Ugly House Photos

This Chandler, Arizona home is ready for buyers to visit.  They’ve staged the home professionally.  Expecting multiple offers above asking price.

Visitors can pick out a coffee cup to take as a thank you gift.

Washer & dryer are included.  Hangers are negotiable.

There’s so much counter space in the kitchen.  Feel free to cover every square inch.

Power drill not included.  Cow?  Maybe.

Fine dining.

Spacious bathroom.

What’s not to like?

Nice bedroom.

Lush landscaping.

Covered patio.

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Covered patios are a must-have feature in the Phoenix area.  It’s always sunny and it gets hot.  During eight months of nice weather, a patio can be considered an extra room of the house.  Home staging of patios can be just as important as any room inside.

Why disappoint buyers?

Missed opportunity.

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These Goodyear, Arizona sellers are heading in the wrong direction.  One Direction posters.  (eyes rolling)

On the other side of the curtain:  clutter!

The writing on the mirror reads, “Take your medicine.”

This is the first room buyers will see.  It’s supposed to be the living room, ‘though they appear to use it as an office.

The dining room.  First impressions as you walk into the house?

TV’s on!  Eggs!  They carried the green paint color into the family room.

Kermit the Frog is starring in Forrest Green.

Technically, the bed’s not made.

An array of toiletries.  Thank you for sharing.

Another unmade bed!  And dirty wall.

Bazinga!

Could use some tidying up before selling.

Did we forget to mention this is a short sale?

Good ‘moring’ to you too.  There’s other writing too:  br— use of crama- only.

The house has a swimming pool.  That just increased its value.

Oh, that just decreased its value.

Wait.  What are those random items in the back yard and patio?

No surprise to see stuff piled on the patio.  Sure to impress buyers?

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This Mesa, Arizona home is a great learning tool for home staging.  It has many examples of what not to do when selling your home.

Visual Clutter:  Please put away personal items, trinkets, doodads, knick-knacks, etc. before selling.  Anything that would visually distract a buyer.

Pets:  Please remove pets from real estate photos.  Could be a turn-off to buyers.  Please remove visual clutter as well.  A neutral bedspread pattern is another option.  If the budget allows, new window blinds.

Poor Photography:  Flash in a mirror means a new photo should be taken.  The toilet tank lid should be replaced.  Please complete repairs before selling.  Remove clutter as well.

Covered Up Counters:  Please remove all unnecessary items from kitchen counters before selling.  Same goes for above the cabinets.

Refrigerator Magnets:  Please clear all items off of the refrigerator.

Collections:  Consider reducing the number of items in collections.  Buyers might stop, look, and spend too much time on your collections and forget about the house.  Please keep entry ways and foyers cleared of items.  Please put away coffee table clutter such as water bottles and toilet paper.

Driveway:  Please remove vehicles from the driveway before taking real estate photos.

Weeds:  Buyers do not want to see weeds and unmaintained landscaping.

Not Selling a Lifestyle:  Buyers want to envision themselves living in a house.  House photos should have energy, should be sexy, or should feel relaxing or inviting.  Random items on a patio do not have any of these attributes.

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Welcome to our home.  We’re ready to sell.

TV’s on!!  There’s a dog on the dirty floor.

The seller can iron and cook at the same time, but not tidy up.

The bathroom needs help.

Laundry room.  The dryer exhaust vent isn’t very effective if it’s going straight up.  Lint will collect at the bottom.

The backyard is in tip-top shape.  Sure to please buyers.

This was a short sale.  Go figure.

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Might have to put some items away before selling.  Just a suggestion.  Like lingerie and the fuzzy dice.  Oh, and the stupid knotted curtain.

Refrigerator stuff, chili peppers, Mickey Mouse, plates, extra stuff on top of the microwave, etc.  Why is the microwave so high?

The Mardi Gras masks and the assorted clutter on the counters.

You’ll see in the next photos that the house appears to be clean, but the photos don’t do any justice.  Too many visual distractions in each photo.

Organized but…

More unnecessary stuff.

Proper lighting helps.

Your eyes don’t know where to go when there are distractions.

The collectibles keep your eyes from noticing the faux rolled paint.

Maybe it’s the angle of the photo?

Foil in the windows.  Different types of window coverings.  An unnecessary hat dead center in the photo.

Random shoes, dusty fan, more foil.

Big blue plastic flower and other distractions in the office.

Visual clutter outside.

Sounds like we’re being really picky, but when you add all of the photos together, it gets confusing to buyers.  What do you remember about the house?

Attention to detail needed.

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It’s fun to iron clothes while in bed!

The horse got cold so they covered it with a blanket.

TV’s on!!

The patio roof could use some help.  Installed by amateurs?

Golf/utility cart on the front lawn.  Buyers are given tour rides around the yard?

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You might be in disbelief, but these are actual real estate promotional photos of an actual home for sale in Chandler, Arizona.

Mommy cat gave birth to several kittens recently.  She’s feeding them next to a baby crib.

Here’s the baby crib.  Let’s refer again to the photo above.  Dirty, soiled carpet, damaged drywall, and cat dander.

Outside we see two puppies.  With gas canisters nearby.  Those eyes are so sad looking.

The patio is filled with junk.

More junk!

And more junk!

Messy room inside.

Cluttered kitchen.

Soiled carpet.  I hope the baby doesn’t crawl on that.

Dirty carpet in another room.

Cluttered bedroom.

Stuff piled up in the garage.

There is a bed in the garage!  The garage door has a Dallas Cowboys poster and a sign that reads, “cat/kitten crossing.”

It’s no surprise that the driveway is dirty too.

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The first photo of this Peoria, Arizona home states, “Great home.”  Let’s take a look.

Cluttered, disorganized family room.  Not looking so great.

What’s their definition of “great”?  Great mess in the kitchen?

“Great” paint job on the kitchen cabinets.

This photo’s caption reads, “Drywall needs replaced in bedroom.”  The bird cages need removed too.  What happened here?  And why wasn’t it fixed before selling?

Oh, great.  The master shower needs work too.

The grout in the hall bathroom isn’t looking so great either.

The grate on the air conditioner (on the right) doesn’t look great.  Hail damage.  But the photo’s caption reads, “A/C works, non-working cooler.”  Cooler = evaporative cooler (on the left).

This photo’s caption reads, “Patio roof leaks.”  Great, another thing for a buyer to fix.

And “garage door spring broke.”  The sellers are great at disclosing problems, but terrible at home maintenance.

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This was the best angle to take the photo.

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