Direct answer
Compare property viewings by using the same twelve checks for every home, preserving not checked and unresolved items, and adding first-year cash figures from named sources. Do not collapse condition, location, layout, legal uncertainty, ongoing charges, and personal preference into one unexplained score. Start with hard requirements, then compare observations and evidence gaps, then practical use, then confirmed and estimated cash separately. A home with more photographs is not necessarily better evidenced; it may only have received more access. Arrange second visits or professional checks where missing information could reverse the choice.
Create equal rows before judging columns
For each property, complete roof and exterior, walls and movement, damp and drainage, electrics, heating and hot water, plumbing and pressure, windows and doors, noise and daylight, layout and storage, tenure and lease, charges and works, and access and parking. Use clear, follow up, concern, or not checked. Status describes buyer evidence state, not technical condition.
Apply the same language. Record “two diagonal plaster cracks above rear door; surveyor not yet instructed,” not “structural risk: high.” Record “agent quoted £1,800 service charge for current year; management pack not received,” not “cheap to run.” This allows notes from different dates and buyers to remain comparable.
Separate evidence gaps from negative findings
A locked garage, isolated boiler, obscured roof slope, or missing lease does not equal a defect. It creates an unresolved check. Count those checks and ask whether each could change price, use, finance, insurance, timing, or willingness to proceed. Give important gaps a route: second viewing, seller document, survey, specialist inspection, or conveyancer enquiry.
Preserve seller and agent statements with attribution. Add received documents as separate evidence and professional reports as scoped findings. Do not overwrite old entries when new information conflicts. A visible sign may remain relevant after paperwork arrives, and a reassuring viewing may still need routine transaction checks.
Compare practical fit with named routines
Use commutes, accessibility, sleep, work, cooking, storage, parking, deliveries, bins, bikes, outdoor space, care, and likely occupancy as explicit scenarios. Measure critical fit points with permission. Separate requirements from preferences and record whose need is represented. This prevents one polished room or strong first impression from dominating daily constraints.
Revisit noise, daylight, parking, access, and neighbourhood movement at contrasting times when they influence the decision. Record date and conditions. No single appointment predicts every season or future change, and public data may be modelled or historic. Use context to plan checks, not to claim certainty.
Keep first-year cash traceable
Use separate buyer-entered lines for purchase price, deposit, relevant tax estimate, mortgage fees, legal work, survey, removals, confirmed charges, immediate work, furnishings, and reserve. Attach source and date. Keep confirmed figures, professional quotes, rough allowances, and unknowns visibly different. Viewing Ledger does not calculate tax, mortgage suitability, valuation, or repair scope.
Review the shortlist in this order: non-negotiable failure, unresolved evidence that could become one, confirmed practical fit, transaction and first-year cash, then preferences. Discuss technical and legal questions with suitable professionals. Comparison organises evidence; it does not replace judgement or transfer responsibility to an automated score.
What to keep in the record
- Same twelve check statuses for every home, including not checked and the reason evidence is missing.
- Observation, seller or agent statement, document, and professional finding stored as separate dated evidence types.
- Three personal requirements and three preferences, each connected to a route, room, measurement, or ongoing obligation.
- First-year cash lines with source, date, confirmed or estimated state, and excluded unknowns.
- Smallest next action capable of changing the shortlist: revisit, request, survey, specialist check, conveyancer enquiry, or accept uncertainty.
Related property checks
Continue the decision record
Primary sources
Last reviewed 9 September 2026. England-focused general information; property, transaction, and professional requirements differ.