Would these things put you off from viewing/buying a house?

[howdyetti]

In the process of selling our home and have an estate agent coming over to take photos tomorrow. There are a couple of things that DH and I disagree on, so your opinions would be much appreciated!

Firstly, we have a miniature dachshund (sausage dog) and have read that we should remove any traces of having a pet for photos/viewings such as dog bowls etc, which is no problem. The house itself is kept spotlessly clean so I don’t believe it shows that we have a dog at all. However, we do have a number of (tasteful!) dachshund related things around the house such as a framed piece of artwork from John Lewis, Emily Bond sausage dog bedding on two of the beds, a door mat, coasters etc. DH thinks that leaving these things around will put people off when it comes to viewing the house as it would look like we are crazy dog people with a potentially dog smelling home! The house is painted white throughout and all neutral furnishings, very minimalistic. I really don’t think it necessary to remove these things?

Secondly, though our house is only 15 yrs old it was rented before we bought it 2yrs ago and was in need of a lot of TLC. We had to strip everything out and redecorate. It’s a large 5 bed over 3 floors and 3 of the bedrooms aren’t used. Whilst they’ve been decorated, furnished and have had blinds fitted, we never got around to having light fittings or a light shade in those spare bedrooms. DH thinks that having the bare light cable hanging down will look off-putting in our Rightmove photos. At the moment we are saving every penny towards our next home and this seems like an (albeit small) unnecessary expenditure when we have already spent so much on the home. AIBU to think that surely these little things won’t put prospective buyers off, or am I the one who has it wrong?!

The bedding is fine. Yes, get some cheap paper light shades.

Realistically, when you move you’ll need to pack away your stuff. Start putting away your ornaments now - even if they are tasteful (I’m sure they are), they won’t look as nice as clear surfaces in the pictures.

Crumbs that bedding is quite expensive! Unless I read it wrong £75 for single duvet set

Perhaps turn it over to the striped side on one bed

Deffo put light shades

I agree with your DH about the light fittings and all the dachshund paraphernalia. Yes if someone has elephant ornaments around their house you wouldn't think they had a pet elephant! Likewise pigs, cats, etc. But everything you have is so breed specific I'd assume you had one or more of that breed of dog in your house. I have three dogs myself so it wouldn't put me off personally but someone like my mum or brother wouldn't go near it.

However, we do have a number of (tasteful!) dachshund related things around the house

That sentence made me laugh 😂😂😂.

Presumably your doggy duvet covers are single sided? Just turn them over for the photos.

Agree with others re. light.
The only thing with the sausage dog stuff is that it might make them pick up on a slight dog whiff that's already there iykwim. It's very difficult to have soft furnishings without a little doggy smell, so I'd put them away tbh.

No that bedding is fine it's not like you have a massive picture of a dog it's just a little pattern!

Light fitting and shades though are important as without them people may think (wrongly) well if they can't be bothered to do little things like that what else haven't they done!

It could put a question mark over other areas of upkeep of the house or potentially make people think there are hidden issues with the house because they will link it with the seen issues (light switch)

The bedding seems fine to me, and I'm not biased as I don't have dogs.

I'd be VERY put off by dangling wires with no light fittings though.

That dog bedding is nice and I don’t even really like dogs!

Is it on 2 twin beds in one room or in 2 separate rooms? If the latter I’d take it off one just so people can imagine each room having a different occupant. Definitely buy cheap lampshades- they are available everywhere - and I would also suggest making the unused rooms look used, otherwise people might think they don’t want to buy as they don’t need all the space.

None of that would put me off but you can definitely tell someone has a dog as soon as you enter a house.

I’d get your carpets and sofas professionally cleaned and deodorised and maintain your pets hygiene a bit more thoroughly than usual. Bowls etc wouldn’t bother me, nor the dog bedding. The smell would though.

I probably should have explained myself better re the lights. There is a fitting, a white ceiling rose, cable and lightbulb but no shade. The rest of the rooms we have removed these and put our own fittings in, so that was what I was referring to when I said no fittings. Off to buy shades today!

It's 'biased' OP.

'Bias' is an abstract noun. Eg: there was bias in the article.
'Biased' is the adjective. Eg: the article was biased.

HTH

The bedding is nice. Definitely buy the shades!

@pepperpot99 there’s always one 😂 gold star for you 😂👍

OMG @pepperpot99, imagine if a buyer had come to OP’s house and glanced over at a carelessly discarded notelet displaying incorrect grammar! They would not have been able to give the house away once that got out....

Bare light cables wouldn't put me off a house, nor would dachshund bedding (which sounds amazing!) or anything else you mention.

(And I'd ask if the dog came with the house. I love sausage dogs )

Well, I like to help when I can, so yes grammar assistance is always available....

These round fold out paper lampshades are £2 at B&Q

Shades definitely. Bedding wouldn’t bother me. With 1 small dog and an immaculate house, I bet it doesn’t smell of dog. Mine does, we will have to wait for them to drop before selling. I don’t think the other stuff matters, I bet it’s lovely and sells really quick

I recently sold a house and apart from downlights in the kitchen every room had an IKEA paper shade.

You dont have to have a photo of every single room on the rightmove article. Sometimes it's actually worse to have 20 photos as one of them might put off a potential buyer. Just have photos of the "main" rooms - kitchen, living room, master bedroom, family bathroom, garden - Unless any of the rooms are spectacular.
I wouldnt bother putting up photos of the unused empty bedrooms on rightmove.

YABU to not post a picture of your lovely dachshund

The dog things wouldn't bother me but I'd maybe compromise with DH and remove the coasters and any other little dog trinkets for the photos. Shades are a must though. Good luck OP!

I don't see the problem with the daschund decor. I recently viewed a flat where the owner loved tweed and stags. It didn't make me think less of the place, it made it more alive as a home, if anything- which buyers need to see!

The cables from the ceiling- you do need to fix those. It's easy to see beyond it but to someone just having a look, it looks like you just didn't "finish". It would make me doubt how well finished off everything else is that you've done.

Is it just me who loves dog smell???