What is the average number of viewings to sell a house?

Helping you with house viewings, including the answer to the average number of viewings to sell a house...

Whether you’re new to selling a house or a seasoned professional, one thing you expect from selling on the open market is getting house viewings. Whether you decide to show potential buyers round yourself, or leave it up to the estate agent, it’s a crucial step in getting your house sold.

But the big question is how many viewings does it take to sell a house? What’s the average number of viewings to sell a house? Are you going to have 20+ viewings with no success?

Well, you’ve come to the right place to find out! We’re going to talk through the average number of viewings to sell a house, as well as some tips on how to get more house viewings and what to do when your house viewings aren’t leading to offers.

How long do most houses take to sell?

According to research by GetAgent, selling a property in the current climate takes 295 days. Since the introduction of the Stamp Duty Holiday in July 2020, demand has spiked up meaning it’s quicker to find a buyer but for the sale to actually go through it’s taking 43 days longer, with the research comparing the period between January and July 2020 to July to December 2020.

However, there are certain things that will make your house sell faster – for example if you live in a more sought-after area. If you want more tips on how to sell your house faster then, little hint, it’s coming up later!

Average number of viewings to sell a house

Although selling a house can be an unpredictable adventure at the best of times, one thing you do know to expect is that you will get viewings. After all, who’s going to buy a property that they haven’t even looked at?

But a big question is how many viewings to sell a house? The fact you’re here shows you’re curious and want to know the average number of viewings to sell a house. Well, you’re in luck because we have the answer for you:

Based on research by The Advisory, only 20% of sales agreed in both a hot and cold market had less than 5 viewings, showing it’s unlikely to sell your house within the first few viewings.

Even though the overall average number of viewings to sell a house is 10, which does sound a lot, there’s no saying how quickly these viewings happen. These viewings could all happen in the first 5 weeks of the house being on the market, resulting in sold STC within these 5 weeks.

Alternatively, these 10 viewings could be spread over months or even years and therefore takes what feels like forever to sell. This is a big risk of the open market, as there are no set deadlines or time frames to work to. This means when you go into selling a house, there’s no way of telling how long the process will take.

How many viewings should you have in the first week?

In a hot market, you should expect to get about 2 viewings a week. Based off this, you can expect 2 viewings in your first week. It could be more in a hot market, as there are lots of buyers in the market and therefore more potential interest.

With a hot market, there are more buyers than there are sellers, and so as soon as something comes onto the market, buyers will jump on it ASAP!

In a cold market, you should expect to get around 1 viewing every week and a half to two weeks. Using this logic, you should expect a viewing in your first week or at least a call to arrange a viewing.

In a cold market there are less buyers or at least less buyers than there are sellers. This will result in your property being one of many and therefore less ‘exciting’ when it comes onto the market. In this situation, it’s so important to make sure your house is the best it could possibly be.

We’re going to give you some tips later on how to get more house viewings, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled…

How many second viewings result in an offer?

Second viewings are a good indication that the buyer is interested in your property. Time wasters who just wanted to come have a nosey will never go past the first viewing, as they never really had a genuine interest in your property.

Having said this, a second viewing doesn’t automatically mean an offer – it could be the case your house is on their ‘short list’ and there’s multiple properties getting a second viewing. Sadly, there’s no exact statistic for the number of second viewings which result in an offer with everyone’s experience with buying and selling being different.

What we can say, is coming to view the house for a second time is an encouraging sign they’re interested, especially if they bring another family member to see it second time or start asking questions about the neighbours, what it’s like living there, what bills are like, etc.

As we said though, there’s no guarantee second viewing = offer. Someone may view a house multiple times and still decide it’s not the house for them. Even after offering, the buyer could still pull out if something ‘better’ comes along.

What makes a house harder to sell?

If your house has been on the market a while and you’ve not had many viewings or had a lot of viewings which come to nothing, then there’s obviously something which is putting off all potential buyers.

There’s no specific ‘one size fits all’ answer as to what makes a house harder to sell, but we’ve got a list of reasons as to why houses don’t sell or take longer to sell. Have a read of our list and see if you can work out why your house might be sticking on the market:

1. Asking price too high – This is often the first thing that an estate agent will say to you when your house isn’t selling (despite them being the ones who told you to put your house at this price). However, despite this, they’re actually not wrong – getting the asking price right is crucial to ensuring your house doesn’t sit on the market

2. Photos don’t ‘show off’ the property – As the majority of buyers look for houses online, photos of the property are so important. Make sure you ask your estate agent for all the photos; choose the ones you like and ask a friend if they agree. You want to make sure the pictures are showing off all the ‘good bits’ about your property, as this is what will draw in viewers and make a house easier to sell

3. Estate agent isn’t good enough – This is a tricky one but sometimes you may find that your estate agent isn’t working hard enough for your property or maybe just isn’t right for your property. An estate agent who isn’t working well with the property is not going to help a property sell, and could result in a harder sale

4. Bad timing – Maybe you’ve put your house up for sale at the quietest time of the year, causing your house to stick on the market. Generally, the best time of year to sell your property is the spring and summer months and selling outside this time will result in a house being hard to sell

5. Key features missing – If the description of your house online doesn’t include the key features that make your property attractive, then the house will stick on the market and be harder to sell. Make sure if your house has a garden or garage that this is featured in the description – anything that makes your house sound the best you can, should be included to avoid it not selling

6. Too much clutter – A cluttered house is not something any potential buyer wants to see. Before any viewing or photos, make sure to declutter and ‘depersonalise’ your house to help it become more appealing to your viewers, helping them visualise themselves living there, making it more likely that the viewings will turn into a sale (yay)

7. Not on Rightmove – Rightmove is one of the UK’s biggest property portals and so not having your house on here will make it harder to sell. Alongside Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket are also another two of the UK’s biggest property portals, which you should push to get your property featured on to get it viewed by more people

8. House is disappointing on viewings – Sometimes your estate agent photos aren’t the problem, it’s when the viewers actually view your house… Maybe your house is looking a bit tired? Or maybe you’re a pet owner and your furry friend is causing an unappealing smell? Ask a friend or your estate agent to walk around your house and be brutally honest about anything that needs a bit of tweaking to stop your house being so hard to sell

9. Property chain – A property chain, particularly a long property chain, is highly unappealing to potential buyers, as the sale going through doesn’t just rely on the seller but also everyone else above them in the chain. If you can be chain free, by moving into rented or selling your house before looking for a new one, then this will decrease the likelihood of your house being hard to sell

How do I get more house viewings?

If you’re struggling to get viewings, there are some simple steps you can follow to increase your ‘curb appeal’ and get yourself some more viewings. Here are our top tips…

• Put house up during busiest months – As we mentioned earlier, the best time to sell your house is during the spring/summer months, with May to August being the busiest months. However, in the past year, with the ‘Stamp Duty Holiday’, all times of the year has been a busy time, especially as the first deadline was 31st March 2021 with everyone pushing to meet that. If you’re unsure when’s best to go on the market, speak with your estate agent and they should be able to give you the best advice!

• Give house a freshen up – Time to repaint the dull walls, scatter around some flowers and plants and fix all the dodgy lightbulbs. You could also get some new pictures done – this may make the house look fresh on the market and may bring in some viewers who had previously ‘written off’ your house

• Change estate agent – Or use multiple estate agents. This will increase the number of people seeing your property, which increases the likelihood of finding the right people to, not only view your property, but also turn their viewings into a sale!

• Consider changing your price – Sometimes when a house is sticking on the market with very few viewings, it can be the price which is putting off potential viewers. A change of price will therefore draw in those people, leading to more viewings which leads to more potential of finding the right buyer

If you want to know some more steps on how to get your house selling fast, have a read of this.

My house isn’t selling – what do I do?

If your house is on the open market and isn’t selling or has had more viewings than the average number of viewings to sell a house, then it may be time to start considering what your other options are.

Lucky for you, there are plenty of other options to help get yourself a faster sale – Part Exchange, Auction or a ‘cash house buying’ company.

Not sure which option is best? Let’s break them down and see which suits you…

Part Exchange – A part exchange scheme is where you trade the value of your current house against a new build property, with your property acting as a ‘part payment’ for a new build. A part exchange scheme can be generally good for a quick house sale, as it means a guaranteed sale of your property, no chain and a new build house too.

However, it’s not a sale method which will suit everyone. For example, during the process one step is the developer having your house valued by three individuals so they can make you an offer based on these valuations.

During this process, you’re given no indication of how this value has been determined and they will generally undervalue your property by a fair amount. It also means you have to have multiple viewings with the different individuals valuating the property, making the process more time-consuming.

Part exchange schemes also state that your house must be in what they deem to be ‘good’ condition and that not all houses are eligible for the scheme. If your house is more than 65-75% of the value of the new build, then you will not be allowed to take part.

Also, even if you are given an offer for your property through a part exchange scheme, the offer is still subject to a survey and, in some terms of agreement, it states that the developer can withdraw their offer at any point without notice, leaving you stuck with no buyer and at no warning.

Part exchange schemes are also not open to doing a deal on a property in just any location – in other words, if it doesn’t fit in with them, they don’t want it!

Auction – Another option you could use if your house has had more than the average number of viewings to sell a house with no success is to go through auction.

At auction you will get serious buyers who have their finances in place, as when the hammer goes down on a deal, contracts are exchanged, and a 10% deposit is put down. The buyer then has 20 to 28 days to complete, helping you sell your house much quicker.

At auction, you’re also less likely to get time wasters, with everyone there serious about buying. You’re also unlikely to get ‘gazundered’, which is where a buyer suddenly drops their price after it has been agreed.

However, even at auction, buyers can and do pull out of the sale, forfeiting their deposit. Also, at auction, you will have to have several open days to allow potential buyers the opportunity to properly view the property. This will further delay the process and there’s no telling how many open days and viewings it will take to get your house sold…

Also, at auction, you have to cover your own legal fees and you have to pay a commission of the sold price to the auctioneer and pay for advertising and marketing costs, as well as room hire. The price your house sells at, at auction, can also be significantly below the ‘market price’. The buying of your property will also be subject to a survey.

There are no guarantees at auction that your property will sell, and it can take 6-10 weeks, which although is quicker than the current average on the open market, still leaves you guessing as to when you will finally get your house sold.

‘Cash House Buying’ Company – Another option to help take the guessing out of how many viewings it will take for your house to finally sell is to sell to a cash house buying company, also own as a ‘quick house sale’ company.

A quick house sale company will give you a cash offer for your property, which is a guaranteed price and therefore means you have a guaranteed buyer. Your legal fees will be covered by the company and you don’t have to pay any commissions or fees. You also won’t get ‘gazundered’, as the price you’re offered by the company is a guaranteed price.

Not only do you get cash in your bank, but you get it in your bank quickly! Some quick house sale companies can have the property sold and cash in your bank in as little as 7 days. No, that’s not a typo, some really can do it in as little as 7 days!

Unlike on the open market and at auction, selling with a quick house sale company only involves one quick house viewing, to help ensure that the valuation and offer for your property is as accurate as possible, so there’s no need to keep searching ‘average number of viewings to sell a house’ desperately looking for some reassurance your house will sell soon.

Although the offer you’re given will be slightly below market value, as we said earlier you won’t have to pay any legal fees or estate agent costs, so the price you’re offered is the price you’ll get!

If this option sounds like something you need, helping you avoid endless viewings which come to nothing, then look no further! We will buy your house for CASH and have it in your bank ASAP!

Here at The Property Buying Company, we’re a cash buyer of houses, buying any property in any condition, in as little as 7 days, all whilst covering your legal fees!

Our offer may be slightly below market value, but our average completion time is 2-3 weeks, meaning you can get your house sold in as little time as possible. And the offer is in CASH, meaning the price you’re offered is the price you’ll get!

We have over 50 years’ combined experience in the industry and countless good reviews on trust pilot (feel free to check them out), meaning we really are a quick house sale company you can trust.

Why not get on your way to selling your house FAST, without the need for a never-ending list of viewings, by giving us a call or completing our online form to get a no-obligation cash offer, which we could have in your bank in as little as 7 days!