Too funny, I laughed out loud on this one, yet I'm rarely surprised. Some time back I did a post on Christmas in July, you know Christmas trees in the photos in July and August. I heard from other Rainers who related to snow in summer, that sort of thing.
Looks like someone can't even use a "PHD" camera, which of course stand for "Push Here Dummy". Do we need to point the person now, so they can shoot the picture?
When I remodeled my own 1970's era home last year I added can type lights in the living room and kitchen. I am very proud of those lights. Maybe the picture taker has a similar affection for his lights.
Hey Connie....I don't even look at the awful photos anymore! The bad part is that many sellers feel frustrated by the poor photos of their property on MLS...and are afraid to complain to the REA! This example is simply awful.
Oh wow! They should have stuck with posting photos from the outside of the house only. If I was the seller, I would be having a talk with me RE agent. Unless this is a FSBO!
I wrote a simular post last year, Lynda, about making sure LREAs update their pictures every 4 months if the homes have not sold. Great minds think alike ;)
You're RIGHT, Tanya, we were just talking about this - shame really
Ralph, you are to funny! "Hunny, stop the car!" LOL
It is sad, isn't it, Dan? Sad that the REA thinks that this is OK and even more so that the Seller is stuck with it!
Nope, Lina, this is on a very well known, national RE Chain website in my own back yard. No FSBO here :(
Hi Connie - I am not an attorney, but I have often wondered about an agent's fiduciary responsibility to his client when I see photos like this.
From dictionary.com: fiduciary - a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another.
Now, how do pictures like that benefit the seller I wonder?
An agent is being trusted to protect their clients best interests - especially their money. When an agent publishes pictures like this on the net, one could argue that this could hurt the value of the seller's home by so poorly representing it, perhaps breaching the agents fiduciary responsibility. I believe in the future there could come a time that sellers may have legal recourse to go after their agent in cases like this. The burden of course, would be to prove the seller's financial loss was due to the poor representation of the property.
I would love to get an attorney's point of view on this. Any attorneys who could speak to this?
Well Connie maybe the agent just heard a stager talk about the advantages of having non-white walls and updated (?) lighting. This is a shame because whomever sees this photo on-line will move on to the next house without any more looking.
WOW, Dan, you really got my mind spinning from that one (in a good way) I'm thinking I should call a Real Estate Attorney and ask them this. I think you've made a very potient argument!
Marianne, I'm still shaking my head to. Even more so since I have contacted them for a "lunch and learn" with no response from the head broker. (no mention of this blog post though ;)
One would HATE to think, Cindy, but one could only wonder if....
I'm really hoping that the MLS, the property owner and/or the listing agent don't start consulting attorney's because the poster might not have had autorization to post the picture in question. I'm also hoping that the poster's potential clients in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara do not read this post and decide to work with another stager that will not stab them in the back.
Good point, Andrea or Darrin (I'm not sure which one I'm responding too, so I'll reply to both) But the MLS pic could be from any house, anywhere - I could of simply taken a picture of my own house (which actually has HAS the same lighting & wall color) as a representation of a picture which IS placed on a home's marketing website. I did not post any information about the home, property or agent, nor did I say anythingabout the picture, positive or negative.
I'm not an Agent, I'm just another potential buyer surfing the Internet as 87% of buyers do today. I haven't stabbed anyone in the back ~ all I did was post a picture. Every viewer is free to draw their own conclusions which interestingly enough: your response is quite negative to what you are seeing.
The brokerage is a very well known national chain, now all I have to do is look up your area and go through your local MLS.
Your comments speak volumes about your opinion about the picture. It doesn't take much to figure out what that opinion is.
Again, do you have authorization to post this photo? See, you need to have authorization to copy and paste any photo you find online unless you have the owner's written consent.
Andrea & Darrin: You're right, MY opinion is pretty straight forward. But I am entitled to my opinion just as anyone else. But just as Jane said, "great recessed lighting", which it does.
& for goodness sakes, chill. This is a picture of my own living room which DOES have the same wall color and lighting of the picture which is in question. I know very well not to "copy & paste" without permission, but would I get any response either good or bad if I said "This is my living room, what do you think?". But if it will let you sleep better at night, yes, the office Broker does know about this blog and that is was inspired by one of the pictures on their site. He has actually asked for me to come to his office in a couple weeks to speak to his Agents about taking proper photography of their listings.
Just goes to show you that when a home is vacant, it is practically impossible to get good photos, especially of bedrooms which just end up looking like walls and floor. Without furniture, it is very difficult to determine scale. This agent was probably trying to point out that the house had recessed lighting. But with nothing else in the photo, it just ends up looking like a mistake.
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Come on, Connie, the recess lights are working.