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I am looking to move to another state. Minnesota to Arkansas. I am finding the same issue as when I moved from Oklahoma to Minnesota. Awful listings. Moving to another state, I rely a lot on online listings and it troubles me seeing pictures that turn me off on a home.
One listing included a picture of a stop sign and close up shots of the current owner's nick knacks. Many showcase decor that would not come with the house. So often the current owners have counters full of dirty dishes and trash. Bedrooms full of piles of dirty laundry. A few were obvious hoarders. Do they let people come and see the home when it is in this condition?
Do realtors not require people to clean up a little before they come to photograph the home? I don't understand the reasoning for so many pictures that do not showcase the home. I had thought about getting into realty but now I wonder, is it poor jobs of the realtor or are these most likely supplied from the seller and realtors are just stuck with it?
Status:
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me"
(set 13 days ago)
Location: Ocala, FL
6,496 posts, read 10,395,817 times
Reputation: 7962
Unfortunately, a Realtor can only suggest that a seller clean up their home prior to taking pictures or showing them. The Realtor cannot force the issue with a seller short of refusing to take the listing. Some sellers sadly don't care. It is easy to put the blame on a "lazy agent" but sometimes that is what happens. When I was an active Realtor, I occasionally saw homes that I joked that I needed a tetanus shot after visiting them.
Realtors can only do so much if the place is a mess, a foreclosure, in disrepair, or has a tenant in it who refuses to clean up.
In those cases, hiring a professional photographer can be a waste, The agent's best option is to at least try to be very accurate and completely show what's actually there.
As an out of state buyer, I'd caution you against buying places you can't easily inspect or that are not well cared for, unless you're planning to gut the place and have the budget to do that. It's not the best time and circumstances to find a bargain or a diamond in the rough.
As to closeups of decor or artsy pictures of running faucets.... I can't explain that.
There was a house we looked at that had horrible pictures. They were cluttered, blurry, and they just didn't look great. We went to see it anyway and it was amazing. We bought that house. In retrospect, we were happy the pictures were horrid because that may have kept others away.
When I first started using online listings, I would pass on all the houses with odd-shaped rooms. So many photos showed rooms with curved walls and corners not at right angle. I don't want to live in those weird shaped rooms. It took me a while to realize it was camera distortion.
When I first started using online listings, I would pass on all the houses with odd-shaped rooms. So many photos showed rooms with curved walls and corners not at right angle. I don't want to live in those weird shaped rooms. It took me a while to realize it was camera distortion.
Pics with odd shaped rooms and walls are probably trick photography to make the room look bigger. It's a heavy handed way to fool prospective buyers.
The listing that sold my house had this kind of trick photography, and I objected to my agent about it. She said it sells houses so I let it pass and ceded to her expertise. It wasn't all that extreme, but don't like it.
At least pics with knick knacks and full laundry baskets are honest. Look past that and maybe get a price reduction. People are very reactive over tacky photos, and will pass up a good house over it, so try and look past it.
Pics with odd shaped rooms and walls are probably trick photography to make the room look bigger. It's a heavy handed way to fool prospective buyers.
The listing that sold my house had this kind of trick photography, and I objected to my agent about it. She said it sells houses so I let it pass and ceded to her expertise. It wasn't all that extreme, but don't like it.
At least pics with knick knacks and full laundry baskets are honest. Look past that and maybe get a price reduction. People are very reactive over tacky photos, and will pass up a good house over it, so try and look past it.
Yes. If a house ticks your boxes as to price range and location, take a look at it. You never know.
I have family in the area that can go check out a place I am interested in, but I only want to send them to ones I am serious about. Unfortunately there are so many that I just can't picture the owners cleaning up very well when moving out. But they could be amazing houses that I miss out on because I was so turned off by bad pictures. With more and more people moving across country, I feel like decent, doesn't have to be professional just decent pictures, would help increase the possibility of selling. I guess as a seller, I would be so embarrassed to have my house look like some of these online for all the neighbors to see. I ended up renting when moving here, so it is my first time actually buying a house, so its overwhelming enough let alone doing it from 3 states away.
I do feel bad for some realtors. I hope they can deny working with some people.
Pics with odd shaped rooms and walls are probably trick photography to make the room look bigger. It's a heavy handed way to fool prospective buyers.
The listing that sold my house had this kind of trick photography, and I objected to my agent about it. She said it sells houses so I let it pass and ceded to her expertise. It wasn't all that extreme, but don't like it.
At least pics with knick knacks and full laundry baskets are honest. Look past that and maybe get a price reduction. People are very reactive over tacky photos, and will pass up a good house over it, so try and look past it.
I don't mind seeing their nick knacks in wide shots, but when the picture is JUST of the little table full of figurines, or you can barely see the room because there is dirty laundry everywhere, that is hard to look past. Shove the laundry in the closet or under the bed or something haha.
Maybe you are looking at low end or present rental properties?
Consider a poor listing as a potential bargain.
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