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Apologies for the somewhat unclear topic title...wasn't sure how to word it.
I noticed that on Zillow, many listings of newer houses (1985-now) show the house looking great, with shiny windows. Everything looks shiny and nice, and modern. Of course, I am aware that most of those are staged with furniture, and that the furniture is not really part of the house.
However, the quality of the house looks nice. Windows are shiny and clean, walls look freshly painted, and you can't really see cracks or pops in the wall. Even some videos support this. However, I was told that the quality of those houses aren't great, and that things creak, windows don't open or close properly, and fogs. I can't see that in the photos.
I guess what I'm getting at is... if the house in question is of lousy/questionable quality, then why does it look good in photos/videos? How is that possible? For example, if the doors were cheap, walls were thin, and windows were of low quality, wouldn't that show in the photos/videos?
I understand what you're saying. It's the home inspection that'll find all those hidden defects, at least I hope they do. It depends on what is inspected. You may not want the roof inspected . . Or the pool . . .
I like to see homes online that offer more information, like documents listing when improvements were made. If they have a bug service.. . Not that that is real important, but it shows they care about their property and there isn't an ant or roach problem. Termite contract. That's a big one for me.
There are ways you can tell the home looks good or not from online pictures. The waterlines on the brick and if there aren't gutters, you'll see those. Having trees too close to the house will impact the foundation. If the lawn looks in good shape, has a sprinkler system, because in my area of Houston the soil can contract and expand depending on the drought. You don't want a home with foundation problems! If the lawn looks bad, the soil is pulling away from the foundation, then you look at the window corners in the house to see if there are cracks. If the doors don't shut tight or look like they're hanging wrong is another indication. Then there's the floor tiles and look at those pictures to see if there are any cracks.
Yeah it's hard to see everything in a picture but you can get a general idea. Homes look great in pictures because they can touch it up, angle the camera for the best coverage, and focus on the good areas instead of the bad. Cheap doors are easy to tell - They are those awful solid wood looking hollow ones. Compare what you see online to doors for sale at Lowe's or Home Depot. The house age will show whether the windows are energy efficient. That's when those documents to update and renovate the home are so nice. Unless they say anything and disclose it, an older home won't have those low e windows.
And always always ask for the companies that did the work if you buy a home.. . Previous owner said they had the roof redone 2 years ago and here it's leaking. If you don't have the company name, and know if there is a warranty, then you're up a creek. The seller should prove his words and you as the buyer get all those documents.
the quality of the house looks nice. Windows are shiny and clean, walls look freshly painted, and you can't really see cracks or pops in the wall. Even some videos support this. However, I was told that the quality of those houses aren't great, and that things creak, windows don't open or close properly, and fogs. I can't see that in the photos.
I guess what I'm getting at is... if the house in question is of lousy/questionable quality, then why does it look good in photos/videos? How is that possible? For example, if the doors were cheap, walls were thin, and windows were of low quality, wouldn't that show in the photos/videos?
Another possibility is that the house would look great, if you went to look at it. Maybe the person who is telling you this, is either not being truthful or else has unrealistically high standards, or for some other reason is misrepresenting the house to you.
That said, even on my fairly low cost house, my realtor tweaked the photos (that he took) with photoshop to make it look more appealing.
Try this. Go cook a meal that you see from a photo and tell us if it taste like the photo. See my point?
When investing always get inspection before assuming that 'shiny' or 'clean' automatically means it's functioning.
Any homeowner wants the best pictures online for their home to sell. I get that. I'm there with them. But I understand what the OP is saying in that so many homes look great, how can that be?
Another tip - Look at the neighborhood on street view. Look at various views of the home with maps. Go to YouTube and type in the subdivision, the street, and see if there's anything else. I once saw an interesting home. . . Did a google street search, saw another home on the same street listed for sale a year ago, that home had flooded.
Builders also do this - Go for the surface looks. Even a brand new home should be inspected. You don't know where they'd cut corners.
Photos simply do NOT convey all of the information that your eye can perceive. Especially considering you're looking at a small screen (smaller than the size of a front door, for certain), and an image that's looking at a Lot of detail. Try to blow that image up and you lose detail.
Things always look better in photos, even without touching up. You can angle shots to include and exclude certain things, simply not take photos of the worst areas, etc. Beyond that, no photo can convey squeaky floors, stuck windows, etc...
Don't bother with more "why" than this, just accept that it's true and carry on. An in-person inspection before even making an offer is 100% essential. So is a professional inspection of the home (which focuses on structure, function, health and safety... not cosmetics).
I do appreciate clear and good pictures though. Some realtors probably should find another line of work. How difficult is it to take a decent photo?
Difficult enough that good photographers can demand $20k for a days work (I have an in-law who shoots weddings, $20k is her average but can be Much higher for foreign destinations).
Not so difficult as browsing RE photos would make it seem....
But hey, it's a Ripe business opportunity!
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