To think people are getting scruffier?

[HomeIsHardToFind]

I am currently house hunting, I have been in a lot of properties recently and to be honest I have been shocked by the state of them!
They look fine in the estate agents photos but when you get there it's a different story.....plates and bowls piled up in the sink, crumbs all over work surfaces, disgusting ovens and urine stains/smells in the loo!
My 'favourite' was the house that had holes punched in the doors of every room (double checked the agents pics and they definitely didn't exist at the time they were taken!).
I get it, I can clean if we bought the house etc, but if you are selling your biggest asset and you want the most amount of money possible surely you make it look the best it can for viewings? I feel like I've stepped into an alternative universe at the moment!
I have also noticed that many more people out and about stink. Not just a bit of a pong or like they have a manual job and haven't showered for 24 hours but full on makes me dry heave absolutely stink!!
I put some fuel in the car this morning and the 'gentleman' that came into the garage as I was leaving smelled rancid, it must have been days and days since he had washed🤢 I could smell him outside in the fresh air!
Maybe I'm getting on (I don't think so, only early 40's!!) but I seem to remember people having more pride in themselves, their home and their families (don't get me started on some of the poor kids I've seen with such greasy hair it looks like it's been stuck to their head with chip oil☹️).
Sometimes I wonder if its COL biting but then I think about people I've known that grew up in the 60's and 70's that were dirt poor taking pride in how clean their mothers managed to keep them with nothing but soap and hot water, so I think the only difference is that the pride has gone?
Has anyone else noticed this or am I just unluckily surrounded by scruffy buggers?!

When I was a child we all bathed once a week (which was completely normal - we weren't poor) and houses smelled of smoke.

You sound very unpleasant. Kicking asses to improve standards, because of some plates in sink and crumbs on worktops? Wtf?

There isn't any real value in being houseproud. Maybe some people just stopped bothering about unimportant things .

You can wash in the sink with cold water rather than stink!

There have been several threads recently where people were talking about how often ( or infrequently more like) they bathed or showered their children, in those it came up that lots of adults think showering twice a week is acceptable, in between they don't have a full body wash at the sink, they just wash their face, no wonder people stink.

But do you leave tatty ones out with dead plants in them?

It's fine to not have any, but clear out the ones you're not using

I don’t have the time or money to make my house look top notch and I wouldn’t bother if I was selling it, either. I’ve bought the houses I have lived in based on location and space. I don’t care if they have plants hanging outside or they’ve been cleaned from top to bottom.

No excuse for not making beds, wiping down surfaces etc (that’s just lazy), but I can’t keep a show home and if a buyer wants that, they’re looking at the wrong house.

I suspect it's not the cost of the soap that's the problem, it's the cost of heating the water for a bath or shower.

I agree with this. I visited Bucharest relatively recently. Everyone I saw was well presented. Returned home to be greeted by the grey tracksuit wearing masses, the difference was stark.

Probably because lots of women now work full time when in the past they were homemakers.

Having said that, you'd definitely make an effort if selling your house!

Actually there is a value and a level of self respect and confidence that is both grown and shown in keeping your home and yourself to a certain standard - not perfect but enough to show that you give a damn. These ARE important things, not everything that's not life or death is unimportant. I know a SAHM who prides herself on saying 'I didn't become a SAHM to worry about housework' but to me keeping a basically clean home and having and demonstrating standards of cleanliness and self care are love in action. Precisely because they are tedious and not ways fun but also necessary.

Many many years ago we worked full time. Did washing once a week (twin tub) but couldn't afford heating to dry our clothes so they ended up smelling musty. (No central heating just a coal fire)

It was mortifying, but had no solution.

What would you suggest Op?

Life is busier than it used to be in 'the good old days'. People are time poor, few homes these days have an adult who's only task is to clean and tidy, so it needs to be slotted in around long working hours. Weekends are now needed for 'family time' because parents are supposed to take the DC out to do enriching things rather than send them out to play or park them in front of the tv like in the old days.
In terms of house sales, you'd have to be pretty financially illiterate to imagine a crumby work surface had any impact of the value of a house worth several £100k, so I can see why people might not see it as hugely important in the scheme of things.

I agree with you about people smelling. My friend and I went away to a local city recently by train. On the return journey home, the train was quite busy and there were a number of smelly, rank people. I was grateful to get off the train. My friend and both remarked about this and we both came to the conclusion of COL. I think, COL, nobody has any time ( working too many hours to make ends meet). Plus pride, the country has been run into the ground from NHS, pot holes, everyone poorer, why does it matter if you smell a bit 🤷‍♀️.

They are poor. It shows

I think it's multifactorial, but one of the factors seems to be impaired sense of smell with covid. I don't think people always realise their sense of smell is not as good as it was and assume that means they don't smell.

It took at least six months for my sense of smell to return to normal, but because I knew it wasn't as good I became more aware of washing regardless. I had to point out to my husband that just because he didn't think he needed a shower it didn't mean he didn't... My sense of smell was still good enough to recognise that, just his was worse!

We once viewed a house that had a dressing table in the bedroom and the carpet around it was caked in spilt make up, like it was an about half a centimetre thick of various dried in foundation like stuff. No attempt made to clean it up.
In another house the entire living room walls had been crayoned all over by their toddler! Somehow the pictures had missed it or been photoshopped.

I'd like to know why the assumption seems to be that people who rent don't keep their homes clean and tidy? It's the first I've heard of it.

I hate grey tracksuits so much. I saw a picture of my city in the sixties and people looked smart. Now the half of them wear grey tracksuits. It's so slobby and ugly.

Yep my house is not clean and pretty untidy and has been for 6 months

And that's because since the COL really bit I have to work ridiculous hours to pay my doubled mortgaged costs

YANBU
Public transport has become an ordeal
And
Last weekend I went to a hair salon and the hairdresser had BO🙀. I couldn't help but look at her clothing and they looked scruffy, old and stained (from food she ate maybe the day before). Unfortunately I could not up and leave mid way but will never go back even though I really loved the results.

I might have misread but I took it more to mean that renters being evicted might not make a major effort to clear the crumbs off the sideboard ( probably too busy trying to find somewhere to move to!)

I disagree with this totally. Our homes should be our sanctuaries, and living in a dirty messy house seldom enhances anyone’s mental health. For me, it’s important.

The op described more than a few plates in the sink, she said piled up, the worksurfaces covered in crumbs and loos that smell and are stained.

it’s the same with our own personal grooming, showered or washed, clean clothes, brushed teeth, are Important to our mental health and self esteem. When we stop caring about our homes, or our personal grooming then it’s a sign the individual has much deeper issues going on.

yes someone might not be able to afford to fill a basin with warm water and wash, or launder their clothes, but that’s unlikely to be the main issue here for the majority that are living or presenting in this condition.

Yes if it was in relation to my comment then that is exactly what I meant. Not that renters generally are more untidy than homeowners, just that if you are a person who is not generally the tidiest person you are not likely to go to a huge effort to tidy the place to benefit the landlord selling. Apologies if I offended anyone !

No, they’re no, it’s 30p a bar.

I get your point but this demonstrates you don’t know what you’re talking about as you don’t have to buy these cheaper items yourself.

I really don’t think that was worth having a go over. The poster was simply making a point.