When you view a property, there are certain facts you need to establish from the inspection. These facts will help you understand the layout of the property and the amount of work required to refurbish to the market’s requirements.
To establish all the necessary information from a viewing, you will need to spend some time at the property. Do not allow the agent to pressure you into completing a quick inspection because they have another viewing elsewhere. If this is the case then re-book the viewing to allow for more time.
The viewing should be done in two stages.Firstly, you should wonder around the property to establish the layout and consider any layout changes to make the property more habitable. You should imagine yourself in the shoes of your prospective buyer or tenant and what they may pick up as potential problems with the existing layout.
Secondly, start from the main door again and review the whole property so that you can check every possible detail. I would always advise to have a camera phone for taking pictures along with a PDA, notebook or a small recorder for making notes. This is important as you progress to viewing several properties over a short period of time, the details may become blurred and its always handy to refer back to your notes.