House on the market for 15 days, no viewings booked

JenB83

sheff6107 wrote: »

Your photos are letting things down. Presumably you took them yourself if you're with an online agent?

You need a wide angle lens - all the rooms look small. Even a clip-on phone lens will do (I'd recommend Aukey)

Take your outside shots when it's sunny! And you front picture makes next door look really close - take it more to the left and you won't get them in the shot.

Remember to take photos at the height of your light switches. Normal height means you look down into the room, again making them smaller.

No need to redecorate anything in my opinion - just lightening your shots would help.

Thank you, that's really helpful. The EA took the photos but, believe it or not, I've already redone a couple of them cause his were even worse than me. I have now remembered I have an old wide angle adaptor in the loft (d'oh!!) so will be redoing photos at the weekend.

JenB83

hazyjo wrote: »

Agree with this bit - it wouldn't make me wonder what else was being 'stretched' (rather than 'lied'), but I would think the EA was being sneaky. They often have that reputation anyway so there's really no need for them to clarify it!


Change the location too. Definitely. I'm in North Chingford (London) and get very niggled when houses half a mile down are sold as 'North Chingford' when they're quite clearly not! I always think they're trying to dupe buyers who don't know the area that well.


Jx

I've already emailed the agent asking him to change this. I've never been comfortable with it but took his advice as he's supposed to the expert. Clearly my gut instinct was right.

DRP

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

I suspect I'm the only other person on this thread from South Bristol - I think the lie about the location is quite a big deal. Dundry is much nicer than Bishopsworth/Withywood. Sorry if that sounds snobby - it's not meant to be, I live in Brislington !!!!!!!


It makes me wonder what else is being lied about? The reception rooms. Bedroom 2 doesn't look like a double. The third bedroom doesn't even have a picture, unless I'm missing something?


It's a nice enough house OP, but there's a 3 bed round the corner for £25k less that only needs a little work.

+1 for South Bristol ... (well we moved to Keynsham from S.Bristol, but that still counts )


OP - 2 weeks or so in August is not really a long time, so don't panic yet!

House is generally presented smartly. My feedback, in order of importance:

1. Price - as others say, there's cheaper, bigger houses nearby.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Garden - Take the photo from somewhere you can see a bit more grass and less hutches! Paint the shed.
7. Front - take a pic without the neighbouring car.
8. Box in the boiler and no one will even notice it (or if time/money is an issue, take a photo without it).


Summary: Price is virtually always the most important factor...

bouicca21

For me it's partly the boiler - putting it there just shouts that more appropriate locations are too small - but even worse is the photo of the garden. How big is that lawned area? It looks like it is tiny. A table and chairs with maybe some container plants would make that patio look more loved and loveable.

PaperDoll

Put all the lights and lamps on when taking new photos. My EA photos were taken on one of the sunniest days of the year but I was still instructed to raise all the blinds and put lights on in some rooms. It does make a difference.


I agree with the PP who suggested changing the angle of the pic of the front of the house and trying to take it when the neighbour's car isn't in. The current pic makes me feel claustrophobic - your house looks squashed in to a corner but I can see from the driveway that there is actually more space than the pic suggests.


Plant up a couple of pots with brightly coloured flowers and you can move them around to dress the front and rear garden for photos as necessary.


That bathroom pic is just weird.


The boiler was the thing that stood out to me most. Honestly, I think it would be worth the money spent to box it in. I don't like the colour of that room but it wouldn't be a deal breaker - IMO, it's just not presenting it to its best advantage. Paint it the same colour as the kitchen for better 'flow'.


I'd get rid of that tall cabinet and chest by the living room window. I'd place the chair from baby's bedroom there instead.


If you can move baby to the box room and present that room as a double, I would. I had the same when I sold my 3 bed semi (2 doubles and a box room that wouldn't even fit a single bed) but DD was in a toddler bed which fitted in the box room along with a small single wardrobe and bedside cabinet with other wall hung units for additional storage. That way, it looked like a usable room and I was able to show the second bedroom as a proper double. Otherwise, families (and prospective families) can't see room to grow.


Good luck!

googler

JenB83 wrote: »

The house that's nearby but cheaper is on a not very nice street, I know it's close but ours has a much better reputation locally.

How are your viewers and buyers going to know this?

JenB83

googler wrote: »

How are your viewers and buyers going to know this?

If anyone came to view it would be obvious.

Phirefly

JenB83 wrote: »

Thank you, that's really helpful. The EA took the photos but, believe it or not, I've already redone a couple of them cause his were even worse than me. I have now remembered I have an old wide angle adaptor in the loft (d'oh!!) so will be redoing photos at the weekend.

That's good to hear, OP. It incenses me that EA photos are so bad generally. They are essentially the MOST IMPORTANT part of the listing so why is it acceptable for them to be so terrible? Or for the vendor to have to take them themselves? Even if one is using a fixed fee online agent, you're still paying a fee for their service and should be able to expect quality images. Sorry to rant, its just a really big bugbear of mine.

JenB83

Phirefly wrote: »

That's good to hear, OP. It incenses me that EA photos are so bad generally. They are essentially the MOST IMPORTANT part of the listing so why is it acceptable for them to be so terrible? Or for the vendor to have to take them themselves? Even if one is using a fixed fee online agent, you're still paying a fee for their service and should be able to expect quality images. Sorry to rant, its just a really big bugbear of mine.

Mine too. I wasn't there when the photos were taken for our house and when they got sent through I was so disappointed. I'm not a photographer but even I could tell they were rubbish. The house does look a lot smaller than it actually is. I'm going to try out your tips over the next couple of days and see if I can improve them.

Phirefly

I'm an interior photographer.

Think about taking the photos from around chest-to-waist height, so the vertical middle of the image is the vertical middle of the wall between floor and ceiling. Stand as far back into a corner as you can or back out of the doorway as far as you can without getting the doorframe in shot. You are aiming for all of the horizontal lines in the image to be as close to true horizon as possible and ditto with the verticals (to true vertical) so make sure you look carefully at the vertical lines closest to the edge of the shot as these will have the most impact on the overall effect. You want them to be as parallel to the edges of your image as you can.

Make more of the fact you have a kitchen diner - I know you have a breakfast bar and use your conservatory as a dining room but I think it might even be worth moving your table and chairs in from the conservatory. I'd then beg borrow or steal some nice furniture for the conservatory. If you don't like that idea get a sofa in your kitchen diner instead. People like the idea of the kitchen as a place to hang out and your photo isn't depicting that as well as it could. Take a photo from the units end of the kitchen to show the space where the 'diner' area is. Also, take the photo of the conservatory standing squidged up next to the boiler so you have the French doors in shot. Ok so people might be disappointed when they see the boiler if they view, but by then they may have already seen enough they like to make the boiler less of an issue.

As someone else has said, try and get your hands on a bed for your second room and put the cot in the box room.

You will hear advice to put on all of the interior lights. I actually don't agree with this, it can actually look less professional. It is better to ensure your camera settings are optimal.

Will you be using an SLR with your wide angle adaptor? If so, use its manual setting. Ramp the ISO up to around 500-600 but keep your aperture around f/8. Use a slow shutter speed to compensate for the small aperture, obviously you will need to use a tripod if you are using a slow shutter speed. Put the shutter on a two second delay so the camera fires a good time after you have moved your finger away to avoid any shaking when you press the button.

Definitely jetwash your drive, it makes a really big difference and is the first thing that you see with your property. Stand on a ladder to take the exterior front shot and angle it round so you have less of next door and more of your boundary shrubs in the shot. It took a friend a couple of hours to repaint our shed in Ronseal exterior wood paint (I recommend shade - Blackbird) and it makes an amazing difference.

And post an update!