Buying a home: the £10,000-a-minute decision

Mortgages and Home

Updated on 15 October 2014 | 0 Comments

The average homebuyer spends less than half an hour deciding whether to buy a property.

The average homebuyer spends less than half an hour viewing a home before deciding whether to buy it.

That’s according to new research from Barratt Homes, which found that on average buyers spend 25.5 minutes looking at a property before making up their minds. That’s less time than it takes to watch an episode of Coronation Street. With the average UK home costing around £250,000 according to the Office for National Statistics, that works out at nearly £10,000 a minute.  

Indeed, it’s just 11 and a half minutes longer than the average person spend deciding which pair of jeans to buy.

Incredibly, more than one in eight homebuyers decide to buy a home before they even view it.

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Why don’t we spend longer viewing a property?

Barratt’s report picks out a number of reasons that homebuyers don’t spend longer viewing a property before deciding whether to buy it

The main reason was they didn’t want to put off the seller by spending too much time there (28%), while feeling pressured by the estate agent (27%) was another big factor.

Other issues included feeling uncertain as to how to arrange a further viewing (25%), feeling pressure from the homeowner (14%) and simply not having any more time to spare (10%).

The questions you must ask!

It’s always a good idea to visit a property more than once before putting in a bid. It’s particularly useful to visit at different times of the day – it may seem a tranquil neighbourhood in the morning, but become a lot louder in the evening.

There are also some crucial questions that you should get the answers to before you even consider buying a property. Read our guide Questions you must ask before you buy a house for more.

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More on buying and selling property:

Questions you must ask before you buy a house

How to deal with property chain problems

When should you stop renting and buy?

How to cut the cost of moving home

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