Taking a real estate listing to a whole new level
Posted on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 by KiM
A big thanks to Nina for sending us a link to a real estate listing for a home in Sweden, and it’s not your average listing. The photos have been tweaked with an old-world treatment and the owners (I’m guessing) were asked to pose in several of the photos in costume. Nina thought the listing was lovely, and I did as well when I glanced through them briefly the first time. After a second and third look, my feelings changed towards CREEPY. It sort of reminds me of an old Hitchcock/horror movie where in the next shot all the participants will be sprawled in pools of blood. Am I nuts? What do you guys think?
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Sparky says:
I see what you mean…
Kathryn says:
Oh I think that's properly creepy. Especially the little girl. It reminds me of a Victorian horror/ghost story.
Lil says:
Creepy. That little girl is posessed and the guy in the window? He has just horribly murdered the two women.
AMR says:
I'll just fourth that…you're not nuts Kim.
That one of the woman & girl climbing the stairs and staring dead (ha ha) ahead?
"And then they saw it there. Ahead of them on the second landing. The body they thought, for certain, they'd thrown down the abandoned well yesterday. It was back. Dripping."
Bev65 says:
I work in real estate here in the US and I don't think I would employ this particular marketing stategy. But to each their own.
rooth says:
Yes, it was creepy to me at first glance. The house had the whole Amityville Horror feel to it as well…
Shannon says:
Totally creepy and I kinda think they probably did this to cover up how much work the house needs. It looks pretty shabby if you look past the sepia tones and people.
Liv says:
Definitely creepy. "Come live with us… forever… and ever…"
Barbara says:
I don't really find it creepy, but I can see how others would. I just don't know how it's going to help them sell the house. It doesn't really make the house look good.
Thera says:
Agree on the creepy factor and also, as a buyer, I might think it was some kind of joke, a listing from 1902 slipped in just for fun.
white collar | green soul says:
It's definitely intersting – I would think this would narrow their pool of interested buyers though. But it does make them stand out. I guess it could go either way!
kdm says:
I guess it's a creative attempt at making a knock down look charming. It's a way to get people to look at the listing with interest rather than total dismissal. It worked. -It's on DTI. 🙂
Janelle says:
I agree with Shannon that the house needs lots of work especially the kitchen…I guess this helps you to look beyond that….Or they could simply have done some of the work before putting the house on the market.
barchbo says:
"Hey, honey – here's an idea! Let's highlight how old our house is by dressing up like inhabitants from a previous century! Like ghosts! People will love it."
Seriously – this is such a kooky idea. And it's creepy. Someone from Sweden please tell us this is an uncommon device.
Melinda says:
Some of those pictures give me the willies. I would not want to live there. The B/W photo makes the kitchen cabinet look as if it were blood-splattered… ick
Melinda says:
Also, is that a ceramic foot I spy next to the sink in the powder room?
Lisa says:
CREEPY! i wouldn't want to live there. reminds me of "the others". little kids in costume from that era always look creepy… like are haunting.
Eleni says:
Hehe, totally creepy! But a clever promotional thought nonetheless..
maya says:
I don't find it creepy; bit strange for something that is a marketing material but I like the photos. And I like the house and love the kitchen. There aren't many of them left in their original condition. Could move in immediately. Which, I guess, makes me weird 😀
Olivia says:
This house was built in the 1920's and is still in it's original condition. The agency hired some extras from a theater and did a storytelling. It seems like it worked – it's been all over the media here in Sweden and apparently it has attracted loads of potential buyers.
This particular kind of storytelling is not that common (with extras and all) but storytelling as a whole is quite popular at the moment. It's a dramatic counter-reaction to the kind of home staging that has been the unwritten rule when selling a home in Sweden. (bowl of lemons etc. etc.)
Fantastic Frank is a Swedish real estate agency that does witty but subtle storytelling. Be sure to check them out!
Jen says:
I can totally understand *why* they did it … as it certainly sets their listing apart from anything else out there … Sweden or otherwise. Having said that a friend and I were talking about styling generally the other day and things have completely gotten out of hand. I mean. What are they selling? Does the family come with the house?!? Stick to the basics people. They work for a reason.
Sarah says:
Not sure if they will sell this house, but it makes an interesting picture story!
Amy says:
Creepers. That's it. Just creepers.
cassie says:
Dude, awesome. And yes, the next shot is totally the little girl standing in front of a bloody corpse, axe in hand. I like the way your mind works, Kim.
DianaQ says:
The oddest thing I noticed was not the nicely done historic imagery, but why the seller/agent/whomever would choose not to market from the angle of living a GREAT modern life in a terrific vintage home…or somesuch much more positive overall slant. Just my 2 cents.
MadonnaofCoogee says:
I think they are channelling Ingmar Bergman rather than Stephen King… but what a gorgeous place – the stairs, the kitchen, the light fittings, that carved clock.
MadonnaofCoogee says:
Me again… Just checked out the website, which is more Grey Ghost than Bergman…. does anyone know the story behind this house? It's full of someone's life, books, etc. Oh there are some beautiful things in there, Im guessing someone who loves it will buy it. I mean its got big cats on the gate and a waterfall….
holland says:
Are they trying to sell a house or a film set? This gives new meaning to the real estate term "staging."
Giselle says:
Love it.. so theatrical. The only thing that horrified me though was that the kitchen looked quite filthy.
m says:
so very, very creepy.
lovedesign says:
I think all of you guys thinking "creepy, not appropriate" are quite wrong. I think "original" is a better word. We should try to be open minded and more accepting. lifestyle and esthetics is not only about living life with a flare. I imagine there are some folk who find such esthetic very appealing and valuable.
lovedesign says:
PS: I think it's a lovely way to present such an old house.
Jeff says:
I'm picking up a heavy kooky vibe running through the creepy. Kind of like if there was an ax murder it would be handled in a very light-hearted Woody Allen meets the Munsters way. It's a genius marketing idea, how many real estate listings for dumpy old houses get international attention?
gg says:
OMG-definately creepy!!!
Lin says:
I'm baffled by what it is exactly that people find "creepy" about a fully-clothed woman and child ascending a flight of stairs to sit in a sun-filled room and read.
Helen says:
I am bothered by hat on the man. When it was fashionable for men to wear hats protocol required a man to remove his hat when entering a home. To this day I dislike hats worn indoors especially at the table. I think it is rude. The whole old fashioned theme did not ring true for me . . . largely due to the hat!
g says:
did anyone notice the guy (whom I find annoying) reading a paper…..in a room with a painting of a man reading a paper?
I find the boy/man annoying – he's that one character every college had – the overly dramatic, into himself and his *feelings*
ook. college was long ago, the character persists!!
g says:
Lin – the kid looks overjoyed.
Expat Swede, says:
I kind of like it, but I have followed this estate agent's work for a while. This one might be a bit out there, but listings from faboulous frank, the name of there real estate agent in question, in general are a sign of how much focus there is on online listings in Sweden.
From what I have seen from agent's listings around the world, especially for normal, middle-class, flats and houses, most, if not all, other countries have a lot to learn from how Swedish real estate agents work. To begin with Hemnet.se where you can find probably 90% of all Swedish real estate that is for sale at any given time, is something that every country should have, it is definitely one of the things I miss the most, while trying to find a new place to live away from home!
jja says:
Amityville here I come.
Maybe they wanted to sell "history" since they can not sell well main maintained house…
Sophia says:
Why oh why are they wearing their hats inside?
Clearly I'm focused on the important elements.
diane says:
Why must there always be a little girl in a white dress? If that house wasn't haunted before, it is now, at least in the minds of anyone who has viewed these photos. She chants her nursery rhymes in a sing-song voice as she runs up and down the stairs. Maybe for some, this is a selling point?
But seriously, the house is loaded with potential, and the photos are really fun. Why not?
Elizabeth says:
I don't find it creepy at all, I think its funny, it actually made me laugh. Mind you I never really watch scary/horror films, and I'm not scared of dead people 🙂
I would definitely check out this house if I were looking for an old home. However I would prefer that the actors had posed with a smile … I'm sure people were not that dull then.
Thanks for sharing!! love to see what others are doing.