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I take lots of photos when we are really interested in a house, had my first seller's agent ask me not to this weekend since "it's a private home".
Sorry, but if I'm going to spend a couple years' pay on something that comes without a warranty and that you can't just ship back to Amazon for refund, I'm going be darn sure it's the one I want and that it's in good condition before I do. I show up to viewings with a good camera+flash, a laser distance measure, and a good flashlight, and use them.
>"Do you know how to write? Take notes."
Sure, do you want me in your house for a whole afternoon while I do?
We're only able to look on weekends, so we need to be reasonably efficient in our viewings. As noted, MLS photos often leave out critical things, or are taken with just the right lens and lighting to fool you. After a days' showing, a comprehensive set of photos lets us easily go back and compare, and look for details, like noting if the place is well or poorly supplied with electrical outlets. That's not only helpful in deciding about which one to try to buy, but to have a list for a home inspector to follow up on. It helped in a recent failed purchase, for example, where photos from our walk through helped confirm to the inspector and us that some water damage was actively growing over just one week, not just an old stain from a fixed leak.
In particular, I make sure I take a bunch of photos of the basement utilities, including make/model of boiler, etc. Very often the basement lighting is too poor to get a great sense of pipe conditions, any wood rot, etc., without slowly going thru with flashlight, but a shot with a large camera flash unit will light it all right up.
This reminds me of a few years ago during a Parade of Homes thing in the area. They had a sign in the bathroom of all places saying please no photographs. So, Of course I have a picture of myself holding up the sign.
While the seller is more or less free to do as he pleases regarding showings, etc, such a demand to not photograph would be a turn off for me completely, especially if there were other comparable homes to be looked at.
There are some highly practical reasons for taking photos of the house interior, mostly due to photos of specific attributes, rooms, etc not in the MLS photos; sometimes the listing photos are few in number, poor quality or are done as to not accurately represent what is shown (either better or worse). You need to take pictures when you're looking at a bunch of houses in quick succession. You'll refer to them much better than anything else...potential buyers looking at your home are not called 'lookers' for nothing; its the most used sense of the six in such a situation.
Sure, take written notes only but you'll be doing much more writing and drawing than actually looking...not to mention taking a good amount of time doing it. Most sellers and agents do not want their house occupied for a viewing for more than an hour..and there could well be others on the same day. Time and efficiency needs to be considered in such an endeavor.
Most potential buyers do take pictures these days for reasons which for many would seem very obvious if you've actually gone thru the home buying process at least once or twice. Sure, a seller can make such a demand to not photograph the house, but you certainly will be reducing your pool of potential buyers substantially. But, there might had been good reason for the seller to not want photos---we do not know the specific circumstances around that.
I take lots of photos when we are really interested in a house, had my first seller's agent ask me not to this weekend since "it's a private home".
Sorry, but if I'm going to spend a couple years' pay on something that comes without a warranty and that you can't just ship back to Amazon for refund, I'm going be darn sure it's the one I want and that it's in good condition before I do. I show up to viewings with a good camera+flash, a laser distance measure, and a good flashlight, and use them.
>"Do you know how to write? Take notes."
Sure, do you want me in your house for a whole afternoon while I do?
We're only able to look on weekends, so we need to be reasonably efficient in our viewings. As noted, MLS photos often leave out critical things, or are taken with just the right lens and lighting to fool you. After a days' showing, a comprehensive set of photos lets us easily go back and compare, and look for details, like noting if the place is well or poorly supplied with electrical outlets. That's not only helpful in deciding about which one to try to buy, but to have a list for a home inspector to follow up on. It helped in a recent failed purchase, for example, where photos from our walk through helped confirm to the inspector and us that some water damage was actively growing over just one week, not just an old stain from a fixed leak.
In particular, I make sure I take a bunch of photos of the basement utilities, including make/model of boiler, etc. Very often the basement lighting is too poor to get a great sense of pipe conditions, any wood rot, etc., without slowly going thru with flashlight, but a shot with a large camera flash unit will light it all right up.
Sellers have been taught, sometimes by their real estate agent, sometimes by the many crime stories we see in the news every day, that they must be careful of people casing their house. They've heard that houses for sale are often chosen as easier targets by thieves. They don't want the photos you snap while viewing the house to be used later to evaluate what's worth stealing or which windows might provide the easiest, most undetectable entry. Talk to your real estate agent in advance. Tell him what it is you want to photograph in most homes, and ask him to make sure the seller has no objections. Make it clear that you're taking pictures of the house systems & utilities, not the security system and the art on the mantel.
I've also heard of architects and builders not allowing pix in order to protect their designs.
I think there's something of the show off in the people who put their homes up for sale and then insist "no pictures please" because of the house contents. For one thing, a good thief can spot items worth stealing pretty quickly and keep them in mind without pix. He can work in tandem with his "spouse"/partner thief to distract for a moment while a door or window is left unlocked.
I know someone who listed his home and when the photographer arrived most of the paintings on the wall and some other objects were covered very carefully with paper or fabric. First, odd and passive aggressive in not telling the listing agent about this. But also underscoring the fact that here's something worth stealing.
I feel whoever the art work is there for....the owners alone, a few select friends they trust to never mention this because you know how word spreads....would understand going without it for the time the home is listed. It can be safely stored.
I feel whoever the art work is there for....the owners alone, a few select friends they trust to never mention this because you know how word spreads....would understand going without it for the time the home is listed. It can be safely stored.
That seems like the best strategy. Thieves will get your Picassos whether they can take a photo of them beforehand or not.
As to being worried about kidnappers and such getting the layout of your house, how does not allowing photographs prevent that? Tell a real estate agent a passable story and they'll walk you through a place top to bottom.
..........I know someone who listed his home and when the photographer arrived most of the paintings on the wall and some other objects were covered very carefully with paper or fabric. ............
There are reasons to do this other than to hide valuable artwork.
Maybe the covered pictures are portraits of their children and they don't want their children's pictures on the internet,
Maybe the artwork covered was offensive to some people. I know of one agent who listed a house that was so full of violent sexual artwork that he put into the listing, "Not recommended for female agents to go to this house alone."
I've seen some lovely homosexual art that would be worth collecting but might easily be offensive to some potential buyers. Some artwork isn't suitable for children. You wouldn't leave that sort of thing out for viewing.
Sellers have been taught, sometimes by their real estate agent, sometimes by the many crime stories we see in the news every day, that they must be careful of people casing their house. They've heard that houses for sale are often chosen as easier targets by thieves. They don't want the photos you snap while viewing the house to be used later to evaluate what's worth stealing or which windows might provide the easiest, most undetectable entry. Talk to your real estate agent in advance. Tell him what it is you want to photograph in most homes, and ask him to make sure the seller has no objections. Make it clear that you're taking pictures of the house systems & utilities, not the security system and the art on the mantel.
If you're so worried about your Picassos or your kids photos, why not take them off the wall PRIOR to listing and replace with something from Bed Bath & Beyond or Marshalls. Oh, and you better not let them photograph your kids' rooms with the cheesy stick on letters spelling out Mallory or Ethan or Bella or whatever.
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