I'm completely shocked to see the photo. What was the listing agent doing ? She/he doesn't know that there is a showing that day ? Oh ! my god !!!! your buyer is absolutely right .

Anne,

I have a listing like that. Owner was due to vacate in 2 weeks so we timed the effective date accordingly.  That fell through but seller still needed it listed then - and promised to clean up.

If/when agents call me prior to showing as I suggest in the MLS (around here we make appointments directly with sellers), I brief the agents, who then prepare their buyers.  Seller now yells at me when I give her feedback that the condition turned off the prospects.  I have led the horse to water...

Didn't expect to have a listing that looks like it does but I still have a job to do!

Just goes to show you that we as Listing agents ought to check periodically.

I think I've been to this house. 

The first thing I do after I get a signed listing is explain to the seller how "we" are going to sell the house.  That includes some work on the sellers' part.  I have a pre-printed brochure that reminds the sellers about dirty dishes and laundry, dusting the cobwebs, shining the floors.  I have to add a new section though....cleaning out the gutters.

Currently, I have a house listed for sale that has potential.  It's cute, it's cozy and it's priced right if only....

the seller took an interest.  It's a vacation home and the seller is too busy to come up and maintain the house, in fact, that's why they're selling.  So, I have a friend who is trying to break into the home staging game and she asked me to give her a project that she could use as a model and she would do it for free.

So far, she has cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, polished, dusted, painted doors trim and some walls, covered furniture, replaced tacky wall decorations and bedding, rearranged furniture, covered pillows and cushions, cut grass, raked leaves, set up vignettes in each room, made message boards, planted flowers, well, the list goes on and the place is starting to shine.

I convinced the sellers to get the grass cut and get driveway stone, but the gutters have 8" trees growing from them, so the first impression the buyers have is -- well, the sellers certainly don't maintain this house.....

What can I try next?  Wait, I'll get a ladder!

The things we do for a sale! 

this pig sty should help sell the nice clean ready to sell home you brought them to afterwords

I showed a house like that yesterday. In addition to the dirty dishes and clothes layign about it had three dogs (two very noisy ones in a cage) and a pot-belly pig (also in a cage). Talk about uninviting!

 One of the more humerous reactions to a place like this occured several years ago when our office went to tour a house that was in sad condition - cluttered and unclean. Obviously the listing agent was embarrassed by its condition. The real kicker was that there was a sign as you entered asking that visitors "Please remove shoes." When tour was done and the listing agent asked for comments, one agent remarked loudly that he wqs going to go home and burn his socks. Now that's bad!

Anne- Great post about a subject that almost never comes up. It seems to those of us in the industry that - even if it had always been a pigsty - any seller would perceive the benefit of cleaning up the house and keeping it clean while they're trying to sell it. 

My only similar experience was a pre-arranged visit to a customer's "home office" about twenty years ago. I'll never forget it. First thing I noticed when I turned into the drive was the garage door hanging at a weird angle and the front lawn going to seed. I first assumed I had the wrong address, but after double-checking my notes (this was long before mobile phones & GPS) I saw I was at the right place.

I cautiously approached the rough-looking entry door and looked for a doorbell. Finding none, I knocked on the door itself. My customer arrived at the door shortly and peeked around the door to invite me in. At first I thought it strange that she hadn't fully opened the door to avoid letting a pet out. That wasn't the case. I had to squeeze past the partially open door and into the hallway because it was BLOCKED BY A PILE OF OBVIOUSLY DIRTY CLOTHES. As I stepped over the disgusting pile of clothes and followed her down the gloomy hallway, my nose was assaulted by the smell of cigarette smoke and beer. It was like walking into a VERY seedy bar-room. She motiioned for me to follow her and her husband into the office. There were red shears on the windows, casting a horror-movie glow on everything. I was literally averse to sitting on the threadbare sofa and when I finished the meeting (as quickly as possible), I was physically sick.

I have often wondered,

"They knew I was coming. If they were too lazy / apathetic to do a little basic housecleaning, couldn't they at least have piled the clothes somewhere other than immediately inside the front door?"

"Why didn't they just make an excuse not to meet me there?" 

"Do I really want to do business with these folks another day?"

At the time I assumed that there was a substance-abuse problem, but maybe not. Maybe just plain laziness? For obvious reasons, I've consistently avoided visits to home offices ever since.

Sorry to hear that you had to face the embrassment.  Man that looks really bad. Even homeless shelter look better than that crap hole.  Guess people don't give a crap  about anything.

Hi Anne, I thought it was th epic from the same house. I can imagine the condition of the house :-(