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NON SHOW HOUSE ATTENDANCE DUE TO WINTER, WORLD CUP AND OTHER FACTORS
The number of visitors to most show houses at the Cape has been ‘dismal’, says Anton du Plessis, CEO of Vineyard Estates, an agency which has always stressed the value of show house days.
“In the past three weeks, many show houses have seen only one or two visitors the entire afternoon,” said du Plessis.
The factors causing this, he says, are quite clear: the prolonged school holidays, the World Cup, Wimbledon and other major sporting events – and the cold, rainy weather on certain days.
“Most of these factors play their part every winter, but their effect has been compounded by the soccer and the long school holidays.”
In the circumstances, said du Plessis, some agents are bound to campaign for shorter viewing hours, i.e. from 3pm to 5pm instead of the traditional 2pm to 5pm.
“This could be a workable arrangement if all agents followed suit but it is likely that this will not happen because if the Institute of Estate Agents recommended this course of action those agents (and they are fairly numerous) who have still not become members would be under no obligation to conform,” he said. “There will always be one or two agents who continue to show houses from 2 to 5pm, and who, therefore, may meet new buyers before other show houses have even opened – so shorter viewing hours could disadvantage some agents.”
Asked if a two hour show period would be enough, du Plessis said that ideally show houses should be open for most of the day. Unless a new buyer is specifically interested in a particular area, he might look from Tokai right through to Newlands and this would take time.
“Even if the buyer looked only at houses in his price bracket, he would be unable to see everything in the 2 to 5pm slot. A buyer looking for a house between R5 and R7 million on the weekend of 26 June would have had 14 houses to view. Given the time spent travelling between houses and suburbs, and even a perfunctory viewing of five minutes per house, the buyer would need well over three hours to complete the viewing.
“In my experience, it is almost impossible to see all of the houses on show in any given suburb in a three hour period. Most buyers, therefore, decide whether to view while driving past a property. This has the drawback that in many cases homes that do not look suitable from the road can turn out to be perfect “fits” for people who are taken there later on an appointment.”