to wonder who thinks these photos sell houses?

[Mermaidspam]

So, fair enough, some people might want to see a photo of a door handle or tap when browsing the internet for a new house. Example

But can anyone explain photo 13 of this one:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-22816623.html

I know Estate Agents have to portray a certain lifestyle, but really? Really?!

Lovely house. What about the really bad pictures? My bete noire is loo seats left up. Yeuuchh. Why would anyone want to look down a toilet when deciding whether they like the house/bathroom?

FlouncingMintyy - to be fair, that wasn't the only thing wrong with the house! I have no idea why you wouldn't want to put your house in a good light though.

An awful lot of houses are inhabited by tenants who have no vested interest in getting the place sold.

is the first house built on an ancient indian burial ground and/or nuclear waste?

This also a good example of bad photos, though admittedly for different reasons farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/2317486605_91bdacf413_o.jpg

disclaimer: I know it's old.

149k for 4 bedrooms!!! Is this reality for some people?

Stanley is in the NE of England (County Durham). I live in a fairly deprived town in the NE (although we live in the posh part of it ) and couldn't buy a new 4 bedroomed house here for so little. So I hate to think how bad Stanley is.

I remember seeing someone on the telly years ago, she bought houses, camped out in them for a few months while tarting them up, then sold them on for a huge profit.

She was very into the "lifestyle staging" thing - she'd put posh accessories (leather riding boots or whatever) in the hall, and mention exclusive golf clubs etc ("If you lived here you could be a member.") Nothing to do with the houses themselves of course, but she was selling a lifestyle - "This is an upmarket place to live." She was pretty posh herself too .

I guess it works - lots of people are put off by skanky stuff lying around the house.

£149k for four bedrooms?! In my town, my crappy 2.5 bed (two beds and a study) is selling for £205k.

You would be hard pushed to buy a 1-bed flat for £149k here FFS.

This prompted me to google Stanley, the images result was interesting and this made me smile: In October 2003, plans by Archer and Rostron Ltd. to convert the derelict King's Head pub into a private sex club to be re-christened The Love Shack caused controversy, with over 500 local residents registering formal objections to the plan.[2] Faced with this opposition, the company dropped its proposals to open a swingers club on the site and instead converted the venue into a hotel and health spa called The Local Spa.[3]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley,_County_Durham

Yeah, that just about sums up Stanley

MrsV - me too. I live in a small town in North East.

I am imagining the raised eyebrows of all those south of York thinking oh how cheap it is to live oop north, is this their reality. Nope. Not at all. Not if you want to live somewhere half decent. My ideal house up here is an unobtainable 650k. Stanley is a very deprived area.

OOH Property porn, and not even Friday night!

Guessing they have a business interest in 'L'occitane' osap perhaps?

I think they need a 52'' plasma just to see it in those massive rooms!

Where is Stanley?

My brother lives in Stanley,I only visited once,seemed nice enough to me :o

Fgs don't move to Stanley

County Durham

I used to live in the NE. £15,000 for a three bed flat, anyone?

Not sure this is a 'life style' issue but what really bugs me with most of the photos of houses for sale nowadays is the estate agents' use of the wide angle lens in an attempt to make, what are generally, pokey rooms look larger. They just succeed in making everything look elongated and distorted. Do the estate agents really think people are fooled by these ridiculous images. Just show me the bloody house as it is and don't insult my intelligence.

Jumping on the 'cheap oop north' bandwagon, we bought our 3-bed, 2-reception mid-terrace last year for £95k including furniture and white goods.

Though, nice ladies tend to clutch their pearls when they find out where we live.

We're selling and are just so impressed with our EA's arty-farty lifestyle photos.
He's managed to get in the faint mark of where MIL dropped a hot iron on the living room carpet, and the artful arrangement of 8 recycling bins in the front garden is sure to attract hordes.
On the buying side, I am extremely suspicious of the house where they've decided that the money-shot is the one of the toilet. Hmmm...

Do the estate agents really think people are fooled by these ridiculous images.

Substitute estate agent for owner promoting holiday cottage lets . Fooled me when looking online, we walked in expecting ample space for family + friends as per booking and were sadly disappointed. .

notgoodnotbad i saw that too, she was uber posh and wouldnt disclose her income, she was making a killing though, it was all West London maisonettes.

We have a local EA who has the wide lens photos thus making the rooms look mahoosive. However the doofus also has the virtual tour so you go on thinking the house is enormous, but then get put off by the poor cameraman tripping over himself trying to video the tiny house!

Omg 149k for 4 beds. In our village that wouldn't even get you a one bed flat. My friend has just bought a repossessed small 3 bed that needs a lot of work for £200k. If it had been in good nick then I would imagine it would have been around £145k. We are in Berkshire in a village on the Thames so things are bound to be a bit more expensive. Anyway virtually nothing here ever comes up for sale anyway unless its for millions.

That should be £245k doh!

Primafacie - I can't believe nobody has commented on your photo!

Yes, it's old and doesn't look particularly naice, but it does take 'property porn' to a whole new level.

Check out the mirror in the top left corner!!