Question for Real Estate agents about garages...

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#1478864 26-Jan-2016 10:29

DarthKermit:

In TM's case it could be that because you're limited to only 20 photos of a property, less "sexy" areas like the garage aren't shown.

Nope - even in cases where there are less that 20 photos loaded there aren't any garage photos.

I think the fact the garage gets used as a dump to make the rest of the house loko good is likely a major reason now that's been pointed out.

Still sucks that a large proportion of the house is considered unimportant by RE agents.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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#1478894 26-Jan-2016 11:31

Jase2985:

its probably because 90% of people don't care about the garage, as long as they know how many cars its fits everything else is irrelevant

You can put a car in the garage ?!? I thought it was for storing junk ?

andrew027

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#1478902 26-Jan-2016 11:40

There are a couple of reasons. I know that there may be a number of geekzone regulars who want workshop space for their electrical or mechanical project or other hobbies, and keep it spotless and organised, but for the general public the following are generally true:

First, there's usually no benefit to showing a photograph of the garage. In most cases it's just a room with not much natural light and very little appeal beyond "how many cars will fit in it". Many are not even finished properly, with the GIB not painted, etc. If there's anything special, e.g. a separate workshop space with built-in benches and cupboards, etc. then this might get a mention in the listing but it's still not a critical factor in the decision making process for the majority of people. Far better to include another photo of the kitchen or outdoor living space, which tend to be selling points.

Second, garages are usually pretty untidy. They tend to have out-of-season things like bikes and barbecues that you might have put away until summer, or things your kids have grown out of that you haven't put on TradeMe yet, like that old trampolene with the legs taken off leaning up against the wall. There's random stuff hanging on nails or standing up in the corner, and leaves and dust blown in when the door was last opened so you could drive out. And mess and clutter doesn't help sell a property, no matter where it is.

Jase2985

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#1478906 26-Jan-2016 11:45

Mark:

Jase2985:

its probably because 90% of people don't care about the garage, as long as they know how many cars its fits everything else is irrelevant

You can put a car in the garage ?!? I thought it was for storing junk ?

1 car is a unit of measure for how much junk one could fit in it :)

Talkiet

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#1478909 26-Jan-2016 11:50

andrew027:

There are a couple of reasons. I know that there may be a number of geekzone regulars who want workshop space for their electrical or mechanical project or other hobbies, and keep it spotless and organised, but for the general public the following are generally true:

First, there's usually no benefit to showing a photograph of the garage. In most cases it's just a room with not much natural light and very little appeal beyond "how many cars will fit in it". Many are not even finished properly, with the GIB not painted, etc. If there's anything special, e.g. a separate workshop space with built-in benches and cupboards, etc. then this might get a mention in the listing but it's still not a critical factor in the decision making process for the majority of people. Far better to include another photo of the kitchen or outdoor living space, which tend to be selling points.

Second, garages are usually pretty untidy. They tend to have out-of-season things like bikes and barbecues that you might have put away until summer, or things your kids have grown out of that you haven't put on TradeMe yet, like that old trampolene with the legs taken off leaning up against the wall. There's random stuff hanging on nails or standing up in the corner, and leaves and dust blown in when the door was last opened so you could drive out. And mess and clutter doesn't help sell a property, no matter where it is.

So what you're saying is that it's an area of the house used for lots of different purposes - but it's messy so don't show it to a potential buyer :-)

I do get an understand your points but for a significant number of people it's a critical factor. For me, it's in the top 3 as far as features I am looking for.

I asked a question on 5 properties in my watchlist that I am interested in asking to see a photo of the garage and for dimensions... 24 hours after the question I have had one reply asking if I want to come and view the house. That's disgusting service.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

andrew027

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#1478915 26-Jan-2016 12:01

Talkiet: So what you're saying is that it's an area of the house used for lots of different purposes - but it's messy so don't show it to a potential buyer :-)

I do get an understand your points but for a significant number of people it's a critical factor. For me, it's in the top 3 as far as features I am looking for.

I asked a question on 5 properties in my watchlist that I am interested in asking to see a photo of the garage and for dimensions... 24 hours after the question I have had one reply asking if I want to come and view the house. That's disgusting service.

Cheers - N

What I'm saying is that once you get past how many cars fit into it, the number of people for whom a garage is a selling point is very small, and it would be rare for photos of the garage to add to the appeal of the house. While it's important to you, you are in a minority and agents (who pay third-party photographers) and vendors (who may pay extra after a certain number of pictures) want to spend their money on something that will appeal to the largest number of people. That's not the garage.

I agree with your last point though - to have specifically asked questions about the garage and not got a satisfactory reply (yet) is poor form from an agent/vendor.

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Talkiet

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#1478920 26-Jan-2016 12:06

on a personal level it just means that ANY house I even have a vague interest in I have to engage with the RE agent. That's a waste of my time and theirs, then I have to somehow stop them contacting me every few days...

On top of that, as a very good photographer myself, most photos on property listings are hideously misleading. Yes, MOST. Overall the quality (attractiveness, breadth and accuracy) of RE photos I consider to be substandard. REs get lots of money per sale and seem to put nominal effort in. (There are exceptions and some are fantastic - but those listings stand out as the exceptions)

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Jase2985

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#1478942 26-Jan-2016 12:47

Talkiet:

I do get an understand your points but for a significant number of people it's a critical factor. For me, it's in the top 3 as far as features I am looking for.

Sorry but that statement is wrong for a significant number of people on this forum it might be critical, but for Joe public I highly doubt that a significant number of people care more than then number of cars it can fit.

yes it would be nice and I had all those issues you talk about when I was looking/buying 5+ years, but there is little you can do about it and I doubt you will see the industry changing

mattwnz

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#1479012 26-Jan-2016 13:33

Funnily enough I was discussing this same point yesterday for a listing. Generally I find real estate photos fake, as they are often made to be over saturated, and sometimes fake blue skys are inserted. But the worst thing is that they use such wide angled lense, that make the rooms look far bigger than they are, and they are very distorted. So you see photos of rooms which look like they have tiny sofas in the middle of the photo, and very distorted objects at the edges.

In the case of no garage photo, the house I was looking at actually has a luxury garage, tiled floor glass doors into it etc, and is a real selling point, but there is no photo inside it. They are doing a disservice to the seller by not including it.

afe66

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#1479037 26-Jan-2016 14:03

My friends house sold over summer and the photos were digitally manipulated with clear blue sky instead of the overcast day it actually was which was worrying my friends at the time.

mattwnz

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#1479102 26-Jan-2016 15:23

afe66:

My friends house sold over summer and the photos were digitally manipulated with clear blue sky instead of the overcast day it actually was which was worrying my friends at the time.

A.

Sometimes it is so badly done that is sticks out.

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ScuL

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#1479137 26-Jan-2016 16:16

I asked a relative who is a real estate agent. This was his response:

"There is no real reason why garages are not photographed except for the fact that they don't usually photograph well either because they are messy or dark, sometimes a vendor will have valuable stuff that they don't want the public to see."

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

oxnsox

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#1479332 26-Jan-2016 20:27

^^^ This

Plus, as said, its the most poorly lit room in the house and generally photos aren't fantastic.

mdf

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#1479353 26-Jan-2016 20:58

Talkiet:

on a personal level it just means that ANY house I even have a vague interest in I have to engage with the RE agent. That's a waste of my time and theirs, then I have to somehow stop them contacting me every few days...

On top of that, as a very good photographer myself, most photos on property listings are hideously misleading. Yes, MOST. Overall the quality (attractiveness, breadth and accuracy) of RE photos I consider to be substandard. REs get lots of money per sale and seem to put nominal effort in. (There are exceptions and some are fantastic - but those listings stand out as the exceptions)

N

We're going through a similar process at the moment, and agree wholeheartedly about both the garage and quality of photos.

I've seen a few where a photo of the garage/workshop was included, because it was impressive. Anything with no photo = floor space the approximate equivalent of the car interior.

And real estate photos are awful. I've seen some that verge on misleading (overselling) and others where some kind of feature is completely overlooked or distorted (underselling).

I don't have a hugely high opinion of the standard of real estate agents overall. When we come to sell, we plan on using the one guy we've met that could pour the proverbial out of a boot without instructions written on the heel.

ANglEAUT

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#1479387 26-Jan-2016 21:24

DarthKermit:

In TM's case it could be that because you're limited to only 20 photos of a property, less "sexy" areas like the garage aren't shown.

Please also remember that TM charges per photo that is uploaded.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

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