My sister has been in the market for houses for about half a year now. I didn't hear much about it towards the beginning, but at this point all I hear about is how angry she is that houses are crap. I guess listers will give photos from when the house looked nice 5 years ago to agents to post. When you actually look at the house, "fabulous" is not what would come to mind.
A couple weeks ago we found a house online that looked very nice. There was a hot tub in the backyard, the landscaping was kept well, the front of the house looked neat and pristine, and in the description it detailed 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a fireplace, plenty of storage space, and all appliances come with it! Well...the hot tub was out of commission, the yard was overrun with weeds and the grass was all dead, the house itself needed a good power washing and the steps of the stairs to get in were collapsed, one of the bathrooms was ripped apart, the fireplace was literally ripped out of the wall and was sitting in the garage, and they took most of the appliances.
This has been our experience throughout helping her look. I know people gripe about how houses aren't moving and the housing market is for shit, but I can give you a few compelling reasons why. I think it's deceptive to even be able to list something in a way that represents what it isn't. FALSE GOODS, DAMNIT. Every house we tour for her now, we wonder, "So what's wrong with this one?" When my parents shopped around for houses when we were younger, I remember the mentality was, make the house appear in pristine condition to entice the buyer. Now of course many of these houses are listed by people just about ready to lose them. But if I was going to lose mine and needed to sell it fast, I'd be squatting in the flower garden pulling some damn weeds and sweeping the floor a bit.
I may be feeling a bit harsh, but the house we toured two days ago had the doors taken off of their hinges and stacked in the garage! What the heck?! Some people just up and leave so it explains carpets that need vacuuming and general cleanliness issues, but who the hell pulls all the doors off hinges before leaving? All I can picture is them finishing and saying, "There, that should do the trick." It's getting to the point now where normal houses are wowing us.
Yiyiyi.
A couple weeks ago we found a house online that looked very nice. There was a hot tub in the backyard, the landscaping was kept well, the front of the house looked neat and pristine, and in the description it detailed 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a fireplace, plenty of storage space, and all appliances come with it! Well...the hot tub was out of commission, the yard was overrun with weeds and the grass was all dead, the house itself needed a good power washing and the steps of the stairs to get in were collapsed, one of the bathrooms was ripped apart, the fireplace was literally ripped out of the wall and was sitting in the garage, and they took most of the appliances.
This has been our experience throughout helping her look. I know people gripe about how houses aren't moving and the housing market is for shit, but I can give you a few compelling reasons why. I think it's deceptive to even be able to list something in a way that represents what it isn't. FALSE GOODS, DAMNIT. Every house we tour for her now, we wonder, "So what's wrong with this one?" When my parents shopped around for houses when we were younger, I remember the mentality was, make the house appear in pristine condition to entice the buyer. Now of course many of these houses are listed by people just about ready to lose them. But if I was going to lose mine and needed to sell it fast, I'd be squatting in the flower garden pulling some damn weeds and sweeping the floor a bit.
I may be feeling a bit harsh, but the house we toured two days ago had the doors taken off of their hinges and stacked in the garage! What the heck?! Some people just up and leave so it explains carpets that need vacuuming and general cleanliness issues, but who the hell pulls all the doors off hinges before leaving? All I can picture is them finishing and saying, "There, that should do the trick." It's getting to the point now where normal houses are wowing us.
Yiyiyi.
