herrchook

OK, I know that here in the UK, the TV schedule is full of House Doctor type shows offering advise on how to "present" your home for sale, and yes, it all gets a bit too much, but having spent quite a few evenings searching at properties on realestate.com.au I finally see why it's important.

We've looked at houses with dogs in the photo, un made beds, unwashed dishes and general untidy houses. Is this the norm with Aussie homes for sale? Don't get me wrong, I can see past decor and know that a bathroom suite/wall colour/carpet can be easily changed, but when I see a sloppily presented home I just wonder if the owner hasn't looked after the house that well either!

Just a thought.

The Johnstons

I've thought about this too. Hubby is of the 'the house will sell as it is' train of thought, but I think people are more clued up now. The ironic thing is we've lived without doing those little incidental jobs like finishing decorating jobs etc. for years but now that we've to sell we're turning it into a show house. It's crazy, we could have been living in a lovely house all this time .

gobbyjock

I think the problem is that now buyers expect you to knock 10k off the price because the house looks grubby or they don`t like your wallpaper. In saying that on some of those sort of programmes I do wonder if the sellers actually take a good look at the state of their houses some of them are pretty disgusting :scared:

herrchook

Well, if it's that nice.....and our STNI app falls flat, maybe we'll buy it. We're just up the road from you.

Good luck selling

The Johnstons

Wouldn't wish any bad luck on you...........but it is a lovely house (well it will be once I've finished impersonating Anne Maurice )

Whereabouts are you? We're in Larbert.

ozzymaz

Hi there

We are also just up the road from you-formerly Larbert,now Shieldhill!!!It's a small world,aint it

Marlyn

CORKER

Yes we too are living in a show home.....it looks brilliant....I had to buy my first ever pair of slippers this week as all the new carpets are now cream...and yes I am still in the cellar typing this.....

Bella Donna

These programmes are nice for giving an insight into interior design, but they do go OTT at times. We tried the "baked bread, roasting coffee beans, aromatherapy oils.." approach when we sold our former house three years ago, and it did bugger all, imo. People commented, but still didn't buy. The house we're in the process of selling had a complete redecorate, but it was very much a "one coat of paint for appearances" effort and we literally finished the kitchen and utility room the day before flying to Oz.

I think the biggest thing about selling is your technique. You need to be very positive about what you're showing. This was my mistake before - I was aware of all the house's shortcomings, and I know it affected the way I showed it. I made the mistake of thinking viewers would expect it to be perfect, and of course it wasn't. Mind, these design programmes have lifted people's expectations, I think. They're less forgiving now.

As for Oz houses? Well, we've done the rounds while trying to find a rental, and we've seen some stuff. We were showed one lovely house in Secret Harbour, but the agent got a shock when she opened the door. The previous occupant obviously hadn't quite finished moving out. There was laundry scattered all over the floor, dirty undies in the bathroom, dirty dishes in the sink, money on the counter, and the oven was fit for condemning. I was glad in the end we didn't get it because I couldn't have cooked in that to save my life.

By and large, I would say the Ozzies just don't stress about how things *look*. Which is, perhaps, as it should be. They're so much more laid back about everything, imo. And we Brits place so much emphasis on appearances... Perhaps they need to smarten up a bit and we need to chill a bit...?

Or maybe we're all just fine as we are...

Sue

herrchook

We're in Brightons, just up the road from OzzyMazz. Small world indeed We'll be having Falkirk meets if this keeps up.

herrchook

lol, I'll settle for chillin a bit -that's what it's all about afterall

A dogs life

I use realestate.com.au for a laugh, just to see how sloppy and unprofessional real estate agents are: Dogs in the photos, blurry photos, hoses lying around, junk in the yard. These guys don't give a toss

Does it affect whether the house sells... hmmm I don't know, I think I could see past the crap, maybe others couldn't. What I can't get past is the amatuerism of Real Estate agents even having the nerve to publish some of those photos as a 'selling point' for the house.

The Johnstons

We'd be up for that .

ps. My kids go to Braes High for their swimming lessons (preparing for Oz )

jensteve

Had to have a giggle, a few years back when we had a house up for sale we where asked if we would consider letting the house doctor come and have a look, the production guy turned up camera in hand, and well zoomed in on all the bad points, it made us realise what was wrong, he asked what we thought she would do and he agreed with us, so while they debated on using our house or not we did exactly what she would have done, the paint had barely enough time to dry and we got 2 full offers, then they rung and said they would like to use us, I had to tell them sorry but we have done it ourselves, and from then on everytime we will sell a house we do the house doc thing, it defo works.

Jenny

herrchook

Really, we'd asked at The Mariner Centre about lessons for the girls but their list is over a year long!! Jeez, we'll hopefully be out there by then! Do Braes take little ones? I'm desperate for the girls to be strong swimmers.

Gill

herrchook

.....and to charge a small fortune for it too? Hubbie thinks we should set ourselves up as estate agents when we go out - how difficult can it be if that's what the competition is?????