The latest annoying estate agent trend

[KerfuffleShuffle]

Currently in the market to move again and I can't help but be bemused by the latest estate agents tomfoolery when it comes to photographs.

An artsy angled shot of an ornament on a side board. Focused object and blurry background - check

A picture of a colourful pot plant in an otherwise begraggled and weedy garden - check

And my favourite one, a picture showing a kitchen tap turned on, cascading down like a serene waterfall not out of place in a spa promotional. I didn't know a working water supply was a top worry for house hunters.

Also do they know showing - 10 out of 15 photos of one room, 1 of the outside, 1 of the garden and 1 of the far fetched-squint and-you'll-just-see-it-view isn't fooling anyone. It just tells us the rest of the house is a bit shit.

So what are your most favourite or even annoying quirks estate agents and house sellers insist on doing nowadays? Plus, here's a link to a wonderfully quirky but fits list of the above house we nearly viewed.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67408549.html

You ought to see the way they do it in Australia! Terrible photos which are always of the exterior of a house at dusk with all the lights turned on.

One house near us was described as being within easy walking distance of Sainsbury's. No mention of the fact that it was much closer to the Co-op.

One house near us was described as being within easy walking distance of Sainsbury's. No mention of the fact that it was much closer to the Co-op.

What?! Surely they saw fit to draw full attention to the convenience of the upmarket 'local traditional hundred-penny bazaar', didn't they?!

One estate agent in our town is based in a very plain, functional (not ugly, but in no way pretty) modern single-storey building on the corner. Attached to their building at the back (alongside it, as you look from the main road - no idea who originally gave permission for the attachment) is what must be the most prominent and beautiful building in our small market town - a several-hundred-year-old black and white timber-framed historic merchant's house. It was originally located in the middle of where the main road next to it is now, but because of its beauty and historical significance, it was laboriously moved piece by piece to the side, so that the road could be built without damaging it.

Every leaflet they produce has a picture that's been taken from a very careful angle that shows their own building - the focus of their business (and the one of the two that they actually own/rent) - relatively tiny and insubstantial in the corner, with the gorgeous old landmark behind as the clear main focus, taking up a good two-thirds of the picture.

If they do that with their own marketing material (guiding people to a building of theirs that ISN'T actually for sale), how much licence do they take with the brochures for the houses that they ARE trying to sell, I wonder? Would you be attracted to go and look at what seems to be a very spacious family home at a good price, only to realise upon arriving that it's actually one of a terrace of five houses and the scabby-looking one, at that, that you'd thought could be knocked down for a bit of extra parking to go with the attractive 'main house' ?!

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

The "per calendar month" thing drives me crazy too! Who the chuff actually talks like that in real life? What's wrong with "£500 a month"?

So glad I'm not alone in my rage

It has seeped over to Sweden too. A friend was showing me pbtographs of a house they were interested in and sure enough there was close up of a bowl of botoxed lemons in a bowl. Unless the homeowner is a fruity juggler, why would you keep nothing else but that many lemons on display? Its irritating.

Yes. We had one on the market locally
5 bed, character, etc etc etc
Lovely photos of pot plants, taps, showers, furniture.
No floor plan.
No mention of the fact that of the 5 beds, only one had its own door and did not access another room!

I’m not sure about artistic, but many of the ones I’ve looked at recently would be greatly improved if they had tidied the room before taking the picture; washing up in the sink, dirty laundry on the floor and kid’s toys strewn around are just a few examples

We had this! We were going to buy a new build and the builders were doing part exchange on our current house. They sent round 2 valuers who took photos which they assured me were only for valuation purposes, and so the builder could see what the house was like. I knew this before they came - they said that if we went ahead with the part-ex they would come back and do proper marketing photos. The house was generally tidy, but there things lying around like carrier bags (I'd just been shopping), a basket of washing in my bedroom, beds had quilts generally chucked on, but not 'smoothed' etc - just like you'd normally live. Anyway they came and went, we were happy with the offer, and then those 'valuation only' photos appeard on rightmove. I was horrified! When I challenged it, one agent offered to come round and do them properly, but the other said that as the builders were selling the property, not us, and the builders were happy, so the photos would stay.

I was a bit embarrassed but realised that the poor photos would mean that it was less likely to sell. This meant we could have a more relaxed move (over a few days), so we agreed to leave them up for that reason only. I bet quite a few of the 'lived in' photos are for similar reasons.

We're selling ours at the moment and when I asked about the arty photos I was advised that it is to try and sell a lifestyle associated with the house. It doesn't work for me, I want a floor plan, room measurements and photos of all the bloody rooms so I can work out if it's going to work for me. I am generally less inclined to look at a house without a floor plan.

A bowl of granny smith apples on the kitchen island

In Australia it is common to photoshop furniture into empty rooms. Sofas look like they are floating.

They also photoshop pictures onto TVs. Odd.

There is a website dedicated to bad estate agent photos. It is very addictive though!!! terriblerealestateagentphotos.com/

I just want three things
a) a floorplan
b) room measurements
c) a non curved photo of every room, front exterior view, view of rear garden

Not that hard, really

Foxtons can go swivel on no floorplans. I am not spending time viewing a house I have no idea about, particularly if I have specific requirements. Mind you, I'd only view a house being sold through Foxtons as a desperate measure anyway.

I just had a look on rightmove for my local area and there is a seven bedroom house for sale with a "Family coats/ Washing Wellies Area".
Comes at the low price of £5250000. I like to look at those places, not that I could ever afford them

Another one I found very funny in this listing "a particularly scenic stretch of the River Thames provide an ideal retreat from the hubbub of daily life".
Anyone who says that about this stretch of the Thames has not been there on a weekend or sunny evening. You couldn't move for all the people.

Another one I just found:

A substantial imposing gated property that offers a natural mix of character features. Offering five bedrooms with five ensuite bath/ shower rooms.

And this is the property www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75239750.html
This house has a history of being on sale, I first became aware of it in 2013, when it had been on the market for over a year for 6.5 Million pounds. They couldn't sell, so they raised the price to 12.5 Million.
At times, it was listed with 6 different estate agents at the same time, but it didn't shift.
So I wonder if it'll sell this time complete with the lovely jungle garden at the back

I recently had some pictures of my house done and they did that focused foreground object/blurry background thing. The object they'd focused on was one of my antique ornaments. I told them to remove it because it wasn't included in the house sale so why the fuck would anyone want/need to see a picture of it?!

Today 11:48 LoisLanyard

There is a website dedicated to bad estate agent photos. It is very addictive though!!! terriblerealestateagentphotos.com/

DH and I are addicted to this site. We got told off by the kids for keeping them awake laughing so much.

My favourite ever was a pic of a whole town with a "you are here" type arrow hovering over the top.
I nearly burst. 😂😂😂

Terrible real estate photos is great. I remember when they featured this cat themed house: geekologie.com/2017/06/massive-gallery-of-a-terrifying-cat-hous.php

The most confusing part is that the owner doesn’t seem to have any actual cats. Surely they’d sneak into at least one photo? Maybe she’s allergic?

When the description says 5 bedrooms, but the truth is that they are two downstairs reception rooms added to the 3 bedrooms upstairs.
No - a dining room is not a fourth bedroom.

Ha ha. That’s exactly what I was thinking!!!

Sorry thought I was replying to a reply within the thread 🙄 about the house for that price!

When the description says 5 bedrooms, but the truth is that they are two downstairs reception rooms added to the 3 bedrooms upstairs.
No - a dining room is not a fourth bedroom.

You can't do that in America. You can't legally call it a bedroom here unless it has a clothes closet. I think you would call it a storage cupboard. That's why almost no one here has a wardrobe. It's just not needed.

So many newbuilds round my area are advertised as ‘3 bedroom’ but you cannot actually fit a single bed into the third room. Should be ‘2 bedroom and a small study’!