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Just curious to get other agent's take on this practice.
Basically there are some agents in the area that once a listing is no longer active (i.e. sold or expired or canceled), the agent deletes all of the photos from the listing.
My guess is the thought behind doing this is to prevent other agents from stealing the photos for a future listing of the property.
Personally, I find this practice HIGHLY annoying.
First, you probably don't even own the rights to those photos because you hired someone to take them and they likely granted you a limited license. I can pay that photographer to gain the same use license. So, what's the point?
Second, it makes using that sale as a good comp nearly impossible.
Anyone else seeing this happening in their MLS and do you have any thoughts about it?
I always ask for the interior shots to be removed whenever I sell. Moreso for the buyers - it’s always weird when there’s pictures of your bathroom on the interwebz.
First of all I don’t think that’s a reasonable motive… It’s not so terribly common for houses to immediately go on the market again and reuse the same pictures. Is this really something that happens that often?
Secondly if it does happen it’s not the end of the world… One report to the MLS would catch them and fix it.
I usually only remove photos when the listing expires or is withdrawn. They are my photos, and another agent is not going to use them if they get the listing after me, nor is the seller going to use them. I own them.
In higher-end properties, I remove the pictures because of safety reasons and most people don't want images of their floorplan being staked out on-line for potential robbery.
Appraisers use those photos as part of their assessment of value.
At TMLS, we have "TMLS" watermarked on the photos, and that makes it harder to reuse them illicitly.
And, I would roll over on anyone who used my photos from a listing, and the MLS folks would step on them at that point.
Hmm... I don't think most thieves look online to see floor plan... most wouldn't be able to figure out a useful floor plan from pictures anyway. And the stuff... - is the stuff that belonged to the prior owner. So is the layout and floor plan, for that matter.
The only time the pictures would have any value at all to thieves is during the listing. Something to keep in mind while it's on the market... not after.
Hopefully it doesn't become common to remove them. I'm not sure removing them from the MLS will remove them from all the other public facing feeder sites thieves will look at anyway.
I feel they should be left for CMA and appraisal purposes. (By the way, unless your contract with the photographer specifically states, in writing, that you are purchasing the full and complete copyright rather than the photos or specific use of them yourself, you do NOT own the photos, you own permission to use the photos to market the property - that's how copyright law works. The person to address the unauthorized use of them would be the legal copyright holder, usually the photographer as the photographer owns copyright the moment they press the button.)
However, I did, as a listing agent, some years ago, have a buyer contact me and my broker about three months after the closing to demand that the photos of HIS house be taken off the internet, for security reasons. We had to get tough with Zillow in order to make that happen, and point out that his threat of legal action would definitely include them.
they should be removed from the public sphere, but access maintained within subscribers to the database.
good luck to us all getting Zillow etal to comply.
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