Has anyone ever read the estate agents brochure for their house and felt embarrassed?

[xfilesandicecream]

We had an estate agent around to value our house and they have sent us a draft brochure for selling. It mentions throughout about extending and renovating and 'creating a lovely family home' - I feel a bit shit now as I didn't think my house needed renovating, just a new kitchen and the hall decorating.

Has anyone else ever felt like this (or am I being ridiculously sensitive?)

Well, firstly, agents aren’t generally known for their excellent nuanced writing skills and I doubt they were trying to imply your home is a tip and needs a lot of work, but trying to convey that the house is an ideal family home with potential for extending and improving.

Secondly, it’s usual to agree the listing wording with the agent beforehand. Did they not discuss what they thought their honest appraisal of the condition was or how they thought it was best to market it?

Surely it is just sales patter, don't worry about it. People normally just look at the pictures anyway!

P.s if it really upsets you, ask them to change it! After all you're paying them

I didn't think my house needed renovating, just a new kitchen and the hall decorating

I mean, a new kitchen can be quite a big job!

I think I'm probably being over-sensitive, we were supposed to move before lockdown before I had my baby, but that went wrong, so now I'm trying to sell again.

I think I just always think of 'renovating' as being stuff like rewire, new roof etc. It does need a new kitchen, but we were told to leave it for the new sellers as it's a subjective thing. We got told to leave the hall too as it's not a big job but now I'm wondering if I should just get it done ASAP before we list.

We haven't actually decided to go with them, I think they've just sent me a draft.

If you can get the hall done cheaply, then I'd do that, because it's the first thing your potential buyers will see when they come into the house. If it's bright and newly painted, with some plants and pictures/mirrors, then they will be relieved all they have to do is the kitchen.

And it could be a way of them saying, "Don't bother asking for a reduction as this price takes renovations into account."

No I completely agree BlueSlice about a kitchen being a big job, and we're obviously pricing it lower than houses with a new kitchen. We just got told not to bother changing it as people have different tastes etc

I'll just be being oversensitive

Try not to take it personally. When we sold our last house the agent said on the sales material “in our opinion in good decorative order”. Everything else was presented as fact, but that line seemed to suggest that it was only their opinion that our decorating was alright, and that others might think it was a hole.

I think it’s to access more people. Lots of people purchase homes now on the basis of extending and doing some renovation work. Chances are unless it’s freshly renovated, agents are going to try and spin the property to a broader market.

I was thinking of moving and My interior designer told me that if I do my decisions have to be purely strategic and tactical to make a sale. Don’t take it personal, you want the sale and they’re just doing it in their way x

I agree that EA are often crap at wording their descriptions. Some mis-use words or there are spelling or grammatical errors.

I'd always send them a list of things I'd like them to emphasise/phrases I'd like included. If I've done this, they have included them. Quite often, they miss a benefit or as in your case, they overplay a downside.

Always ask to see the draft before it goes out.

The other thing that makes a difference online and in brochures is the order of photos. For some reason they seem to like to show a living room shot, followed by a bedroom, followed by garden, followed by another bedroom, downstairs loo, loft etc etc....there is no flow. There is a right natural order for photos, in terms of how you'd walk round the downstairs of a house and then the upstairs. Getting it right helps people visualise the house better, but I'd say over 80% of online slide shows seem to be in a peculiar order. Or is it just me?

It's Estate Agent speak for 'you can make this home your own/it has lots of potential/don't ask for too much off the asking price'.

I was on the other end of this when we bought our current house. The Estate Agent kept saying, "when you renovate..." and the like when I was planning a lick of paint.

Buyers like to think they're going to 'renovate'. It's not personal. But yes to not doing big jobs like a new kitchen before you move. It's a hassle, you won't necessarily get more for the house and if people like the house a kitchen that they don't like but is perfectly usable won't stop them buying.

If you think the price that the EA has advised is reasonable, then just put it on the market and see what happens.

When i sold a house, they described the garden as overgrown. It was not overgrown it was a design decision i was not best pleased.

You may be a little sensitive. It's nice to read that the house is immaculate, but that would put me off viewing. I'd rather buy something a bit tired but with scope to make it mine. Most people buy houses with the plan to live in them for five to 10 years, and as long as it's habitable and workable in the short term, then you overlook the decorative features and work out how to change them. The things you can't change are the location, the view and the aspect, so if those are right for you, the rest can be improved with time.

Hi everyone, just wanted to thank you for your responses.

I asked my husband to read the brochure, and he pointed out that a lot of it wasn't fitting to our house (fitted wardrobes which were in when we moved in but we have since taken them out and redecorated etc) and the brochure may be from pictures before, which has made us feel a bit better. It is an area where lots of people extend too (it's a large corner plot, and it does have great schools etc) so they're probably completely right in going for the extend angle.

I am definitely just sensitive, and probably a bit down at the thought of trying to sell again when we were so close to moving last time.

Mil was furious when an estate agent said theirs needed updating - to be fair they are both stuck in 1976 style wise with pine slatted stairs and polystyrene ceiling tiles and a little serving hatch between kitchen and dining room instead of knocking through but if they wait long enough those things might come back into fashion!

We were a bit about our EA describing our house as "in need of modernisation" because we had done a lot of work over the years e.g. rewiring, new kitchen within previous 5-10 years. But it's just jargon to let buyers know that the house needs some work and that this had been factored into the price.

I've seen many estate agent spiels that describe houses as 'to die for' 'immaculate taste' when they are ghastly grey everything - grey carpets, kitchens, bathrooms, floor tiles. So bleak I just click past them because I'd have to redecorate from scratch and yet the prices are higher because they've bled out all the colour. I often prefer the decor of the 'in need of updating' houses.