Use your imagination!

On Escape To The Country all the houses viewed are presented like show homes.
I don't think people now do have much imagination, and expect all to look perfect.
Years ago, when viewing houses, we took no notice of clutter, just looked at room sizes, location, garden etc.
We sold our last house 9 years ago and knocked ourselves out on the presentation of it, and it sold within the month ( in spite of the agent warning us it could take a while)
I urged a friend to do the same when she was selling last year, and it sold in two days!
So, yes, it can make a vast difference.

A relative of mine paid a knockdown price for a house that had been left in a horrendous mess.
After a lot of work cleaning then decorating, they had a lovely house.

Maybe that teenager was sick of being made to get out of bed and hide somewhere with the dog!

Bodies in bed, even in armchairs are a no, no! More than one person doing the "showing round" is off-putting, it gets confusing with all the irrelevant comments chipping in.
What do people think about going out and letting the agent do the viewings?

Staying with daughter in Australia at moment. Their system is unusual. One appointment of 15 mins for ALL prospective buyers - Agent shows everyone around and house holders must be out!

Personally if I were to view a house online or visiting the only things that would but me off is a house that is damp, smells strongly of cigarette smoke or is extremely dirty and unkempt. Other than that when whoever moves out they take away all the things when they move so you move the exact stuff back in !

When I was 7, I was disappointed that the toy double-decker bus I saw when we looked round a house, wasn't there when we moved in.

What a pain it is when you are trying to sell - I used to fling piles of mags and newspapers, dogs bed and anything that was making the place look (even more) untidy into the car boot while people viewed!
That said, the house we bought was sad, dingy and unloved inside (couple splitting up - the atmosphere was not good either) but we have always seen beyond decor and it was the location, size and price that did it, as I am sure it does for most people. Never been asked to move the loo roll for photos - how bizarre. Don't we all use them?

People have to be spoon fed every experience in life now, egged on by blasted TV programmes, that exert mind control over what is after all a purchase of something you will be creating in your own image anyway.

My dad used to take us house viewing as a weekend treat when we were kids, didn't even make appts back then he just turned up and if there was no one home he looked through the letter box (once there was someone looking back as they were hiding behind the door)...all part of the fun back then. I knew what a corner plot' involved before I started school.

I have sold 18 houses and never put a toilet roll away......

Toilet roll is a part of our life style, and the dog (he sits in the car during viewings) and our bins are there for all to see, another part of our lifestyle....what lives are the prospective buyers living ???? No dogs, no toilet rolls, that's not living is it ???

Lillie I went out for viewings, until the third viewing by the eventual purchaser. She said she had fallen in love with it, I gave her a hug and the deal was done!
Phew!

Nanny you are paying THEM! You don't have to hide the toilet roll if you don't want to. Apart from a clean and a general de-clutter, I think the biggest factor is getting the price right. Some estate agents like to get the contract by flattering you and suggesting a higher price, knowing you will be forced to lower it. Although they get a percentage, the difference is not that much to them, and it means they get the business, as opposed to the estate agent down the road who gives you a realistic value. Do a bit of research on similar houses nearby and be realistic. It will save you time and, very possibly, money, in the long run.

It all seems a bit extreme. I would definitely make sure that beds were made and floors were cleared of debris , but toilet paper? Sorry but if a house looks too pristine I find myself wondering what they are hiding. ....

Now living in our ninth home. Never once have we had to do any of that nonsense. Nexr move we will do as we have always done: show it neat and as tidy as possible. Any agent who disagrees will not be used by us. We will not be selling some vacant luxury but a home to live in,

I agree and rationally speaking you are right. However, watch a TV property programme all the way through. 'Location, Location, Location' is good for this purpose.

However much couples say they want a project or are not bothered about the state of a house they (and the viewer) cannot fail to be affected positively by the sight of a house in a good state of decoration and which looks clean and tidy.

We might have been influenced to see in these terms by TV shows or other cultural pressures but see them we do.

If you want to sell your house I should look at it as if you were a punter viewing a 'Kirsty & Phil' property and declutter.

I think a full toilet foll and folded clean towels morove the sporesrance of a barhroom though probably toothpaste etc sgould be hidden from view. What if they wanted to use the loo? Likewise a cleAn kettle and toaster and folded matching tea towel etc make a kitchen more attractive . You have to imagine using these rooms! Most brochures advertising bathrooms etc have folded towels etc in the Picture! (I know as we have just had our bathroom done)!

Also I'm sure I've read that the smell of coffee brewing or bread in the oven and vases of fresh flowers are supposed to help sell a house? How is that achieved if the kitchen is bare and stark?

Did you have economy packs of toilet rolls lining the walls of your bathroom? If not it seems an odd request. I have seen pictures on the internet when I wonder what people are thinking, clothes airers with drying washing, kitchens with dirty dishes in the sink, kids toys everywhere. These just say I don't care so it makes me wonder what maintenance the property has had and would make me wary.

Toilet rolls banned! ?

I used to watch House Doctor when it started and people would walk around and say 'I don't like the pictures'. It seemed to me that it was the buyers that needed taking in hand not the sellers.
I did get put off a house that had gloss red paint on one ceiling because I didn't see how it could be removed without harming the ceiling plaster and it would have been virtually impossible to paint over, but people just seem to totally lack imagination.

The constant tidying up is a real pain. The Australian system seemed to be the norm in South Africa when family were selling out there. So much easier to have just one viewing or open house. I've seen that done here but it appears to be for houses that have been on the market for a while. The last house we sold attracted a lot of interest in the first few days and the agent made appointments for six viewings on one day. By the time I'd shown the last lot round I felt I was really repeating myself. As I ushered the couple to the front door they reminded me that I hadn't shown them upstairs yet! And after all that the house didn't sell for months.

Somebody should tell this to French estate agents. In my experience the pictures are universally dreadful. Unmade or rumpled beds, clothes hanging up all over the place, bicycles in rooms, ironing boards left up, toys and mess everywhere and all too frequently an image of the photographer taking a picture in the mirror.
Always good for a laugh though.
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