Considering buying a home is one of the biggest (and most expensive) decisions a person can make, it seems that the average buyer is able to perform this task in less time than it takes to cook a defrosted steak pie (45mins - gas mark 8).
So how is this possible you might ask?
One theory is as the vast amount of property info is readily available online, house hunters simply no longer need to spend hours traipsing round the streets viewing properties and grilling estate agents before deciding on which property is right for them.
Values, property history, photos, transport links and virtually everything else you'd need to know about the property is available at the click of a mouse, leaving plenty of time to eat that pie.
Almost two thirds view a property twice before making an offer to buy with 10% doing so after only one viewing and only 29% returning to a property more than twice.
The research also revealed women are quickest to decide, beating men by a minute (or approximately the time it takes to boil a third of an egg).
The research also uncovered the fact that men were more impulsive and likely to make a snap decision with 11% of them deciding to put in an offer after only one viewing, compared to 9% for women.
The survey found that those spending £500k+ on a property did manage to take two minutes longer (that's the rest of the egg boiled then) on average before deciding to buy, a good idea given the amount of money involved. However it realistically doesn’t matter if you are spending £100k or over £500k, the property price tag is relative to your situation and the research shows that there is only a matter of minutes between making a decision across each price bracket.
Russell Quirk, Founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk commented:
“The fact of the matter is people don’t need to spend as much time on the viewing process as they once did. The reason for this is simple, now when a potential buyer views a house, they are viewing the house and the house only.
With the internet providing a wealth of information, they already know if a property will suit them from a practical point of view before stepping through the front door. If a property has ticked all the boxes prior to a viewing, then all that is left is whether you walk through the door and your heart screams ‘this is it!’
Most potential buyers will know within the first sixty seconds whether or not it is the one for them and the majority of buyers tend to return for a second viewing just to validate their thinking.”
So there you have it.
