Return when residents move
Visit around the time people leave for work or come home. Notice how many lifts are operating, how long you wait and whether the cabin is crowded.
If the apartment is on a high floor, time the full journey from the parking space to the front door. Include any change between parking and residential lifts.
Ask about reliability
Ask building management whether lifts are scheduled for maintenance and what residents do when one is out of service. A single viewing cannot establish long-term reliability, but it can reveal questions worth pursuing.
A short delay repeated several times a day can become surprisingly noticeable.