I don't even know what I'm seeing. WTH is that slanted area to the left? A sinking ship?

When I was looking for a home last summer I could not believe how messy and dirty some people left their houses, knowing prospective buyers were coming through. It always made me think that if this is the best you can do I'm sure routine maintenance has not been performed either. People are slobs!! You would think the realtor would have tidied up a bit before taking photos!

now?

I just got a kick out of the cat on the counter.

That can not be real! If people don't have the common sense to "straighten" up and get the darn cat off the kitchen counter does anyone really think they ever cleaned their house-ever?

I'm still looking for the sinking ship? It's like a game of eye-spy!

Maybe its a Florida thing, but we looked at some pretty nice houses while we were searching to buy, 300K plus, and some of them were beyond messy. One house had clothes all over the bed, make up out on the counter, and hair in the drain. We'd made the appointment two days before, so it wasn't like it was a surprise....

Yeah, it's a Florida thing but almost exclusively transplants.

I think some people are conflicted about selling and do this to mark their territory.

These days in Massachusetts houses are selling way above asking price. Sellers aren't even bother to fix obviously broken things. The house next door to me recently sold and I asked my new neighbors if they got an allowance for the broken atrium window. They laughed and said not only did they not get an allowance but they had to keep upping their bid to get the house. There's also a new buying strategy these days, offering to pay $5K more than the best offer a seller receives. It's nice to know that the housing market is back, at least in some area!

Unreal! I have seen some pretty gross places for sale, usually estate sales that arr somewhat priced accordingly.

On the other hand I have seen some AWFUL pictures taken by real estate agents for listings. How about a little effort?

More chuckles!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bad listing photos

I used to work for a company that did reports for insurance companies. Our reps. would go in people homes and take photos for their homeowners insurance. Appointments were made so the homeowners had time to prepare. They didn't seem to care.

Some of the most expensive homes were a mess. Especially the bathrooms. The bigger and more expensive the bathroom was the more of a mess it was.

Did you know that whirlpool tubs are meant for you to throw all your dirty towels on? The long marble counter top with two sinks means that you must have out on it every possible hair and skin care product known to man.

tomatofreak - could not stop laughing

Even the cat seems stunned. Caption "These people live like ANIMALS"

Thanks for the chuckle!!

The cat on the counter is cracking' me up. (And I have cats, and, yes, occasionally they jump on the counter--only at night when no one is awake. Then in the morning I see their little damp footprints.)

Oh my! That is great, thanks for posting! I feel silly that I didn't even see the cat until the red arrow.

Lovetheyard -- Why do you think it is mostly transplants who have messy houses? Do people born and brought up in Florida have higher standards?

Find the cat in the picture. LOL A photo like that really makes me want to plunk down some earnest money.

dex215, you know what I think it is? Over-privileged people who don't know how to pick up after themselves who just wait for the the help to come around and pick up after them. but that has nothing to do with Floridians, lol!

I'd buy the cat....

I didn't see him, either, being distracted by all the crap.
Oh, my.

I didn't see the cat at first either. I was reading it on my phone at the hairdresser. I was too busy trying to figure out what the white things were in front and if they'd purposely tied pendants together or what it was that was hanging from the ceiling.

Then I saw the cat/arrow, and started busting up. THEN I went to the link with bad realty pics and totally lost it. Had to wait until I got home to look at more.

I think the sinking ship is a poorly hung, ridiculously small pot rack :o

As for the dirty/rundown houses you see listed... I think it's due to people not wanting to sell, or maybe even renters who don't want to have to move out when it does sell

How much trouble would it have been to clear off the seating area, tuck the kitchen mess in the sink to clear the counters and pick up the cat? This listing screams, "Please lowball me".

Our two cats aren't allowed on the countertops or table tops. I think they get up there in front of us just to get the attention of getting yelled at occasionally.

When I worked for another fabricator many years ago, we did Corian work for Home Depot. I templated a house that reeked of cat soo badly that I suggested on our note sheet that the installer get hazard pay. The customers got a copy, complained to HD, and I got yelled at for it.

Well, as I said in a previous reply - it all depends on the market. The house next door to me sold as-is for $85K above the asking price.

You could also call many in this group "how NOT to decorate"! Click on each photo to open up more.

Here is a link that might be useful: more photo insanity

I looked at this on Friday & couldn't even comment, I was so confused about what I was looking at. Came back tonight & actually noticed the cat before I got to the pic with the red arrow. I can see how we could miss the cat but how could the person taking the pic miss him/her? Maybe it was intentional to add a little more character to the listing?

That is a HUGE cat!

I'm trying to find something I like about the space... maybe the picture was taken at night? In my opinion it's an open floorplan taken too far. Lighting isn't great either.

The cat is funny, but what is up with the pot rack? I don't know if it's that the photo was taken using a fisheye-type lens that alters the perspective or what. But the cat looks double the size of any of the pots hanging from the pot rack. And the pot rack looks impossibly high, like it would be so difficult to reach any of the pots. Then there's the double ovens placed side-by-side--that kind of setup is usually a high-end feature, which doesn't fit with the tacky fridge door panelling and the rest of the jumble. I am just itching to take that space and tear it out and do it right the Kitchens Forum "TKO" way. And give the cat a big hug.