People prepare a viewing the way they prepare a reception: tidy up, air the rooms, let the light in. That’s not wrong, it’s just incomplete — and it misses the essential point. A viewing doesn’t sell a house: it sets the discount. Every visible defect becomes a line item in the negotiation that follows. And, in Geneva more than elsewhere, it binds the seller legally well beyond the day itself.
What actually happens during a viewing
The buyer almost never decides to purchase during the viewing. They decide how much they will deduct. A window that closes badly, a mark on the ceiling, an ageing boiler: in the days that follow, each of these details turns into a costed argument — often overvalued, because a buyer in doubt always overestimates the cost of what they don’t understand.
Hence the right approach: not trying to charm, but removing the ammunition for negotiation. A plumber’s quote left next to the water heater is worth more than a water heater hidden behind a locked door — it turns a vague worry into a known figure, and you’re the one who set it.
A viewing is also a legal act
This is the part that home-staging guides leave out, and it carries more weight than the décor.
The starting principle: the seller warrants the buyer against defects that deprive the item of its value or its intended use, and — Article 197 paragraph 2 of the Code of Obligations is explicit — “he is liable for these defects even if he was unaware of them”. For a building, this claim lapses after five years from the transfer of ownership (Art. 219 para. 3). The matter therefore does not close on the day of the deed.
The viewing shifts precisely this liability, in both directions.
What the buyer sees discharges you. Article 200 paragraph 1 is clear: “The seller is not liable for defects that the buyer knew of at the time of the sale.” Showing a defect frees you from it. Paragraph 2 goes even further: the seller is also not liable for defects the buyer should have noticed “by examining the item with sufficient care” — unless the seller stated that they did not exist.
What you state binds you. This reservation in paragraph 2 is the real trap of viewings. “No, there has never been any water ingress” said to reassure, when the mark is visible on the ceiling, reverses the situation: the statement reintroduces a liability that mere silence would not have created. When in doubt, the only answer is “I don’t know, here are the documents.”
And concealing destroys your protection. Geneva deeds of sale almost always exclude the warranty against defects. But Article 199 neutralises it: “Any clause that removes or restricts the warranty is void if the seller fraudulently concealed the item’s defects from the buyer.” Repainting to enhance the property is legitimate; repainting to cover up a known instance of water ingress voids the clause that protected you — and exposes you for five years.
Preparing: what’s worth it, what isn’t
What pays off: decluttering, to the point where the rooms can breathe; fixing the small things — a handle, a seal, a light bulb — because a tiny but visible defect makes people assume ten invisible ones; cleaning windows and floors, which decide the perceived light; neutralising odours without replacing them with a fragrance, which signals that something is being hidden.
What doesn’t pay off: major works undertaken just before the sale. A kitchen redone in haste is noticeable, never matches the buyer’s taste, and is rarely recovered in the price. It’s better to have the works costed and let the buyer carry them out to their own taste — this is also the strongest position in negotiation. The method for defending your asking price details this trade-off.
Showing a property occupied by a tenant
This is the situation where people believe they need to ask a favour, when the law has already settled the matter — in both directions. The tenant must allow the landlord to inspect the property to the extent that such inspection is necessary for maintenance, sale or a future letting. Selling is therefore a recognised reason: a tenant cannot close their door on principle.
But the following paragraph frames how this is exercised, and that’s the part people forget: the landlord must give the tenant advance notice of viewings and take the tenant’s interests into account when carrying them out. No surprise viewings, no slots imposed at any hour, no constant parade of visitors. And the law expressly reserves the tenant’s claims for a rent reduction and damages: excessive viewings can come at a cost.
In practice, the formula that works comes down to three points: a schedule agreed in advance rather than requests made as they arise, viewings grouped into fixed time slots rather than scattered, and a single point of contact — the broker, never the buyer alone. A tenant who is informed and respected shows off a presentable home; a tenant who is besieged shows a home that doesn’t sell. The price difference is measurable.
If your property is let, the matter in fact goes beyond the viewing itself: the lease transfers to the buyer and the transfer may be subject to authorisation. The whole process is set out in our guide to selling an occupied home.
Who conducts the viewing — and why it isn’t you
An owner comments on their house; they’ve lived in it, they defend their choices, they explain. That is exactly what should not happen during a viewing: the buyer needs silence to picture themselves there, and questions that are answered briefly.
A third party observes something else: where the buyer slows down, what they open, what they photograph, what they don’t say. These signals are worth more than the viewing itself — they indicate whether an offer will come, and on what terms. An owner who is present, by contrast, doesn’t see them: they’re too busy talking.
What needs to be on the table
A file ready on the day of the first viewing changes the balance of power: it proves that nothing is being hidden, and it cuts short the weeks of successive requests that make a buyer doubt. Land registry extract, plans, regulations and charge statements for a PPE (condominium), invoices for works carried out, available diagnostic reports, quotes for what remains to be done. The full list of documents for a sale and which diagnostic reports are mandatory.
After the viewing
Note down what was shown and what was said, while it’s still fresh. This isn’t paperwork for its own sake: the day a buyer claims that something was hidden from them, the question will be exactly that — what did they know, and when.
Then comes the offer, which is handled in writing, with its conditions and its duration. And before all that, the price: a well-conducted viewing does not make up for a badly set price. Have your property valued, then see the full steps of a sale in Geneva.