Foxtons says buyers take eight minutes to decide to purchase

Foxtons says it takes just eight minutes for a purchaser to know whether they will go ahead with buying a home. 

The high-profile London-focussed agency adds that six in 10 adults will make their decision not to buy before even stepping through the front door – after just four and a half minutes of standing outside.

In contrast, 15 per cent of homeowners say they make the decision to purchase before even stepping inside, while 18 per cent have bought the first home they saw.

The agency’s research also says that when viewing a property online, the average person takes eight minutes to choose whether to visit or not – as long as the advert is authentic.

The agency - which has commissioned the research to coincide with the launch of its own 3D virtual tours - says the average house-hunter requires a mere two visits on average to choose a new home, but not before seeing nearly 40 other properties; 28 online and 10 in real life.

When viewing properties online, six in 10 say they find it impossible to see how big the rooms are, and 49 per cent can’t tell how light they are.

More than one in 10 complain they can’t tell the colour of rooms from static pictures, and 52 per cent find it difficult to tell how overlooked a property is.

A third of people would welcome the opportunity to see if their furniture would fit the space, while 36 per cent want a clear view of the layout of the rooms when looking at a property online.

“Listings are crucial to a home selling quickly – they need to be accurate detailed representations of a property" says a Foxtons spokesman.

Foxtons has also listed what it claims are the top 40 things that immediately deter buyers:

1. A busy road with lots of parked cars

2. Obvious damp patches

3. Discovering the house was on a main road

4. Cracks on the walls

5. Awkward layouts

6. The smell of smoke

7. Too many fast food shops on the same road

8. The gardens / house are overlooked

9. A shared driveway

10. Peeling or dirty paint on the walls

11. Terrible DIY

12. Power lines ahead

13. The smell of pets

14. Rooms that have to have lights on

15. Ashtrays in the rooms

16. Dirty toilet pipes

17. Low ceilings

18. Aerial masts nearby

19. Train or bus station nearby

20. Bathroom with no shower

21. Stone cladding

22. Brown double glazing

23. Overgrown gardens

24. An outdated bathroom or kitchen

25. A bright or scruffy front door

26. A colourful bathroom suite

27. Overflowing bins

28. A front door with multiple security locks

29. Wheelie bins in front of houses

30. Cluttered rooms

31. Textured ceilings

32. A bar in the living room

33. Discovering the house was on a corner plot

34. Yellowed paintwork

35. A dining room which can't fit a table big enough for a family of eight

36. A utility room the size of a cupboard

37. Leylandi bushes

38. Untidy rooms

39. Rendered housing

40. Stained glass windows or doors