Monday Madness

Bad Real Estate Photos – a crime?

Who hasn’t seen a bad real estate photo? House off in the distance, camera out of focus, tilted, obstructed, more sky than house, more street than house, rear view mirror showing in the picture… You have probably seen many of these, such as the nice mailbox to the right (there’s a house behind it). I’ve railed against this sloppy work in bits and pieces, but today I share the full load and some thoughts of others.

Agents around the world have complained about bad photographs of real properties. For agents it must be a personal embarrassment to have the world see how unprofessional they can be. Fortunately I’m not an agent and can freely abuse their honor and integrity. [Just kidding, I think agents are really special and there should be one in every family.]

I have no problem with ugly houses, messy houses, ugly yards, etc. The agent is not fully responsible for these things. The agent may not be able to find a good shot of the house in these cases. The problem is careless agents who take a quick shot from the car and move on, who snap some meaningless interior shots and actually post them on the internet, who just don’t care- and yet they want that fat commission check.

Norm Fisher in Saskatoon SK is probably the most popular source for bad photos. He offers an amazing Flash presentation at his site with pictures, soothing music and funny commentary.

Athol Kay (the REagent), a photographer originally from New Zealand and now an agent in CT has another popular site featuring ugly real estate pics.

Are they also sloppy with the paperwork; legal requirements; with truthfully and thoughtfully representing their clients? Are these people who will answer the phone when problems arise and diligently keep clients and others informed as events unfold? Would you buy a used car from these people? We don’t want to impugn their character just because they didn’t take time to get decent photos, but we have to wonder.

Again, I’m not an agent and I’ve no personal bone to pick but while this seems obviously unfair to the seller, It’s also unfair to the buyer. The standard line is that 80% of buyers currently begin their search online. If a perfectly good house looks terrible on the internet, both parties lose.

You may ask “What if the photo is TOO good? Is that false advertising? I have seen a few that were too good–much better than the actual house. I think that’s the ‘American Way’; we expect advertised goods to appear better than they actually are. We expect a few negative surprises when we open the package.

Athol Kay, mentioned above, discusses: When Bad Real Estate Photos Become Ethical Violations and poses much the same ethical questions adding that there should be consequences for lazy photographers.

Well enough of this jolly frivolity for today. Perhaps next Monday we will point out some photography tips specifically for agents. It may not be the Madness we prefer, but it may be rewarding just the same. Until then I offer the weekly wisdom of Julius Knipl– Real Estate Photographer.