading is pleasant in March and uninhabitable in July. Photographs are always taken at the flattering hour, which is exactly why they are not evidence.
The practical version of this is simple: ask to see the house twice on the same day, once early and once late. Any seller who is confident in the building will agree.
Noise arrives on a timetable
- Traffic peaks twice and is quiet in between
- Neighbouring terraces are used in the evening, not the morning
- Plant and lift machinery run to a schedule you can ask for
- Coastal wind usually gets up in the afternoon
None of these are reasons not to buy. They are reasons to know what you are buying, and to price it.
Temperature is the honest test
Ask for the heating and cooling to be switched off an hour before you arrive in the afternoon. A well-built house with good shading will hold its temperature; a poorly built one will tell you within ten minutes.
The building that photographs best is rarely the building that lives best. The gap between the two is where a buyer's advantage sits.
A full day costs you a Saturday. It is the cheapest survey you will ever commission.
Marisol Renard
Partner — Coastal
Fifteen years on one coastline, which is why she can tell you what the water does in February.
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