I was trying to keep vaguely on topic to gites, but I have SO MANY horror stories about french estate agents, the property details, and visits round properties One place we literally ran out of as it was like āattack of the killer fliesā when we opened the door, thousands dead on the floor, and thousands more buzzing around making an extraordinary noise. The fact that an agent wouldnāt bother to check before astonished me. But yes, the details are so awful. I asked one (British) agent about a floor plan or room dimensions band he looked at me with a mixture of confusion and horror as if Iād just said I wanted to cook and eat his first born with some fava beans and a nice chianti. I think most have finally reached the twentieth century now, photos are actually in colour not sepia, and actually contain more words than āHouse, 4 roomsā, but I think itāll be several decades before they start doing the annoying drone fly throughs that they do in the states these daysā¦,
I particularly enjoy it when you get to see the estate agent, mobile phone in hand, reflected in the mirror when they show you the bathroom
Perhaps we should create a spin-off thread where we can share details of house of horrors weāve seen.
That would be good as it is yawing away from a complaint.
Thatās how I got my first job in photography, but for another tread, as you mentioned.
Sadly not! Most people are happy with the results they get with their phones etc. Unless youāre dealing with large chateaux etc, most gite owners are reluctant to spend more than 50ā¬ - and for that they expect photos and a video of the entire complex. Given that Iād typically spend at least a half day at their location followed by 2 days editing etc, itās really not viable!
And our total annual marketing budget is under ā¬400 so not viable from our side either!
The most common problem with estate agentsā photos (as with used cars) is the distortion that occurs when the aspect ratio is changed to make them fit into a predetermined frame.
When we were selling our UK house I took all the photos and corrected parallax and wide angle distortion in Photoshop, but thanks to the uncertainty generated by Brexit, it still took two years to sell.
Yes, sadly I wasnāt imagining that they were beating a path to your door, some of the horrors Iāve seen are testament to that, just that they needed to be! It is such a false economy though in some cases, shitty photos if not accompanied by an extremely small price are a sign to scroll on by in my book, it just shows a lack of effort and attention to detail, but Iām a weirdo about such things, maybe Iām missing some gold. Even if they could manage to upload the photos the right way up would perhaps be a start
Probably 12"
you wishš
Having looked at quite a lot of houses in Italy, a drone fly past is not unusual for a country house.
I dont use it as a ruleā¦
Quite.
Estate agents love using āfish eyeā wide angle lens. Distorts but makes the room look bigger than reality.
Not art!
We used a drone for aerial shots of our UK country house. Picked up by Country Life for editorial and sold within the month. Absolutely worth the extra charge.
In my view it looks stunning and has given me a few ideas that I may well copy!
silly remark.
.
Is that so?
Reallyā¦no do not think so,
The thirdā¦Do tell, Porridge!