A fun post about house we're buying - curious about seller

[SuddenlyOld]

We're buying a house so I looked up previous sales (being nosy of course). Our seller bought the house 5 years ago and looking at the sale pictures from then, they haven't changed much in the house in 5 years and seem to have the same furniture - armchairs, dining table, mirrors etc

So we've been coming up with scenarios. My dh thinks they must have bought the furniture with the house (maybe the original seller was moving abroad and sold the house furnished). I thought maybe it was a divorce sale and one half bought the other half out (but why would they market it?)

So any other theories? Mad ones, silly ones, sensible ones?

Just for fun, because I'm curious and nosy, but also unimaginative

Maybe they liked all the furniture and accessories so much they went out and purchased duplicates of everything so they could mirror how it looked at the first viewing

We have been in our house 6 years and haven't changed anything. We also have a lot of the same furniture from the previous owners as they asked if we wanted it. We didn't have much furniture so just took it. So the pictures of the house will probably look almost identical!

In reality we cba to decorate, aren't that fussed and are happy just to live with what's there.

@BrennanBooth true, otherwise I can't see how you wouldn't have wanted to get a new sofa in 5 years. They have painted the walls a new colour though. I'm just so nosy lol

Alternatively maybe they were aliens who cloned everything because they didn’t realise people decorate houses differently when they first arrived on earth so wanted to fit in.

Are you sure it was actually sold 5 years ago or just advertised? Our neighbours of 20 years or so have put their house on the market every 3 or 4 years, but they are still here!

Maybe the previous owners didn't want the furniture (perhaps someone had passed away?) and offered it for free or cheap to the buyers who were first time buyers and the buyers said yes. Not exactly the same scenario but we live in DH's grandparents place and the furniture is pretty much all their stuff. We renovated the kitchen and bathrooms, reupholstered the sofas and bought a new mattress and some new storage units but everything else is theirs.

Have they perhaps put it up for sale previously but then removed from the market? Rightmove etc tend to show the most recently used photos. If they listed it at any point and then changed their mind the photos would be of their furniture etc regardless of the last sold date.

Otherwise perhaps the previous owners negotiated and left furniture. Not everyone can afford a new sofa ( or anything else) whether it's been 5 years or not and I'm sure equally there are people who simply don't care about home decor and are happy with whatever is functional for them.

When we bought our first house That wiped us out. We did a bit of repainting but couldn't afford a sofa or big ticket furniture until we'd saved up again for it. The previous owners left a few bits behind- curtains, a garden set, a little coffee table and we cleaned and used them all as placeholders until we'd properly renovated.

It's just the weird quirk with Rightmove. Sometimes the listings only show the most recent photos of the property and when you click back to previous sales the same photos appear.

It's almost as though the recent photos are in situ for all sales. It obviously doesn't always happen but it is quite frequent as I've noticed this a lot.

Have they actually taken new photos? Or is it rented out and so the agents have used old photos to illustrate? I've seen that before.

I've had the same sofa for over 30 years and it wasn't new then.

Just about to say this. I’ve looked at ones and gone down a similar rabbit hole but it’s the same seller rather than the previous person putting it for sale and taking it off. Which is why it may look slightly different eg new paint or rug but the big ticket stuff eg sofa is the same.

I was just thinking the same. Our sofas are at least 15 years old and we’re not even thinking about replacing them.

Be careful they actually bought the house then. Does it give the sale figure or just that it was listed?
We were meant to be buying a house that had several previous listings. Our agent warned us against it , we tried to buy it anyway. They tried to blackmail more money out of us (no other buyer around). It fell through.
Seems every now and then the put their house on the market. Not sure if they keep trying to get more money each time or if they aren't really serious about moving. It never actually seems to sell though. Then a year/ few years later it's listed again.

No it's not just a previous listing, it's on a site that shows previous sales - sold price and year sold. Sometimes the previous listing is available but not always.

@cupofdecaf we lived next door to a couple who decided to sell up and move to Cornwall. Then changed their mind. Did it again 3 years later. Did this 3 times in the 15 years we lived next door. I think they liked the idea of living in Cornwall but kept balking when it was getting real

Perhaps they were tenants, renting unfurnished, who purchased the house from their landlord.