Daily Mail

Why i’m hooked on snooping around other people’s homes

- By Sarah Chalmers

WATChiNG the softclose larder door shut, i ran a hand over the granite worktop, threw a wistful backward glance at the integrated recycling system and strode across the parquet floor to the door.

Once outside i squinted up at the verdant roof terrace, agreed that the walk- inwardrobe had been to die for and assured the agent i would ‘be in touch’.

so was i about to make an offer on the £1 million, twoobedroo­m penthouse apartment nt i had just viewed? Er . . . no.

Not only was it way beyond my means, but with three young children and a husband who comes with a shed-full of fishing equipment, an open-plan designer loft was never going to meet our housing needs.

i was not planning to buy that — or any — home. We live in a three-bedroom house in North London, close to work and my children’s primary school. Though not luxurious, it’s perfectly suitable for our family.

When i viewed that new-build flat i had no more intention of moving there than the average office worker idly Googling designer shoes has of splashing out on a pair.

if you are an owner trying to sell your house and you suspect many of those strangers traipsing through it might be time-wasters, i’m afraid i have some news for you. A lot of them, like me, probably are.

i am simply obsessed with other people’s homes, and i am not alone. Viewing houses is my hobby. in much the same way as some people love fashion or fine art, i am hooked on houses. You name it, i have an opinion on it, from lakeside cabins to village vicarages.

The internet has made access to my secret obsession ridiculous­ly easy. i simply click onto my favourites list and i am transporte­d inside a chateau in the dordogne or a townhouse in Knightsbri­dge, thanks to sites such as Rightmove and Prime Location.

it’s how i relax after a busy day. ‘Property porn’ now has an entryt ini theth CollinsC lli dictionary.i ti Rightmove has just revealed that it expects Christmas afternoon to be one of its busiest times for online viewing, as millions of us shun our families for the solitary pleasure of online property browsing.

On a recent night out, a friend excitedly told us her home had received 741 hits in its first week on sale.

several of us around the table could not look her in the eye, all shame-facedly wondering how many of those hits could be attributed to people she knew.

Even the hollywood actress Cate Blanchett told an interviewe­r last week she and her husband Andrew Upton ‘spend a lot of time on property websites’. (helpfully, she also mentioned her favourite site for homes in Australia, which i have added to my viewing list). ‘As a nation we have a deepseated desire to own our own home. it has never been easier to be a nosy neighbour as there is more and more informatio­n out there online,’ says Rosalind Renshaw, editor of Property industry Eye, a daily online news service for estate agents.

i have an annual subscripti­on to Real homes magazine and keep a pile of well-thumbed design books by my bedside, despite having never undertaken more than a quick paint job.

My TV viewing consists, almost entirely, of property shows such as Location, Location, Location, Grand designs and Escape To The Country. i don’t care if they are repeats, because there is Nosey: Sarah is obsessed with house-hunting no nothing more relaxing than og ogling someone else’s st stylishMy motive home. is escapism. i thin think the feeling of calm and abs absorption i get as i marvel at a home on screen is sim similar to the feeling of pea peace that devotees of mindfuln fulness report.

Bu But as all addicts will tell you you, sometimes it’s not enou enough to just look. My lust for property has drive driven me, on more occasions than i will admit, to physically snoo snoop around a particular­ly entic enticing property — such as that penthouse apartment with a glorious walk-in wardrobe in hoxton, East London.

Mo Mostly, this is a relatively pain painless procedure as the stagn stagnant property market mean means agents don’t ask too many questions.

it’s e easy to make an appointmen­t t to see a new build or a showhomeh h and i have a stock story about a young family member moving to the area when the agent seems suspicious of how serious i am.

tO MY shame, i have been caught out. When i spotted a house nearby similar to our own had come on the market, i couldn’t resist booking a viewing. i thought i might pick up a few ideas for extending (and have a lovely snoop, of course).

When the owner opened the door, however, he recognised me immediatel­y. ‘You walk past my house every morning with your children. Why on earth would you want to move into a virtually identical house just a few streets away?’ he asked.

i muttered something about wanting to be closer to the park and whizzed round the property, red-faced, in double-quick time. i now confine my curiosity to homes outside my postcode.

i’m not sure i can be cured because my obsession may be hard-wired. As a child i recall a photo in one of the family albums, captioned ‘Our dream house’. it was the bungalow in a nearby town that my parents had coveted as newlyweds.

Growing up, visiting showhomes was considered a legitimate recreation and as soon as i could read i began scouring the For sale sections of the local paper for homes i hoped, one day, to inhabit.

My favourite was a onebedroom flat in dundee, above a chip shop, which i reasoned would be perfectly placed for when i got hungry.

it was fun then and it’s fun now. At least my aspiration­s have risen. Now if you’ll excuse me i have a property alert pinging on my laptop . . .

 ?? Picture: JULIETTE NEEL ??
Picture: JULIETTE NEEL

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