One in five buyers spend 20 minutes in a viewing before making an offer

Despite being one of life’s biggest financial decisions, a fifth of UK homebuyers are spending less than 20 minutes viewing a home before deciding to put in an offer, according to new research.

Zoopla is trialling eye-tracking software during viewings in West London, to track where real home-hunters focus their attention. It found that homebuyers spend just 34 seconds looking at a bedroom, and just 1.2 minutes in the kitchen.

Rather than focusing their attention on important things such as the condition of the boiler, water pressure or signs of damage or damp, homebuyers were more likely to spend time admiring items that wouldn’t even be there when they moved in, such as ornaments, furnishings and decorations. Mirrors, plants and pictures proved especially popular.

CELLARS, ROOFS AND ATTICS ARE THE MOST OVERLOOKED

Despite being given a full tour of the house, trial participants were least interested in flooring, the roof and the ceiling; all important parts of a home to inspect before making a purchase. Meanwhile, participants didn’t look at radiators for longer than 0.5 seconds in any room despite being a crucial component of a home’s heating system.

The home’s structure including flooring and ceilings earned 38% of the share of attention, with cosmetics and furnishings earning 54%. The trial follows research from Zoopla amongst 2000 homebuyers who have attended house viewings in the past five years. It found that just half (50%) of prospective homebuyers check something as important as the boiler and fewer check the water pressure (25%), wifi strength (24%), attic (23%) and cellar (17%).

COSMETIC FEATURES AND FURNISHINGS GET MOST ATTENTION

A  quarter admit to looking at pictures of the family that live there (25%) and their home technology (24%). Furthermore 31% look at their flowers, 37% admire their furniture and 14% could be stretching the boundaries of what is acceptable by rummaging through drawers and cabinets, and one in eight (13%) see how comfortable the owners' bed and sofa is.

Two-fifths (38%) don’t check for damp and three fifths (57%) don’t check for condensation according to the consumer research. This corresponds with the eye-tracking experiment’s results which showed that while viewers were checking out the bath and shower, the ceilings, which are most prone to damp and condensation in bathrooms, were looked at for the lowest period of time at just 0.34 seconds, taking up just 3% of the share of attention.

For agents, the experiment provides insights for them on what their clients are really looking at when viewing a property.

For buyers and sellers, there is an opportunity to leverage technology like this to make more informed decisions when it comes to the homebuying process