To think estate agents/ their photographers should tidy up a bit?

[caffelattetogo]

I know they aren't there to redecorate, style or redesign a house, but could they not use a bit of common sense and do the basics, like straighten up an unmade bed or move a bag of rubbish while being paid to take photos for a house listing?
Our lovely elderly neighbour have just had their house listed (by relatives, as they had to go into hospital and will need to go into a care home afterwards) and the listing photos are just awful.
It's not been touched since they had to go in to hospital suddenly, so there's an unmade bed, carrier bags full of rubbish on the counters, clothes on an airer. They were unwell before they went in and the house hasn't been cleaned, despite usually being spotless (the lady is very proud of her home).
It's all the kind of things you'd see in a home, but not want to see in a listing, if that makes sense, and would have taken no time to sort before photos were taken.
AIBU to feel really sad that their house has been put up online looking like that?

No, the relatives should have done that.

Surely it's the person selling the house. In this case the family. Who should have ensured the house is up to the standard they wanted to portray? If I had to market an elderly relatives home I would clean/tidy up/stage as needed and not expect anyone else to do that!

Definitely a job for the relatives

I don't know the details, but I think the son lives at a distance.

Surely whoever is dealing with the sale should make it presentable. I’m assuming a family member has organised the sale so they really should do the tidying up.

They could leave themself open to being accused of all sorts if they started touching things/moving stuff about.

Its really not on them to do that.

Whoever is dealing with the estate agent should have gone round and had a tidy, or paid a cleaner. I'm all for giving estate agents a bashing for not being great at their jobs, but the idea that they should have to touch some strangers dirty sheets to make a bed is ridiculous.

I feel sad that she would be embarrassed if she knew there were photos of her home like that online, if that makes sense? I'd have gone in and cleaned, if I'd known.

Still, I live hundreds of miles from my elderly relatives I'd head there to do the general clean and tidy,someone let the photographer/estate agent in so could have tidies that day surely

Not for estate agents to touch at all.
Whoever is dealing with the sale should sort it; either drive over and do it, or pay for a local deep clean. This one is on the relatives!

That's on the home owner and her relatives.

Before I put my flat on the market I cleared out so much stuff and filled up my garage!!

The photographer doesn't touch anything when taking photos.

You don't know the details. So stop poking your nose in. And of course it's not the photographers job to tidy up.

Someone had to give a key to the estate agent.

Surely the son would have gone down and cleared out food etc.

We cleaned, decluttered and painted our house to within an inch of its life whe b it was on the market. Maybe too much as one EA asked if we were renters.

I don’t think they should clean but I do think if something very obviously is out of place and it takes no more than one second they should use their initiative.

I was annoyed when our downstairs loo was photographed with the window handle skew whiff. Just looked dumb.

Some are that bad they would be there all day. It's the house owner's job to present the property in its best light.

It's zero percent a photographer's or estate agent's job to clean or tidy. The photographer captures the place as it's found, that's 100% clear; if the vendor wants it looking its tiptop best, it's on them to make it so.

We cleaned our house, painted and finished all the jobs that needed finishing and decluttered. Sorted garden and cleaned out the shed. It looked so good we didn't want to sell it😁
The photographer is specifically told not to touch anything when in the house. It's a bit weird thinking they should, tbh.

No. Their idea of tidying up could be throwing away stuff or moving things and breaking them by accident. The EA is not responsible for moving nick nacks or mess. How do they know where to put it?
The person selling needs to make it look appealing.

I would expect a photographer to put a loo seat down quickly or hide a bottle of bleach or something but not to do an actual clean and tidy. That is the responsibility of the person selling.

Then he could've booked cleaners to go in an do it. Of course its not the EAs job

Agent / photographer isn't allowed unless homeowner has consented and paid for it to be 'staged'

We paid extra for the agent to use a professional photographer. When the photographer came he asked if he could rearranged a few items to make the photos look better. Little things like took the tea towel off the oven door, moved the bath mat out of sight, rearranged some candles on a shelf. And our house is v tidy anyway. We are now house hunting and most home owners don’t even bother vacuuming before a viewing! I see that as lazy agents too, not giving honest feedback to their sellers.

You're all right, I know. I've never sold a house so I don't know how this stuff works.

Can also imagine the complaints they would deal with if they tidied beds or put rubbish away.