House-hunting asks you to do something you would never otherwise do: meet someone you have never met, at an address you have never been to, usually empty, sometimes alone, and often with cash or your ID in your pocket.
That is normal in this sector, and it is mostly fine. But the habits that keep it fine are worth being deliberate about rather than lucky.
Before you go
- Tell someone where you'll be. The address, the time, and the phone number you were given. A text to one person costs nothing and changes the situation entirely if anything goes wrong.
- Confirm who you are meeting. Get a name, a number, and which agency or landlord they represent. Call the number before the day. A number that only accepts messages is worth noticing.
- Look the address up. A satellite view tells you whether the road is what you were told it was, and how you would leave if you needed to.
- Go in daylight. An evening viewing saves you an hour and removes your ability to see the water damage, the neighbours, the road and the person's face.
While you're there
- Take someone with you for a first viewing if you possibly can. This is the single most effective thing on this list.
- Keep your phone charged and in your hand or pocket, not in a bag you might put down.
- Stay near the exit in each room until you are comfortable. Let the person showing you the place lead; you do not need to be walked into a back room to see it.
- Don't hand over your original ID. Someone may reasonably want to note who viewed the property. A photograph of your ID, or showing it without letting go of it, does that job.
- Leave if it feels wrong. You owe a stranger no explanation, and you can always rebook. The discomfort of walking out is small and the alternative is not.
About money
Nothing should change hands at a first viewing. Not a "viewing fee", not a "reservation", not a deposit to "hold it before someone else takes it". Urgency about money at the door is the single most reliable warning sign in this whole business, and it is the same warning sign whether the person is charming or rude.
When money does eventually move, it should go to a named account belonging to the landlord or the agency, against a written agreement and a receipt that says what it was for. Never to a personal number given to you verbally on the day, however plausible the reason.
If you're being taken around by a rider
Plenty of viewing days are done on the back of a boda, covering four or five places across a morning. Same rules, plus two:
- Agree the route and the price before you set off, not at each stop.
- Share your live location with someone for the duration of the trip.
A rider who takes house-hunters regularly should be able to tell you the plan for the morning and what it will cost, in advance. Being asked to renegotiate mid-trip, at a place you don't know, is not a fare dispute. It's a position you shouldn't be in.
What to bring
A charged phone, a way home that does not depend on the person showing you the house, someone who knows where you are, and your own tape measure if you are serious. That's it. Everything else about the viewing can be sorted out afterwards, in writing, from somewhere you feel comfortable.