House hunters are quick to fall in love with the right property, with one in four saying they decided to buy before they had even finished the first viewing. One in five knew within 30 seconds of walking through the front door and a bold one in 10 claim to have known before they even stepped inside, according to a new survey from conveyancer My Home Move.

Slow and steady

But not everyone is so quick to jump into their first property purchase with one in six needing a second viewing to decide on the home for them.

The survey also found that one in ten (11%) homebuyers found it much harder to find their dream home and had to view ten or more properties before finding their home.

Four in ten (39%) had a perfect home that ‘got away’ and were not able to buy the home they originally fell in love with.

The most common reason homeowners were not able to buy a property was being outbid by another buyer. This happened to 27% of buyers, while 17% were ‘gazumped’, where the seller accepted a higher offer from a new bidder after accepting the original offer.

Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, said: “By the time it comes to arranging a viewing, the typical buyer now knows all about the location they are interested in and what the property is like from its online profile. This means they can make their mind up extremely quickly; and in some cases, even before setting foot inside the property.”