Estate Agent’s photographs.

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On a bad day, with time on my hands, I looked at all the houses that I had live since 1955 grace of the photos on rightmove. If I bought a house with photos on line I would want them to be taken down, some are up for over a year.

Living in France people give the size of the rooms so you have an idea of the size how much a square meter you are buying, to see if it is value for money. Prices vary, of course, depending on upkeep and facilities but it does help when you are buying in a new area.

My daughter did sign a promise to buy a ski flat by video last autumn (covid lockdown) but the agent forget to show the state of the balcony, however DD was still happy considering the price.

One of my dc is selling up and their house looks pristine in the photos. I enquired as to where they’d put their ‘stuff’ - apparently, it was all out in the garden in boxes! Thankfully, it didn’t rain that day.

Otoh, the house they hope to buy is apparently exactly as it appears in photos - in need of some TLC.

I am convinced that estate agents have special cameras, though. I recently looked at photos of a house that had beds that would not have fitted anyone taller than four foot, but had a lavatory that could have fitted six for dinner round it. Baffling!

tanith is correct in saying photographers take pictures. They don’t pick pants up from the bathroom floor or move towels drying over the stairwell.
I agree some may be rentals and tenants probably don’t want to lose their homes, but some folk just live untidy lives.
It’s easy to say ignore everything, but some (my BinL) just can’t imagine how a room would look with their things in. Others think the mess shows a basic lack of care for everything and wonder what lies beneath!

Grannynannywanny

I saw house photos recently on an estate agent website. A bedroom chest of drawers looked like it had been ransacked. Every drawer was partially open and items of clothing hanging out of it.

I was astonished that the photos were taken and posted to advertise the house. I thought for a moment they had photographed my grandson’s bedroom before his final warning to tidy up!

Oh Grannynannywanny, I have a granddaughter just like that! ??

My house looked great in the estate agent's photos much to the amusement of the family who all commented that it hadn't looked that tidy in years. The photos are a "come and look" call. They are there to tempt people.

Goodness yes i think they do a hard job, but ive been looking at houses lately and the few we've been able to view are somewhat different than online.Also, i had to do a few of my own home for the housing assoc instead of a viewing (was still lockdown) and yes i put trouble/care into photo to show them at best angle etc (so not to show packing boxes, sons mess etc)? and i appreciate how much work they put in! However, we still haven't found a new place yet as they're all so different to photos!?

It's amazing what a photographer can do with the right lenses. They make a shoebox look like the Albert Hall!

It should be remembered that Estate Agents are working for and paid by the vendors, so they’re going to do their very best to show the house in the most flattering way, without misinformation.

There was a recent similar thread by a GN asking for advice to help achieve a quick sale.

A trick I know in a small unfurnished bedroom is to lie on the floor, arms outstretched to the sides - that’s the size of a double bed. Often happens when people are looking around showhouses that haven’t been ‘dressed’ for viewing.

Buying off plan has always been an option, but buyers are encouraged to visit another site in the area where that style of property is on view. It’s surprising how many don’t bother.

Estate agents usually use a professional to take the pics and of course want to show it in a good light. A relative who works at an estate agent told me that they had a call from a client who very angrily wanted to know why they had taken such awful pictures of her rented house, why hadn’t they tidied the rooms and cleaned the kitchen and bathroom up, her tenants of course could care less about the mess. It was explained that a photographer was not a cleaner nor was it the agents job to tidy the house, the client was not a happy bunny.

I saw house photos recently on an estate agent website. A bedroom chest of drawers looked like it had been ransacked. Every drawer was partially open and items of clothing hanging out of it.

I was astonished that the photos were taken and posted to advertise the house. I thought for a moment they had photographed my grandson’s bedroom before his final warning to tidy up!

I dislike the way houses and apartments are marketed now. I find it intrusive. I do not want photos of the internal contents of my home pictured on a public website for others to see and make judgements about.

Nor do I want what I sold or purchased a home for to be a matter of such easily accessible public record. Sale prices take no account of circumstances surrounding a sale. Nevertheless the numbers feed into the algorithms that are used by Zoopla and the like. These estimates are often unrealistic and inaccurate and can cause a lot of tension between sellers and buyers.

We’ve moved several times and each time, although I’ve been very happy with the photos, it’s always crossed my mind that they are maybe a bit misleading - everything looks so pristine. I presume it’s so that the property stands out in the brochure to tempt a viewing. Once through the door, prospective buyers can make up their own minds, but some of the EA descriptions of houses we’ve viewed have proved to be a stretch !!

@LauraNorder. I was the same with our present house. It was unoccupied and had been rented out for several years by the vendor. Very dated and neglected, but I fell in love with at the first viewing. Some houses just feel right and I think you need to be able to see past what’s actually there, to imagine what could be done with it IYSWIM. The hard work renovating has been well worth it.

A neighbour’s house is on the market, so of course I’ve had a good old nose.
IMO the photos are ridiculous, making the rooms look much bigger than they are, and in particular the paved frontage for parking, looks absolutely enormous.
Surely this sort of thing must lead to wasted time for everybody, when it’s so misleading for potential buyers?

I\m always surprised when people are put off a house because they don't like all the mess. Mess as in furniture, books, bits and pieces. It's not as if these things will be left behind. Very strange.

Agree about the photos. My sister's house was on the market recently and we were all laughing at the fact we didn't really recognise it as her house at all.

I think it's preferable to have fairly average photos (but not awful ones), rather than photos that are taken in such a way as to exaggerate the best features - light, space, etc. Then prospective purchasers may well decide to view, with fairly low expectations, and are pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed.

If I saw photos where the whole house and garden is messy, it would put me off but that is probably rather silly because rooms and gardens can be tidied up and walls painted.

I am often surprised at property programmes where prospective purchasers walk into a dreadful tip with so much needing doing but they seem really positive because they have the imagination to see what can be made of the property (providing the price is right of course).

Apparently decision to buy or not to buy is made within the first five minutes. So first impression to all the senses is very important.
Our current house had holes in the roof, was full of pigeons and covered in ivy and yes, I loved it from the first minute.

with regards to mess, don't forget some of the properties will be rented out and have tenants in them

but with regards to photographs, you only have to consider how your rooms look if you take a photograph.

Apparently during the present rush to buy people have bought online, I did wonder what they thought when they got to their new home. The bargains are the ones where nobody has rearranged or cleared out and the rooms look really cramped.

They also airbrush thing out such as telegraph poles, electric poles and 5G masts. It’s all done to make the house look as attractive as possible and get as many people through the door as possible so the vendor is happy they are doing a good job. Their write up is usually the same too. However, once through the door the prospective buyer will make up their own minds.

Oh, and a huge rock 'n' roll mural all over a wall!

when we were selling the agent employed a professional photographer who went round the whole house with me first re arranging things and removing stuff from bathrooms, bins etc
she then took some brilliant shots and the wide angled lens she used made everything seem very big and spacious
it paid off because the family who bought it had a very tall 6 foot 8 father and he said he never bothered to view poky looking houses [even though they were probably the same size as ours]

We wouldn't want to take on a huge renovation project now but would accept some updating could be necessary.

Yes, the reality can be quite different to the photographs but actual viewings have been limited during lockdowns which makes it difficult.

Layout and location are most important to me.

I can never understand people who know the agent is coming to take photos and leave a bed unmade or dishes in the sink.
Some have walls completely covered in children's drawings - lovey but not when you want your house to appeal to a wide range of potential purchasers. Clothes on radiators etc. Likewise bizarre pictures, clutter, even a motorbike in one property!

Oh I agree with the bed thing.
I have seen lots of rumpled quilts, it isnt hard to straighten it up is it?

We were very impressed by our own home when we looked at the estate agent's photos! Yes, we had tidied and polished of course, but they did make the rooms look more spacious. I think they used a wide-angled lens.
Similarly we looked at some properties that felt very cramped though you wouldn't have guessed it from the photos. Professional experience I guess, and wouldn't buy a property with out looking at it myself first.
annsixty some of our neighbours and their relations in other towns looked at the photos online (even though they have been in our house!) and others (from further up the road) just made appointments to view with the estate agents - all part of the process apparently!