Virgin Home Insurance - Cutting down on cost, not cover

Virgin Home Insurance - Cutting down on cost, not cover

'Twenty minutes' to decide on house

16/07/2010

Image of a house with double garage

People take less than half an hour to decide whether they want to buy a property, according to a new survey.

A poll of 1,000 recent homebuyers found the average person spent around 21 minutes on a viewing before making a decision.

PCP found people spent more time choosing a new TV set (over 4.5 hours) or coffee table (over 2.5 hours)

Around 44% of homebuyers said they felt under pressure to act quickly in case another person snapped up the property they were interested in, while 26% felt that estate agents had talked up interest from other parties and 21% said they had encouraged them to make a quick offer.

In 93% of cases where couples buy a property together they make a joint decision, but in the 7% of cases where they disagree, women are three times more likely to have the final say than men.

PCP questioned 1,000 homeowners who bought a property during the past 12 months.

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