Estate details/photos make such a difference

[BG2015]

Our house is going on the market next week and we have begun looking at the potential properties that are currently available.

We are downsizing and paying off our mortgage. I have realised that this is harder than upsizing.

Some of the estate agents are dire.

No floor plans. The photographs are awful and don't show correct angles. Descriptions are lacking.

One of our criteria is a south facing garden but very few EA state this in their descriptions. We want a sunny garden as we want to entertain more in our retirement.

We have to keep going on Google earth and researching before we rule them out.

I love the EA that do a video/virtual thing where you can see ALL the property.

Massive learning curve going on and praying loads more properties appear soon, otherwise we'll end up staying put.

Oh absolutely! I think this is a UK specific problem for sure, I've always been shocked at how dreadful the estate agents here are.

It's always amazed me that we are one of the few countries where agents don't even give basic information on the size. If you ask them for the floor space they haven't got a clue if the property is 70 or 150 metre floor space. It's staggeringly lazy.
Good luck with the sale

Couldn't agree more! The first thing I'd normally look for is the square meterage!

Just putting the measurements on the floor plans would be a bonus - fed up of having to flick back and forth to the long form description with the info and then to the layout....I'll printout and write it on the ones I go to look at but pfff...niggles me!

Also some of the photos have incredibly deceptive angles....wouldn't have bothered with one particular property had they taken a decent/honest photo of the kitchen!

Agreed - direction of garden is important.

I'm always stunned at how little estate agencies do for the huge sums they command.

Room sizes are approximate.

Floor plans are not accurate.

There are dumb photos of vases of flowers or artistic arrangements of limes in fruit bowls.

For apartments, they often don't even state the terms of the service fees.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/estate-agents-fees-in-europe-are-cheapest-in-the-uk/#:~:text=Belgium%2C%20Croatia%2C%20Estonia%2C%20Luxembourg,in%20France%2C%20Cyprus%20and%20Malta.

You get what you pay for.

I just read an article somewhere that said if a listing doesn't actually specify 'south facing garden' it's because it doesn't have one.

I always want to see a floor plan and square footage, something not all agents do.

I don't mind fewer photographs, sometimes it's better to get an idea then go for a viewing to have a proper look and actually see the overall picture.

I agree with that. If a garden is south facing it will often get mentioned in the particulars that the garden is south facing or has a “sunny garden”. The orientation is never mentioned when the garden is north or east facing, however.

In my experience most property details do have floor plans with square footage so I’m a bit surprised by people saying they don’t, maybe it varies depending on location. Overall, I agree with the sentiment that some EAs are dire with poor quality photos. To some extent you get what you pay for though (as the client) so I wouldn’t pick a dead cheap EA to sell my property as I want decent photos & a floor plan as a minimum.

I've hardly ever seen a property marketed without a floor plan. And that floor plan includes a total square meterage plus a compass to show which way the property is aligned. That's been really standard in my experience.

I’ve previously asked to EA about south facing gardens- sometimes they don’t even know! But I refuse to view houses without south facing gardens as I know I won’t buy it.

I was going to say the same. I can’t remember ever seeing a listing without a floor plan and I used to work in the industry so I have seen plenty. Every floor plan has all the measurements on. The basic requirement for a listing would be photos, floor plan and EPC rating.

I’m in NZ and it’s uncommon to get a floor plan here unless it’s a new build but the houses are almost always staged with videos. The house buying process here is also very different to the UK, it astounds me how long some people have to wait to buy a home.

House buying in England/Wales is such an insanely complicated and drawn out process! We‘d like to move to somewhere a little bit bigger ideally but can’t face the stress.

I see a lot of properties without floor plans. It really puts me off going to view a house if I don't know the layout first.

Below are 2 separate local EA to me. Even on their actual websites (photos from Rightmove) the information is the same.

It's so frustrating.

I wouldn’t view those properties unless they looked perfect from the photos. The owners have made a big tactical error choosing those particular EAs.

There’s very little on the market where I am at the moment but when it’s thriving, there are always floor plans and decent descriptions. I rule out anything that doesn’t have those – easy when there’s 100+ houses on Rightmove but right now there’s 3 . I think your issue might just be there’s not enough for sale lately – even the traditional Boxing Day Rightmove bonanza was slim pickings this year. Floorplans without measurements do hack me off, but they tend to be on the cheaper, fixer-upper properties. Most pricey stuff seems to be marketed properly.

My beef is when you’re shown round the property by some useless teenager in a too-big suit who can’t answer a single question about it – when we sold we went with someone independent and gave them a crib sheet so they knew the age of the boiler, when the windows were done, that we were happy to leave the freestanding range, etc.

I would agree with this, that if not stated ‘south facing garden’ then it usually isn’t unless they are totally inept!!!!

There are new regulations out for EA's to provide a minimum level of detail. They have until Nov/end of year? to implement them.

https://moneyweek.com/investments/property/new-property-listings-rules-what-should-an-estate-agent-be-telling-you

And then, just in case there is anything that helps, I'll shamelessly plug my tools for house buyers

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4935470-tools-for-house-buyers?reply=131869311

I heartedly recommend downsizing having done it twice! Good luck

@XVGN

It's proving tricky when we need minimum bedroom that fits a king size bed plus a decent sofa.

We're not moving unless we can find the right house, which could prove awkward,