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Old 04-27-2018, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,415 posts, read 11,954,182 times
Reputation: 38811

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I belong to a few humorous groups and follow a few blogs that are related to "BAD Real estate photography" and while many truly are bad photographs.... blurry, dark, or show the realtor in the reflection in the bathroom mirror... Some of the pictures posted aren't bad photographs, they're bad homes! And the photographs are showing exactly what they should show. If the place is a mess, or has a gutted kitchen, people need to see that. FHA buyers and investors should see it.

And many times when a home is just messy, cluttered, laundry on the floor and dishes in the sink... and people ask why these issues aren't cleaned up before taking pictures.... usually it's tenants. A realtor can advise a seller to clean up. They can maybe even take the liberty of moving a few things out of the way of a good picture.... but with a tenant, you really can't touch anything. The tenant is not the client, and if they don't want to clean up or be cooperative, there's just not much we can do about it, the best thing is to show the mess. That's what people are going to see if they look at it, so they might as well be prepared. It's worse when the listing photos are the place empty and clean, and when we get there, there's a tenant who has been in the house 10 years and really doesn't care what we think.
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Old 04-27-2018, 12:05 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,539 posts, read 40,308,808 times
Reputation: 17422
In my area there is one photographer who grossly overprocesses photos and I know which listing agents use him. I just tell my clients that the home won't be as nice as the photos when I see those agents listings come up. Everyone else is fairly accurate. I don't think I've ever seen anyone photoshop something out, but I've see the neon green grass photos.
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Old 04-27-2018, 01:34 PM
 
Location: northern va
1,736 posts, read 2,883,452 times
Reputation: 1688
The only time I've ever asked my photographer to PS something out was below, the stain in the driveway (AC condensation from the photographer idling in the driveway before I got there).

I took a pic the next day showing the 'stain' was not there and they wiped it out of the photo and resent

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Old 04-27-2018, 02:29 PM
 
1,528 posts, read 1,582,622 times
Reputation: 2062
Quote:
Originally Posted by kww View Post
The only time I've ever asked my photographer to PS something out was below, the stain in the driveway (AC condensation from the photographer idling in the driveway before I got there).

I took a pic the next day showing the 'stain' was not there and they wiped it out of the photo and resent
Since the garage and the driveway are already about 50% of the width of this house, your "photographer" would have been much better off taking a photo from an angle (or cropping it) so that does not include so much driveway (yikes, it's a full 1/3 of the way up the photo is the driveway rather than the house). The driveway is by far the overwhelming focal point of this photo and not the house. And the top of the house is cut off....why? so that the driveway can get its full 1/3 of the bottom to top height of the photo. Very poor.

If I were the homeowner, I would be very disappointed by this. You shouldn't have to point this out to professionals. I have never taken real estate photos professionally or worked as an agent but I would never take or allow a photo that focused on the driveway rather than the house. The consumer should not be left with the feeling "I could have done it better myself" and that's what I would feel with this. And if the justification is that "parking is important" then I suggest that a simple "off-road parking for 4 cars" in the description would do the trick rather than take the most important photo (the curb view) focusing on the driveway rather than the house.

This thread is about photos and this is just my opinion on this photo.
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Old 04-27-2018, 04:10 PM
 
Location: northern va
1,736 posts, read 2,883,452 times
Reputation: 1688
Quote:
Originally Posted by just_because View Post
Since the garage and the driveway are already about 50% of the width of this house, your "photographer" would have been much better off taking a photo from an angle (or cropping it) so that does not include so much driveway (yikes, it's a full 1/3 of the way up the photo is the driveway rather than the house). The driveway is by far the overwhelming focal point of this photo and not the house. And the top of the house is cut off....why? so that the driveway can get its full 1/3 of the bottom to top height of the photo. Very poor.

If I were the homeowner, I would be very disappointed by this. You shouldn't have to point this out to professionals. I have never taken real estate photos professionally or worked as an agent but I would never take or allow a photo that focused on the driveway rather than the house. The consumer should not be left with the feeling "I could have done it better myself" and that's what I would feel with this. And if the justification is that "parking is important" then I suggest that a simple "off-road parking for 4 cars" in the description would do the trick rather than take the most important photo (the curb view) focusing on the driveway rather than the house.

This thread is about photos and this is just my opinion on this photo.
that wasnt a photo that was utilized in the listing, just an extra photo the photographer took (and the only one I had on hand for this thread) that showed the water stain. Additionally, I cropped the photo for this thread to take out my office listing sign, and at the same time, admittedly cropped the top of the house out.
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Old 04-27-2018, 05:02 PM
 
1,528 posts, read 1,582,622 times
Reputation: 2062
Quote:
Originally Posted by kww View Post
that wasnt a photo that was utilized in the listing, just an extra photo the photographer took (and the only one I had on hand for this thread) that showed the water stain. Additionally, I cropped the photo for this thread to take out my office listing sign, and at the same time, admittedly cropped the top of the house out.
I'm not going to argue with you but this does not marry up with your previous explanation. Not sure why you'd ask (and the only time ever) for your photographer to photoshop a photo if it's just an 'extra photo' not to be used.

If this were me, I would not worry about a stain in an 'extra photo' that's not even going to be used. I would worry more that my photographer is taking photos that feature the driveway stronger than the house is featured. Sorry but this explanation doesn't add up.
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Old 04-27-2018, 05:44 PM
Status: "Made the Retirement Run in under 12 parsecs!!!" (set 22 days ago)
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,176 posts, read 76,815,786 times
Reputation: 45533
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall View Post
In my area there is one photographer who grossly overprocesses photos and I know which listing agents use him. I just tell my clients that the home won't be as nice as the photos when I see those agents listings come up. Everyone else is fairly accurate. I don't think I've ever seen anyone photoshop something out, but I've see the neon green grass photos.
Mostly, I see photos that are so overexposed, they remove all the color from the house.
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Old 04-27-2018, 05:58 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,591 posts, read 7,479,388 times
Reputation: 5989
I'm seeing a lot of interior photos where the wide angle used makes the room appear much w * i * d * e * r than it actually is. Distorted to the point that it borders on misrepresentation.

Other gems: street views of the home showing trash cans, open garage door (and garage full of stuff)
bathrooms with toilet seats up
cat litter boxes in the room (seriously?)
unmade beds, dishes in the sink, fridges covered in kids art work or magnets
neon green yards

One of my favorites: a living room towards the kitchen photo showed the homeowner in a housecoat standing in the doorway of the kitchen
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Old 04-27-2018, 08:45 PM
 
Location: northern va
1,736 posts, read 2,883,452 times
Reputation: 1688
Quote:
Originally Posted by just_because View Post
I'm not going to argue with you but this does not marry up with your previous explanation. Not sure why you'd ask (and the only time ever) for your photographer to photoshop a photo if it's just an 'extra photo' not to be used.

If this were me, I would not worry about a stain in an 'extra photo' that's not even going to be used. I would worry more that my photographer is taking photos that feature the driveway stronger than the house is featured. Sorry but this explanation doesn't add up.
not sure why I bother...

As I mentioned, that was the only photo I had on hand that showed the original 'stain'. Had I included a corrected photo that was chosen for the lead photo for the listing, taken at a different angle, it wouldn't have given any benefit to my original post as the stain was no longer visible.

My photographer never corrected the photo included in my post, as it wasn't a photo I intended to ever use. I instructed him to correct the photo that I intended to use, which he did happily after I showed him that it wasn't a permanent defect.

Lastly, I'm not worried at all about my photographer nor the photos he takes. He sends me on average double the amount of photos I'm allowed to upload into my local MLS, in order to give me plenty of options to choose from.

Last edited by kww; 04-27-2018 at 09:23 PM..
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Old 04-28-2018, 05:15 AM
Status: "Made the Retirement Run in under 12 parsecs!!!" (set 22 days ago)
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,176 posts, read 76,815,786 times
Reputation: 45533
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook View Post
I don't think every flaw needs to be shown... -this isn't a medicine ad where we need to rattle off every possible side effect of the drug we're trying to encourage you to take! But --- If there are major defects that will prevent financing, or prevent the property from being a good prospect for first-time buyers who don't own a hammer yet... then if possible those defects should be shown. Or at least mentioned in the agent remarks so we know before we book such clients to go see it.

I try to tell clients that banks are not underpricing homes for no reason these days... if there's a foreclosure that looks nice in the three included photographs, but it's $40,000 under typical list price for the area... there's probably something very wrong with it! But they still sometimes send me these listings, hoping for a good deal even though they need FHA or USDA financing and it's never going to fly.

If there's a huge gaping hole in the roof... or the floor... any surface really... listing agents really should show that.
Right.

The listing photos have one purpose, and that is to generate traffic.
That said, use of Photoshop to alter reality to remove material defects is not acceptable.

And, "Foreclosures are for Rich People." Really.
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