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Original poster

How old are estate agent particulars allows to be before updating?

14 replies

linspins · 23/01/2016 13:45

We had our home on the market 18mths ago, and found a buyer. We didn't find a house ourselves though, so in the end took ours off the market. We've now found a house...can we use the photos taken back then, and the same brochure? Everything still looks the same, although maybe we'd add just a new one of the front of our house. Does it matter that the pics have glorious Spring/summer garden etc?

OP posts:
wowfudge · 23/01/2016 14:46

I would have at least some new pics taken - otherwise it's a dead giveaway straightaway that the house has been on the market before and even make it look as though it's been on the market a long time. You can use the same EPC though.

Original poster
linspins · 23/01/2016 14:50

Wowfudge, the only draw back to that is, that our garden is a major selling point, and looks so lovely in the photos as it was May, and now, being January, it doesn't look so good! Plus the old photos are all sunny and bright, making it look all warm. Light at this time of year is mainly dull grey.

OP posts:
wowfudge · 23/01/2016 14:57

Well you asked what posters thought and that's what I would think if I saw summer pictures.

superram · 23/01/2016 15:01

I would use them, why wouldn't you? People looking 18 months ago probably aren't now. I probably wouldn't even notice the weather. Walks round with eyes shut.....

Original poster
linspins · 23/01/2016 15:51

Wowfudge, sorry, I wasn't arguing with you, rather...trying to talk myself in to keeping the pics! We've been looking for a house for a long time, and I agree with you it might look as if our house has been on for ages.
I'd vaguely remembered someone telling me ages ago that you are actually not allowed to use pictures taken a certain amount of time ago, (a year?) as it could be deceptive, and wondered if this was true.

OP posts:
wowfudge · 23/01/2016 17:29

I don't think so - unless things have really changed. When we viewed our current house it was obvious that some of the photos had been taken before the occupants at the time had moved in, but things were not so different as to be deceptive in any way. Well, except that the place was filthy!

lavendersun · 23/01/2016 17:32

Our house went on the market this week. I had some fab photos from when we thought about moving a couple of years ago. Our garden looked fab in the old ones too but the new agent advised it was a bad idea to use them, said it needed to be 'current' otherwise it would look like it had been for sale for ever.

We went with the new photos, taken on a sunny day.

Original poster
linspins · 23/01/2016 18:25

Maybe we'll do a mixture, some photos from now, and a few nice garden ones to show what it's like when the plants and trees are all in leaf.
And a jolly good clean then!

OP posts:
lavendersun · 23/01/2016 18:28

My agent said show the older photos by all means but not web page/brochure material. We only went live this morning and have three viewings arranged.

Cleaning all round!

OVienna · 23/01/2016 22:08

I have recently looked at a property where the details were two years old and house condition had deteriorated very substantially.

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 24/01/2016 22:21

We bought our current house after it had been on the market about two years. The very glossy brochure showed it fully furnished with naice antiques and the immaculately presented large garden was obviously the work of a keen and knowledgeable gardener. Imagine our surprise - having driven the 3.5 hrs to view - only to find it not only vacant, but on a lovely July day the beautiful garden was completely overgrown Sad

Turned out the vendor had bought a mansion with 20+ acres larger house elsewhere and had not bothered to maintain either house or garden in the interim. I guess he wasn't expecting it to take do long to sell, but had he at least kept the gardener on - we met the gardener by chance recently and know it was he who had done all the hard graft - I'm sure the house would have sold much quicker. Wasn't as though he couldn't afford it!

In your shoes, OP, I'd definitely redo the pics, but do as you suggest and mix in some showing the garden at its best......GL, btw!

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 24/01/2016 22:22

so long Wink

Original poster
linspins · 27/01/2016 22:36

Thanks for the messages. We are going to spend a week making sure the house looks presentable, and trying to tidy the garden as best as possible in soggy windy conditions! I'm itching to cut the grass, but reckon that's not likely. Will have a mix of photos I think. Fingers crossed.

OP posts:
wowfudge · 27/01/2016 23:03

Don't cut the grass - if it's anything like ours it'll be really wet. If you try to cut it you'll just churn everything up.

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