Hellobee Boards Topic: What do you look for in a real estate listing?

Hellobee Boards Topic: What do you look for in a real estate listing? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 07 May 2026 03:11:00 +0000 alohaorchid on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1854363 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 08:33:57 +0000 alohaorchid 1854363@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Thanks for all of the responses, you all basically just Our realtor wants us to take down everything from walls, not just personal pictures, but all art, including some hooks we have in the basement and garage for storage. He wants us to remove all furniture from the two spare bedrooms, remove any furniture that we "can live without". This includes the bar stools at the kitchen island (which is a breakfast bar!), the dresser and nightstands in our bedroom, the coffee table in the living room. He wants to empty out the closets and somehow store everything we need somewhere else so that we don't have anything in the house. He asked us to remove our patio furniture (literally all we have outside is a table, chairs, umbrella and BBQ) so that people can see how big the space is.... Our bedding is grey with a grey border and he asked if we have white bedding for listing. Ugh. The thing that's annoying me the most is I like things to look pretty bare normally... I don't keep things on tables or countertops (except the coffee maker and kitchenaid mixer), we have a minimalistic look to begin with! I can't stand seeing a listing where there is nothing in the house and nothing on the walls. .twist. on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1854048 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 20:01:45 +0000 .twist. 1854048@https://boards.hellobee.com/ The only things I like to see are clean/decluttered and a picture of each room. It drives me nuts when they say there are 2+ bedrooms and you only take a pic of the master suite. Mrs. Taco on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1854031 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:47:39 +0000 Mrs. Taco 1854031@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Corduroy: OMG! We had a similar situation with someone not knowing we were there but it was a squatter. We saw this guy running from a closet into the bathroom and we were OUT! I looked for a clean and organized house. Honestly though, I was looking at the bones and big ticket items, not the things that were easily changed (ie. decor, personal items). We were looking in a VERY specific area so we looked at anything in that area when it came on the market. Corduroy on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853927 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:16:08 +0000 Corduroy 1853927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Anya: Oh, the crucifixes!! We saw a house that had a 6 foot one in the entry way blocking the hall closet -- at the open house. There must have been 100 of them around the house. I guess there were renters that didn't want to leave. (We looked at 400+ houses in our home search so I've seen a lot of weird stuff) Anya on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853907 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:51:13 +0000 Anya 1853907@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Dislikes: clutter, laundry baskets, too many personal photos (a few are fine), overload of religious paraphernalia. I went to to open house that was covered in crucifixes and religious artwork in every room, it made it really difficult to envision the house as my own. I also didn't like when people had the big wooden letters/ wall decals of the kids names in the nurseries/bedrooms. I just felt awkward and personal to know the names of the owners' small children. Mrs. Jump Rope on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853904 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:47:57 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 1853904@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Clean and decluttered. I personally liked looking at furnished houses. It have me a better idea of how to set up a room and if our existing furniture would fit! My husband preferred an empty home because it helped him envision our things in the new space. We bought our home unfurnished. It had been empty for years. rachiecakes on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853893 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:39:14 +0000 rachiecakes 1853893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Corduroy: OMG! Preferably, the sellers are not home. I like the rooms clean and de-cluttered. Not much in the closets, bare enough to see the floor and walls clearly. I would take the personal photos down and leave some artwork. (The listing photos get fed to websites online and sometimes your realtor doesn't have control of the website - like Zillow, Trulia, etc., so those personal photos can be up there long after the house has sold). sunny on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853874 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:23:58 +0000 sunny 1853874@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I prefer furnished because I have a hard time imagining scale without seeing a bed/furniture. Well lit photos are key as well. T.H.O.U. on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853745 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:43:43 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1853745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ For photos the number one thing is good lighting! Get a nice camera with an adjusted white balance. Pictures that look yellow make a house look dingy Cole on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853734 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:39:17 +0000 Cole 1853734@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ditto what everyone else has said. I didn't care if it was furnished or not but one house was furnished except the living room and as we started talking about it we realized the room couldn't accommodate a fill sized sofa without blocking one of the five doorways into the room. I did dread houses that had tons of pictures on the wall- think house full of gallery walls because it meant we had to paint immediately due to a massive number of holes. I appreciate people who didn't have every bath product known to man scattered through the bathroom. I felt like they had outgrown the bathroom so I would too. Similarly with closets, I expected them to be used but some were over flowing with stuff leaking out the bottoms. On the flip side, one house had tiny closets that were pristinely kept and organized which made me think I could live with small closets too. I like seeing all the rooms in photos. I would literally refuse to see houses that didn't show the kitchen or all of the bathrooms. One house was immaculately kept and showed pictures of things like the furnace room which was actually a huge plus for us because even though I know nothing about furnaces etc it showed they were proud they took care of the house. Good luck! mrs. tictactoe on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853679 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:01:55 +0000 mrs. tictactoe 1853679@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Oh yes and like @JMOM: said, I hate it when the pictures on the listing are super deceiving. I get that they want people to come look at the house, but when I expect something and it isn't the same in reality, it's really annoying. mrs. tictactoe on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853676 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:59:23 +0000 mrs. tictactoe 1853676@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think as long as it is clean and not cluttered, I don't really care about the rest. JMOM on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853638 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:39:01 +0000 JMOM 1853638@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We just bought a house and I hated when we walked in and they had Glade Plug-ins going. I have a sensitive nose and the flags would always go up because I would assume they were trying to cover up something. The more pictures the better on a listing but don't use the crazy fish eye lens trying to make things look bigger. I remember walking into a house that seemed huge in the pictures but in reality their photographer was just really, really good. Well, the dirty diaper on the floor also made me think twice, too. I don't mind art, but personal pictures are distracting for me. However, if you have had the art for years and year, it might be good to evaluate how out of date it is. Our stager said to take about half the things out of the closet and no one wants to see kids toys or toiletries in the bathtub. She also said to have soft music playing, which I thought was pretentious, but evidently works. We sold our house in 2 days. :-) Mrs. Pen on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853611 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:19:29 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1853611@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I like furnished for the same reasons as Looch, and love floor plans too. But clutter is the worst. Houses seem small when they're cluttered and any house we saw that was messy we didn't stay in long. Everyone else's suggestions are great! Mamaof2 on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853601 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:15:00 +0000 Mamaof2 1853601@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Corduroy: OMG!!! Corduroy on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853597 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:13:36 +0000 Corduroy 1853597@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Mamaof2: the homeowner had not told his teenage daughter we were in the house. DH just reached the top of the stairs as she came out of the bathroom with nothing on. So much screaming. Naturally we did not put an offer in on that house. Mamaof2 on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853580 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:02:48 +0000 Mamaof2 1853580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Corduroy: what??? :shocked: Speaking of .... I hated when the home owner was home during a showing - please leave so I can talk about your house freely w/o whispering :silly: Corduroy on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853577 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:01:17 +0000 Corduroy 1853577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ In most spaces I didn't have a preference for furnished vs unfurnished but I didn't like unfurnished if I couldn't figure out WTH you do with the space. There were a few houses that I never could figure out where they had a kitchen/dining table. We were in contract on one and spent hours trying to figure out where we could possible put a table. And please please please, if you're going to be in the house during a showing make sure everyone in the house has clothes on. ShootingStar on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853514 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:36:04 +0000 ShootingStar 1853514@https://boards.hellobee.com/ The big must have for me was good pictures. I honestly don't understand crappy quality pictures with bad angles, and not every room having at least one picture. I do think that furniture is important for people to visualize what will fit in the space. But pictures/artwork doesn't bother me. yoursilverlining on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853482 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:15:00 +0000 yoursilverlining 1853482@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My biggest pet peeve when we were looking were homes that would showcase a particular feature, but then not really have any photos of that feature (and/or people that straight-out lie; as if I won’t notice you totes lied when I see your house in person?!). Don’t talk about your “modern chef’s kitchen” if it has oak 1980’s country cabinets and the one photo online shows a microwave and not much else. Don’t list your home as water view if it isn’t (this one should be obvious, but yet…..) When people stretched the truth in their ads, I assumed that they were also likely to stretch the truth on the condition of their home/appliances/etc. Well lit pictures! I like to see furniture so I can get a sense of the size of rooms. Art is fine; although both ugly furniture and bad art probably don’t do anyone any favors. honeybear on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853470 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:07:26 +0000 honeybear 1853470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ The only thing that truly bugs me in listings (and it seems minor, but I feel like it is revelatory) is a photo of a bathroom with a toilet lid that is up. I assume that the agent is a bit incompetent and the owners are at least a little negligent if they overlooked that very easily corrected issue! I also appreciate some clues as to the layout in the photos, like a floorplan or open doors that show how the rooms are connected. oliviaoblivia on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853410 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:42:35 +0000 oliviaoblivia 1853410@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I'm not picky at all. I just want the systems to be in working order. MaryM on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853400 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:39:33 +0000 MaryM 1853400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Clean and uncluttered, and a good sense of size (so some furniture, but not overly packed) If I see photos taken with a fish eye to capture a wider angle, I automatically think the place must be tiny. Besides pets not being home during tours, I also don't want to see signs of them in photos (litter boxes/crates/etc) A photo of a litter box makes me assume the place could smell like a litter box. looch on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853385 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:34:27 +0000 looch 1853385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I like to look at listings with lots of photos, nice and clear. I prefer furnished so I can get a sense of the size of the rooms and bonus if they have an actual floorplan. Most houses i can figure out the layout, but sometimes I struggle! LaughLines on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853378 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:33:08 +0000 LaughLines 1853378@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think furnished helps understand the scale of rooms, so i prefer furnished pictures. If you are just looking at a picture of a square bedroom with nothing in it then it's really hard to tell how big it is. I also REALLY like when I have clues to help me understand the layout. Best option is an actual floor plan (there are free websites that create them) but it's also good to take pictures so that you can see what room is next to the room you're photographing. Freckles on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853365 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:29:01 +0000 Freckles 1853365@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I initially removed all of our family photos, but our stager put some back saying that there's such thing as "too staged". Clean and tidy - no clutter, please. I don't mind a full closet. We had two closets that were completely full but that wasn't an issue when selling the place. People usually prefer a furnished place so they can picture what it would look like living there. avivoca on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853359 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:25:52 +0000 avivoca 1853359@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Furnished/Unfurnished: It depended. There was one house where everything was obviously 1950s and it was very hard for me to imagine my own belongings there. The house we bought was furnished and it looked so nice and cozy. Clean: I preferred seeing a clean and orderly home Art: Didn't bother me. Closets: As long as stuff didn't fall out on me, I didn't care. Mrs. High Heels on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853358 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:25:47 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1853358@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ideally, I want to see pictures of every single room from every angle. When the listing says 4 BR/3 BA... I look through the pictures to account for every single room. I don't mind furnished or unfurnished as long as it looks clean/orderly. autumnlove on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853351 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:24:45 +0000 autumnlove 1853351@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Just clean. I saw so many listing photos with dirty dishes in the sink and trash overflowing! :P Mamaof2 on "What do you look for in a real estate listing?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-real-estate-listing#post-1853349 Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:23:07 +0000 Mamaof2 1853349@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Furnished/Unfurnished never bothered me but the house we are in now was totally empty when we looked at it and I kinda loved having it that way. As long as the house is clean and orderly I was happy. Art on the walls is fine - even personal pictures are fine, I never understood that one! We have a condo in VA we want to sell and the realtor wants to empty it and then stage it with rental furniture - what a pain in the butt! eta: when we sold our house in MD our relator just didn't want clutter - we rented a storage unit and cleaned out the basement, garage, and closets!