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?

Yanbu I actually staged my relatives house for sale. To maximise profit to pay care fees but also to keep their dignity. I purchased new bed spreads and bolsters …through to clearing clutter in garage, store rooms etc. Msde it much easier to sell. All remnants of walking aids commodes etc were long gone. But that’s not the photographer or EA job although I did take advice from both and they were super helpful.

I cannot stress how wrong you are in thinking this is remotely the job of an EA/photographer. No wonder, if you've never sold- they cannot touch/move a single thing.

Sounds like the people selling the house made assumptions and didn’t discuss what would and wouldn’t be done.

My brother is an estate agent.

He wouldn't be tidying up. That's the sellers responsibility.

Neither he nor his photographer want to be touching someone's unmade bed or dirty clothes. He doesn't have the time to either. He's an estate agent, not a cleaner.

Unless it's a 1m+ property it makes no difference. We never painted our last house and didn't want to repaint it before putting it on sale, so we just reduced the asking price by 5k. We still sold in weeks.

Particularly if the householder then couldn't find something? It would be 'those thieving bastards at the Estate Agents...' And their insurance against breaking something by moving it would make them unaffordable.

caffelattetogo · Today 15:19

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

So organise a cleaner or house clearance.

It’s not the EA’s job. Certainly not the photographer’s.

No I don't think that is their job.Maybe this home staging should become a thing. It is in some countries.

It’s definitely not their job. But they should have been in contact with someone for the keys and access (the son?) and they should have recommended a professional clean. Maybe they did and it was ignored by relatives. Shame for the lady.

I've seen some awful examples of messy homes for sale on EA advertising and have wondered if the agents suggest tactfully that before photos are taken it is advisable to unclutter and make rooms presentable. This could be done a few days prior to the photographer's appointment. Maybe it IS suggested but folk are too lazy or not interested. No idea.. but it's certainly not the agents responsibility as everyone here has agreed.

Her son should have booked cleaners to go in and do all that if he wasn’t able to do it himself. It’s no the EA or photographer’s job.

Sounds like the son couldn’t be bothered as he must have given the EA’s the key.

It could be a good service for the estate agents to offer a "photo ready" cleaning and housekeeping service in conjunction with a local cleaning firm.

To be fair that would be good.

YABU

It’s always on the homeowners to do so. Photographers and real estate agents don’t and shouldn’t.

We’re putting ours on the market and DH had the photographer coming by assuming it would be fine as is and thought it could be finish over a weekend. Not only could we not with the kids around, but we have a three floor home and a lot of clutter. Photographer came earlier than expected (DH got the time wrong!) and gave us some tips. I bit my tongue not to tell DH off in front of the photographer because he was trying to tell the guy how to do his job. He loves looking at houses and seems to think he is an expert 🙄. Been spending most of the week decluttering and continuing to sell stuff off (been selling stuff off for months now).

It’s a lot of work so unless you plan on going over yourself and helping your elderly neighbour and her son out who is likely busy trying to sort things out for his mum, you need to keep your opinions to yourself.

Yes, it’s their job, but the agent should have advised them to do it. As in, do an hour’s tidying to get a quicker sale.

its not their job and they have enough to do. i do see a lot of photos which are awful but yes i agree relatives should sort it out or get a company in to clean if they cannot

Who needs to be advised of that? The son will know it needs to be tidy for a quick sale but clearly Cba as he hasn’t employed a cleaner to go in first. No one needs to be told to make their bed before it hits right move

It's not the estate agent's job, but having said that the estate agent taking photos of our flat ready to sell spent a lot of time moving lights, rearranging accessories and even shifting some of the furniture etc so that he could get the best possible pictures. My sister used the same estate agent and the guy taking the photos was more junior and in and out in ten minutes flat.

I'm sure some people would be appalled at estate agents touching their belongings. They could also be accused of theft if something is moved or thrown away in the rubbish.

Some Agents (like me) will include a home tidying and styling service so the house looks its best for photos and viewings. But like anything in life you get what you pay for. A cheap agent won’t do this.

And some sellers don’t want to pay more for a better service that will help sell their home faster and for more. they just choose the agent with the cheapest fee! It’s a false economy though.

The photographs are for the benefit of the vendor and the purchaser. Not the neighbours.

I’m an agent and we do this!

If the people selling the house want to get the money from the sale and the most they can from it, they’ll make the effort to clean/tidy or pay someone to do it.

£300 to a cleaner to blitz the place to achieve a 6 figure sale is a no brainer.

It's unreasonable to ask estate agents and their photographers to dispose of rubbish. There could be any kind of waste in there! Also what's the point of doing that without wiping the sides down. If you wipe the sides you may aswell wipe the cupboards.... see how it can just snowball?

It's likely that the house is in a highly desirable location and the sellers wanted a quick sale. So rubbish on the kitchen counter or not its gonna sell for what it's priced at.

Living at a distance doesn't stop him travelling to his mothers house though.