I'd have to agree with Karen Parsons. 

Taste is personal.  Distractions can hurt the sale of the house.

I thought I had seen it. 

I agree with Randall up in comment #67, if it keeps a buyer from writing an offer you lose.  Take it down and play it safe

I think I'd play it safe and talk with the seller about taking it down. In a market where buyers are a little more scarce, why do anything that might scare buyers away?

I think that anything that catches the eye and keeps the buyer from looking at the room (vs art) should be removed. Agree with those above that it would depend largely on where the house was located, and what type of buyer you're hoping to attract.  If it's a couple with two kids - remove the art. 

In addition to some items being offensive, more people now are into the "energy" of the house. You could turn off a buyer with things like nude photos, taxidermy, a gun collection - or even items showing support for the "wrong" religion or political party.

And of course, you never want to distract attention from the house itself.

Nope, not even an issue: they all come down.  The Mary on the Half Shell comes out of the garden, the crucifix in the bathroom gets packed away.  No nudes, no ridiculous books ('Kama Sutra for Young Jews Today' -- I'm not kidding, it was in a house I staged in Short Hills, NJ)  no creepy collections of dolls -- nothing.  It's the house, and only the house.  At most, you can have things that pertain to the typical American Dream lifestyle, like for example a copy of Cigar magazine or a photo of you yachting looking like the Young Kennedys, or playing tennis with Regis and the Trump, fine.  Everything else, has to be packed.  As I explained to the seller in Montclair, NJ - buyers want to see a ton of homes.  They can't remember what they'se seen without a neumonic and that tends to be nicknames.  Do you really think, in the final analysis, that they'll buy the Nipple House or the Bill Clinton Left?

As a Stager I have to agree with Jill #27 & the majority of the other Stagers - if it could distract potential buyers from seeing a homes true potential it should be removed.  A house should appeal to the widest range of buyers.  Something another Stager said once has always stuck with me: "We're selling houses not Sex, Drugs or Rock & Roll."

Happy Staging!

Kelly

Jeff: I just came back to see what all the other folks had to say about that lovely yard display. 84 comments, wow! I'm surprised that this would be seen in Hancock Park.

We have not encountered this yet in a listing of ours but we have taken tons of buyers out.  I haven't met a "prospective buyer" yet that thought it was in good taste to leave out the pregnancy shots and the wive's lingerie glamour shots.  So I wonder how they would have felt about actual nudity.  Probably easier to take when it is "art" and not the actual seller.

It may be difficult to remove that many statues not only the but very expensive.  Possibly an art lover might be a good buyer . But I wouldn't hold out for a quick sale.

Bill

I have a listing with a full murial of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in the husband's master bathroom shower.  It is embedded in the ceramic tile on the walls.  You can see the listing at www.23158WhitfieldRoad.com

During the Realtor open house, we placed huge leaves over the nude parts of the people in the mural, so they would be hidden, but the artwork would still be displayed (although there were a few Realtors who had to take a quick peek).  I asked the seller to also put the leaves up when the house gets shown.

This is a high-end priced home for our area, so potential buyers are not likely to be a young couple with young children, but I explained to the sellers that not every buyer is going to appreciate the art work, and they need to keep it discrete during showings, and not be affended if the buyers ask them to have it removed as a contingency.  Although, we might get buyers the love it, too.

Interesting discussion Jeff. I guess it all comes down to the eyes of the beholder. I would not have a problem with it.

I took buyers into a house last year that appeared to have extra storage in the eaves off the master bedroom.  Upon opening the door, we found the whole area draped in purple and gold cloth, with lots of pillows strewn on the floor and an assortment of adult "toys" hanging on the wall. 

And then there was the condo with the black and white photograph of the fellows in full leather gear, (well ALMOST full - minus the seats of their pants) prominently displayed in the bathroom.

In either case, I think I would have preferred a simple Botticelli nude.

 Valerie Blake (Prudential Carruthers Realtors)

I've recently shown two different homes where artwork definitely distracted the potential buyers. One had minimal artwork but it was enough to hint at the possible race of the seller. (Which evidently offended the buyer.)  In the other house, there was a great amount of fabulous art - portraits, still lifes, landscapes. Luckily, the buyers were able to get past them and see the house as another buyer might not have. 

I'm happy I don't have to see that LA house every day - eesh... Even without all the Davids, IMO it's gaudy beyond belief. You never know what someone else will be offended by. Better to be safe than sorry. We are selling houses, not accessories.

It depends on who's nude for me to be offended .... oh, back to the question. I always tell sellers to take down anything that could be offensive to anyone. Be popular & politically correct to the masses.  Nudes are the least of our problems I think.  What about 'extra circular devices' laying around the house that can only be used for one thing?  Baskets of 'things' hanging from the master bedroom ceiling?  20 statues of David & his 'package' is nothing!

I say it should go, I actually went into a home that there was a nude painting of his wife in the dining area, it makes it disturbing as I am thinking of someone bringing their children in. Then we get upstairs and there is a bog nude of the guy in the bedroom with his business dangling. Tough to look at the client the same way, then we get into the bathroom where the wife was at the beach with her nipple touching the water.

I hadn't met her yet, but how do you do, I've already seen you naked. Glad their was not pictures of the kids in the bathtub to finish it off. Hey if you like it, go for it, but when selling your home, gotta get rid of it. It distracts people from seeing the home.

My wife and I recently went to Ohio for Thanksgiving, and we stayed with my Uncle for a few days.  They insisted that we stay in their Master Suite because I have a large family and they wanted us all to be comfortable.  So we had 4 small kids on air mattresses and my wife and I had their bed.  However, all over their walls were nude pictures (art work I guess) and a bust of a bust (and a man embracing her) on the bed.  My wife and I laughed about it in private, and thought it was something they should have put away before we got there. 

So, yes, I would definitely be distracted by a home with a lot of nude paintings everywhere.  I understand that I am more conservative than most, but if you are trying to appeal to the widest group of buyers, I think you need to take down the porn...erhhh, I mean art.  Just my 2 cents.