Virtual viewing could be the norm for home buyers seeking a move
Restless residents may be considering a home move after being cooped up in Covid-19 lockdown.
We spoke to Ken Robertson, Head of Residential Property at legal firm Balfour+Manson to find out how the land lies for those feeling the urge to move.
Ken suggested that rather than open viewing of houses on the market, arrangements will be strictly viewing by appointment, allowing sufficient time for viewers to see round. If the owner of the property is present, they will have to stay outside, or maintain physical distancing.
He also suggested that only two people may be allowed to view at any one time.
Virtual viewings have been encouraged recently and potential purchasers will not get to view in person until they have first seen the property on video. But, he admitted that virtual viewing is a bit of a mixed bag with a full video for some properties costing around £250-£300 depending on the size of the house. Ken said: "Generally speaking, prior to the lockdown these did not prove to be overly popular.
"Having said that, our property manager has taken new instructions from a few of our clients and they have opted for it. So we're waiting to see whether that is actually going to be compulsory for new properties coming on the market."
Ken admits he is not a tech geek, but he has discovered messaging service WhatsApp is invaluable "for a number of things I never used it for before".
He said: "It's been great for certifying documents and that type of thing. So that is another possibility - clients may prefer to do live WhatsApp calls and speak to the prospective owners who can answer any questions around the house and show them what needs to be shown." Interestingly the pandemic seems not to have overtly impacted on property prices in Edinburgh.
"In our discussions with surveyors they are very much taking the view that they are sticking to past values," he said.
"The way they value a property is historic, it's not what happened last month. It's really what is the trend over the last couple of years, so it's a slow moving ship in terms of adjusting the value. At the moment, basically, we can pretty much assume that the surveyors are going to adhere to the pre-lockdown valuation."