Features I wish Righmove offered....

bylromarha

We've just moved across the country. OH been drawing floorplans and doing estate agent photos for 17 years. EPCs (*spit*) more recently. He has been self employed for 14 of those years. His boss back in 1997 contended he was the first person in the UK to supply floorplans for non new build properties. He really should have patented his idea if it were possible to do so...anyway....

Heis been trying to set up his business in this place we've moved to. He's not been too successful. In the town we've moved to, 50% of the agents don't use floorplans. The reasons given are that "buyers don't want them" - what? "they increase the risk of burglary" - ???? "they're too expensive" - when already at the house the extra time for the floorplan only costs a few extra pounds. "sellers don't see the need for them" - that's because they aren't the experts in selling their house and they're following your ignorant lead. So many stupid reasons given why they don't use floorplans as standard when everyone knows it's cost. But for as long as the agent sells houses without a floorplan, then they'll continue to do so.

new2allthis

Ace1979 wrote: »

Reception rooms!!!!

Council tax indicator would be useful too.

And sold history, like Zoopla does.

Totally agree with the above and everyone who mentioned floor plans and floor space.

Council tax band, ideally with a link to the relevant local authorities band charges.

Much prefer Zoopla to Rightmove, precisely because it includes the previous history of sale prices and property particulars, where available.

Floor space - total for each floor as well as for the interior as a whole, plus the size of the garden, the conservatory, the garage, the summerhouse, the shed, the cellar, the workshop, the loft etc. Whatever's there, measure it. And, for God's sake, do it accurately! Two different agents, two different sets of measurements - small variances...ok, that's to be expected, but the best part of a foot? Please!

Same with floor plans. I've seen so many examples of supposed gaps between rooms, that suggest spacious hallways or wasted space that might be suitable for converting into a large cupboard, a box room or a stairway to a loft conversion, only to find on arrival that no such space exists! :mad: I agree, as someone said earlier, that agents are worried that too much information might put off some viewers but, while I want a 3-bed, I will look at a 2-bed if it seems roomy or to has additional space that I can use instead of a 3rd bedroom as an office. Poorly drawn floor plans just waste my time and do not endear the agent to me, the buyer, at all!

Plus distance to the closest railway station that you can actually get to! Not the closest as the crow flies, which (in the area I live) would entail swimming or boating across a (now-flooded) river.

Also, I hate tiny, box kitchens. Why can't you select (on/off) kitchen/diner and, for that matter (for those who particularly want them or don't) lounge/diners, 2/3 bedrooms, paved/tarmacked yards etc?

Ms_Chocaholic

Type of heating - I've been browsing Rightmove for some time, we're not wanting to move for a while yet but I want to see what's available as it's a totally different area we are planning to move to.

I only want to consider properties that have GCH but Rightmove doesn't give me the technological tools to do that, grrrrr!

new2allthis

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Type of heating - I've been browsing Rightmove for some time, we're not wanting to move for a while yet but I want to see what's available as it's a totally different area we are planning to move to.

I only want to consider properties that have GCH but Rightmove doesn't give me the technological tools to do that, grrrrr!

Good point.

Also, whether the property has double-glazing throughout or only 'where stated'.

Plus, water meters and solar panels. As I understand it, a condition of them being installed in the first place is that the obligation to retain them is passed on subsequent owners.

Davesnave

new2allthis wrote: »

Good point.

Also, whether the property has double-glazing throughout or only 'where stated'.
.

Surely you wouldn't reject the chance to view a good property because it didn't have full double glazing?

Piddling detail.

The more filters you introduce, the more chance for c*ck-ups and the greater the possibility that the house best suited, slips through.

seven-day-weekend

One thing I do think is very important is stating the length of lease left on a flat. Hardly anyone mentions this and it is so important.

chucknorris

I really hope that they don't start doing floor plans as standard for rental properties, we do our own (doesn't take that long on excel) and it's good to provide additional information that our competitors do not.

TBagpuss

Floorplans as standard, definitely.

I have viewed properties where there was no floorplan, and each time I have requested one when I made my initial enquiry, and commented to the agents when looking round - also made a point of telling my agents that one of the reasons I picked them was that the do plans as standard - hopefully if enough of us make it clear that we want them, those agents still to providing them will get the picture.

I would like to see garden dimensions included - for me, this move, a garden was one of my top three requirements, yet there is no way of filtering to exclude houses where the 'garden' is a 8 inch strip of gravel at the front or a paved desert at the rear.

Also, having to make it clear up front where there are access rights across the property.It doesn't matter what else the property has to offer, if the neighbours have a right of way through the back garden I'm not interested in the house. It's a waste of everyone's time to look at it.

Jenniefour

Floorplans with room sizes on them, definitely. In the past have put aside details of properties without them and not viewed.

And, for flats/apartments to know which ones have lifts and which don't. Length of lease and service charge.

Better_Days

The facility to make a note against a particular property. If you are looking for a while it is not always easy to remember why you discounted a particular property and you can waste time looking at it again. But a note saying 'tiny garden' or 'too near xyz' would be very useful.

And I'm probably getting overly optimistic here - but a link to the LA planning applications page for the area and the Enviroment agency flood risk page too would be something that I would check as a matter of course.

A little calculator which works out price per square metre :eek: - (floor area taken from EPC)

You would think that RM could easily create a template for EA's to complete when uploading listings - but the lazy so and so's probably wouldn't use it

For those of you who like to work out plot size this little tool is very handy for a rough idea - you can zoom right in to a particular property http://www.gravoplex.com/Planimeter/GMapPlanimeter.html