Glossing over a bathroom before a home tour to mask its shortcomings can be easily done; doing so for a virtual or video tour is even easier. In the age of the coronavirus, glossing over a bathroom prior to a video tour can put a buyer at a disadvantage. A bathroom’s smaller footprint in a home can make it difficult to notice its components. You may think that the vanity, shower and toilet are the only components to check; but the purely functional purpose of a bathroom makes it even more imperative to not rush through in a tour, but pay utmost attention to each part.

If you have a good real estate agent working with you, (s)he will make it easy for you to scope out problem areas in a bathroom; but if you can ask your agent to inspect for a few problem areas, it will make the task much easier for both of you. Let’s go through some problems in the bathroom that can go unnoticed on a video.

 Odors from room fresheners While on a video tour of your bathroom, make sure your agent looks out for scents particular to room fresheners. While it’s good to have a nice ambient smell in the bathroom, it might also be used for covering up problems with mold or plumbing. Ignoring problems in such areas can prove costly later.

Absence of bathroom vent fan Just imagine that you want to expel the steam from your relaxing shower, and you realize only then that there is no bathroom vent fan—a rude surprise. It’s very important that during a tour you ensure that there is a bathroom vent fan.

Poor lighting It goes without saying that the lighting system is a very important component of each and every part of one’s home, including the bathroom. On a video tour, you will not be present in the bathroom in person, so judging the quality of lighting will be difficult. Ask your agent to switch on the lights and see for yourself. You can discuss with your agent later whether the quality of lighting is good enough.

Lack of privacy On a video tour of your bathroom, this aspect does go unnoticed. Windows are a very important part of the bathroom. Apart from providing natural light, they reduce the claustrophobic effect of the small space in the bathroom. Ensure that any windows are not compromising your privacy. No one wants to be in a bathroom in which people from outside can see what you are doing in there. Have your agent let you see out of the window, so you can determine whether privacy is compromised.