Picture of the week: How do you make vendors tidy up?

Here’s rather a strange contender for photo of the week.

It’s a perfectly okay-looking property – well mostly. And, strangely, some of the rooms have been tidied up and look shipshape.

But the kitchen and utility rooms tell their own story.

Just how do you make someone who would like to get the best part of £300,000 for their property tidy up?

Small wonder that the agents say there is “plenty of scope to improve with redecoration”. Hmm. Just a spot of washing up and tidying things away would be a help.

Why would anyone want their home to look like this on a portal viewed by the public at large?

It’s on Rightmove here

Picture of the week Oakley

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18 Comments

  1. clarky46

    Don’t you mean ‘How do you make tenants tidy up’?  I reckon this is a rental property with tenants given notice but still in situ while the lease runs out. Owner has decided to sell but the agent has to cope with tenants who now don’t care (or did they ever?) what it looks like!

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  2. ray comer

    Really? is that because only tenants live like that? You haven’t seem much of the property industry if you think vendors wouldn’t do this.

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  3. B6RKY

    Reminds me of many years ago where we had a vendor who worked so we did the viewings Mon-Fri in office hours. I had to get there 1/2 hour early every time after my first visit to tidy up, clear the empty wine/beer bottles away and make the beds. It was a nice house but owner was a tramp! The funny thing was she worked for a large developer selling ‘show homes’ yet had her own looking like a dump. I don’t remember offering our services as a cleaner at any point. I sold it so it was worth going the extra mile 😉

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  4. surrey1

    It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility I would move at least some of it out of shot. Tea towels and shopping bags are a pretty safe one man job in my experience.

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  5. wilko

    In a nice way it would have to be “clean and tidy up” up or we can’t market properly………..or, I wonder how long it would take Ravensworth Photo Fix to remove all these objects in the kitchen?

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  6. Property Ear

    Any self respecting firm wouldn’t take instructions to sell a place like this, let alone advertise it with such a dreadful photograph. Shame on both client and agent.

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    1. lee10c

      You would really expect an agent to refuse an instruction for this?

      You obviously have too much stock!

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      1. wilko

        “You obviously have too much stock!”……Or maintains a basic professional standard?

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        1. lee10c

          So if someone didn’t particularly want to tidy up then you would walk?

           

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          1. wilko

            Yes, definitely, unless they agreed to only having a front photo (assuming the front garden didn’t look like steptoes’ yard). If front was awful as well and there was no intention of it being tidied then yes, I wouldn’t want my company marketing it as it reflects badly on the company image, which is more important in the long run.

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            1. lee10c

              Another Sold / Let by board reflects well on the companies image too.  There are not enough pristine properties in this area to be fussy!

              We can always be selective over which photos we put online, i wouldn’t ever lose an instruction over it.

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              1. wilko

                Agreed on both counts. I guess it is an area thing as well.

                You only have to look at the photos on eg easyproperty  to see what bad photos can do to your overall agency image.

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                1. lee10c

                  Agree completely.

                   

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  7. lee10c

    It doesn’t surprise me.  I often visit properties to meet vendor’s for pictures and the places look in a state!

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    1. wilko

      And you don’t tell them they have to tidy up and de clutter before photographs and marketing?

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      1. lee10c

        Did i say that?

        I am frequently advising them.

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        1. wilko

          If you constantly advise them – but then you often visit vendors for pics and they haven’t bothered – are you wasting your time?……. if they don’t listen to when you frequently advise them to just tidy up…….why would they listen when you give further professional advice throughout the proposed transaction?

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  8. TBR

    By providing pictures that represent what the potential purchasers will see on viewing day, expectations remain realistic saving hours in telephone convesations – “pictures speak a thousand words”. With a waiting list of viewers and offers received without viewing, seems our transparency is description pays….

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