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Not arguing that it wouldn't detract from the positive attributes of a home. BUT TO think two houses with the same structural layout aren't the same layout is just insane to me.
Now if you looked at 15 houses in a given day then sure maybe it would all blend to a degree for some people. But seriously... No staging would make me lose track of a houses core.
In my area 99% of homes are one story. Many of these are split plans (master on one side and additional bedrooms on the other). The centered living areas are divided up in class as either greatroom or separate living/dining.
When you look at a number of homes all based on a theme. All similarly sized. It's easy for even the most observant (with a few exceptions) to not realize that two homes are the exact same house plan. Furniture can change the flow of a house tremendously. A small room with large furniture can appear even smaller.
I think in theory we shouldn't judge homes without being in them, but when you are screening through 50 homes that meet your criteria, you are going to have to prioritize somehow. Junky looking homes are just lower on the priority list.
I'm looking at buying a house 2,500 miles away from where I live now. Incomplete listings, or listings without photos, just don't get my attention. When I search for the criteria I'm looking for, I get 500 listings - I have to go through all those and narrow it down enough so that I can see them all in one trip.
I've seen something similar in the local real estate magazines, when I was looking locally- houses listed with no area or no price. If you can't put that info on the ad, why should I waste my time? There are plenty of other options for me to choose.
I'm looking at buying a house 2,500 miles away from where I live now. Incomplete listings, or listings without photos, just don't get my attention. When I search for the criteria I'm looking for, I get 500 listings - I have to go through all those and narrow it down enough so that I can see them all in one trip.
I've seen something similar in the local real estate magazines, when I was looking locally- houses listed with no area or no price. If you can't put that info on the ad, why should I waste my time? There are plenty of other options for me to choose.
Like Tony, I'm buying my house from hundreds of miles away. All I have to go on at the moment is pictures, lots of them, until I take another trip to to the area in which I'm buying. I'm having to whittle my list of prospects to what will fit into the little time I'll have available to look.
If someone has junk piled everywhere, dirty dishes piled on the counter, underwear hanging in the bathroom, and they can't be bothered to clean it up before having pictures taken, I'm going to wonder if they bother to change furnace filters, if they have their AC serviced periodically, if they have a potential pest problem, etc. A house that looks uncared for probably isn't going to make my list, because no matter how great the house might actually be, in spite of whatever mess, I can't tell that from pictures online. All I can see is the potential problems.
OTOH I don't have to have a home staged to see the potential. In the houses I've actually looked at, I'm not put off by family photos on the wall or a few toys scattered about, or a house with shabby ill-placed furniture, or a home where the owner has used day-glo colors on the wall. If the family is still living there I'm going to expect a reasonable amount of clutter too. "Lived in" is one thing, but unkempt and neglected is something else entirely. I don't want to waste my time on looking at that.
I'm looking at buying a house 2,500 miles away from where I live now. Incomplete listings, or listings without photos, just don't get my attention. When I search for the criteria I'm looking for, I get 500 listings - I have to go through all those and narrow it down enough so that I can see them all in one trip.
I've seen something similar in the local real estate magazines, when I was looking locally- houses listed with no area or no price. If you can't put that info on the ad, why should I waste my time? There are plenty of other options for me to choose.
Yes, yes yes. I am only about about an hour and a half away from where i'm searching for a home, but I don't have time to look at a lot of properties - so when I do come down, I need to make sure I can maximize my time.
I am not going to waste time on listings that are ugly.
Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DubbleT
You know, I don't mind the photos of the cluttered junky houses. Mostly because it tells me that if the folks doing the selling are too lazy or uninvolved to clean up for the picture taking they are also probably too lazy to have taken very good care of the property while living there. So thanks for the warning, Next....!
Definitely agree on the misleading photos too. I got taken in by a couple of duplex units that were listed as single family, and you sure couldn't tell by the pictures or the description. What, are they hoping someone might fall in love with it and buy it even though it is not at all what they are looking for? Not likely.
Yep. Me and the wife went looking at one and there was some dude's used underwear on the floor of the bedroom. The Realtor said it was owned by three guys. I pictured the guy who couldn't be bothered to pick his dirty underwear off the floor...and in my mind's eye I saw him pouring grease down the kitchen drain. Mmmmm...bye bye grease.
Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by palmcoasting
Life isn't HGTV. I'm often amazed that people will look at pictures and make a decision about a house. I'm often amazed that people will discount a house because there are clothes laying around. I can't believe some people will buy a house because of the way a couch is placed or they like how the furniture looks or there are well placed vases and candles. You're purchasing the STRUCTURE and LOCATION not someone's color of the walls or their clothes laying around. The sellers are just people, living a life. I can make suggestions to them and if they don't follow them...oh well. They are advised it may cost them quite a bit of money because some people can't get beyond it to the meat of the matter.
As for making a duplex look like a single home, to me, it's incorrect. But...they had nice pictures!
Would you buy a car that smelled nice and appeared well taken care of - - - or the one that has the passenger seat filled with cigarette butts and cat feces?
After all...a car is a car. Much as another poster said, it causes you to wonder about hidden damage and/or maintenance issues. Don't get me wrong - I do see your point. I bet you can see mine too, though.
Imagine that you are single and looking for a spouse. One of your requirements for this spouse is that he/she is very attractive and in good shape and health.
So let's suppose you meet someone who is messy looking, dressed in shabby, sloppy mismatched clothes with an overgrown haircut, unshaven (face or legs, depending on gender), unwashed face, etc. You get the picture. Would it be likely that you would perceive this person as attractive and in good shape/health? Maybe if you're still living in the early 1990s and find the grunge look appealing.
It's very possible that underneath the mess this person has nice features, works out - maybe even "ripped", eats well and is a health nut. He/she could even be a supermodel for all you know because let's face it, before the airbrushing, makeup and styling, many supermodels are fairly plain underneath. But you would have no way of knowing.
Standing next to this person is his/her identical twin who has much better grooming habits...clean and neat, dressed nicely, hair groomed, stylish.
If you were going on photos alone, which one would you perceive as attractive and healthy? Which one would you be more interested in meeting?
When we sold our house in TX we had our house always cleaned as much as possible when showing. Beds made, candle lit, etc... Looked as close to a model home as we could while at the same time having to make few exceptions since we did live there. We would get some crazy comments about the colors of the walls being offensive. (gold in the kitchen is that offensive?) We would get the most insane comments that were not constructive or helpful at all. It was depressing to read the comments. Felt like getting punched in stomach after every showing. We were able to sell though. When we looked for a house in TX most houses also looked like model homes. Very few unkept homes.
We are currently looking at houses in Southern NJ. AMAZING the difference. I would guess every other house is so gross and in a state that I am AMAZED someone is LIVING in it. Clothes everywhere. Piles of trash. Some are clearly estates so I get that to a degree. (though if my parents died and I was selling house I think I would take time to get over to house before listing it and clean it out) Not sure why there is such a difference. Older homes in NJ versus newer homes in TX maybe? But many of the people in NJ don't seem to realize you want to make house look nice when trying to sell it.
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
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I am also looking to buy from about 1300 miles away so I peruse the internet constantly. It's to the point now where if a listing has no photos, or only shows photos of the yard and the gardens, I pretty much know I need to pass. If I was very young and able to afford a "fixer" it might be different, but the last thing I want is to have to repaint an entire house and lay new flooring, etc. Clutter is no big deal, but filth or damage is.
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Attn: RE Agents
