Okay, so this is one of MY pet peeves. Why take a picture of the bathroom in the first place? I mean, seriously, what value does this shot offer? Unless it's some HUGE 5-pc Master bath with Italian tile, why bother? How does it benefit the prospective Buyer? "Oh, look, Martha! This house has a toilet! Quick, call the real-a-tor! Let's make an offer NOW!....

LMAO... at least you can't see any skid marks!!!  Looks like the sink is leaking in the first one.  Why a bowl under the drain.

Too funny Ines. You crack me up. What you are saying is so true though.

I'll have to show my sister this post. She loves everything "retro" and in her old country home she has pink fixtures in her bathroom. I think she would be surprised to see others still have these old fixtures. How about that blue sink?

very funny, and so true.... my eyes went directly to the toilet in every one of those pictures!!

Rich - no....it's MY pet peeve and you can't take it! LOL!  Now...in defense of the bathroom picture....I do think it's necessary, I love to see what finishes are there and if they need to be redone - don't take it out all together!

Bob - LMAO back at ya! I had not even noticed the bowl under the drain, that's pretty funny.

Jennifer - original bathrooms in S. Florida are very common and popular and colored toilets and sinks are 'IN'.....but the inside of the toilet......I can skip that all toghether.

Sean - TOLD YOU!  : )

I can understand showing flooring, tilework, counters and such but why the crapper?;-)

Cheers,

David Swierczynski

Those are just plain dumb pictures.  Unless the bathroom is really big and really nice, there should not be pictures of the bathrooms at all.  They are just to small and usually do not photo well.

Now I have to use the toilet! 

I generally don't provide pictures of the Bathroom in my listings.  Who wants to look at a toilet anyways? 

David - you cracked me up so bad that I couldn't stop laughing!

James - with a wide angle, bathroom pictures can look great.

Chad - LOL!  I've received feedback from customers that tell me that if the bathroom is not shown, they think something major is wrong with it....so we do show bathrooms.

This is so true, I see this all the time. See to us guys, a lid that is up is in its normal position so it doesn't even register in our lil minds that it is something that should be corrected.

Well, you know what they say....If you have seen one toilet, you have seen them all. Taking a photo of a bathroom is a challenge. If is is so small the toilet is the focus, skip it! I have never heard a buyer exclaim the "I just love the toilet - let's buy this house!"

that first picture is great. Not only is the lid up potentially exposing the unthinkable, but the garbage is full, and hey what do I see under the drain pipe. My gosh its a platic bowl, hummmm, maybe to catch the water that is leaking from the drain pipe.

I take pictures of nicely staged bathrooms for the mls....and the ones that are all redone in a 1960 condo....funny,people do like to see a nice bathroom...not the stained toilet bowl or the lifted seats so it leaves one to imagine what is all around the rim...yuk...thanks Ines....I was drinking my morning coffee. :)

Doug - I have to admit I'm impressed at the male responses on this post - I guess we like to give you guys a hard time.

Gary - It can happen though - take a look at THIS.

Doug2 - the "unthinkable" cracked me up!

Sally - sorry for the coffee - : )

Ines,  This is to funny.  You know it must of been a man in some of the photos..(the two top right ones)..:-).. I know I am not a Realtor but I can honeslty see how that can happen.

What do you guys want me to do...I was at this fricken listing for 4 hours trying to get them to price it right and would not leave until I did, I had to get the photos before it was past my bedtime...it is only 85K so if I forgot to close the lid then shoot me ...ok! Actually it is a man and a women...they are elderly..maybe they left it open because they could not see if they might fall in or something...I don't know.

Yeah Rick,so what is up with the bidet hose...do we men have to see that thing and imagine what that is for:)

LMAO At Neal! Ines, AMEN SISTER! There are a lot of those retro bathrooms here too. I don't like them Lid, up or down!

Mat - they were all men....make no mistakes!  ; )

Neal - go retake the picture.....pretty please?  next time you show, take the camera and think of me.

Neal - I said the same thing, he said he didn't want to "touch it".

Lysa - there's nothing pretty about toilets, is there?

LOL this gets funnier the more I look at it...

OK the wall paper is peeling in the top left.. maybe the men weren't as good of aim as they thought they were.

Now...Bottom right does A LOT of reading...so much there is a desk lamp over the toilet!!! 

I got to find some bathroom pictures now.

Pic 4 needs a new roll of toilet paper.  Whats the hose on the bottom pic? 

Bob - that's hilarious!  you can really tell a lot about a person from their toilet, can't you?

Chad - that's the bidet hose that Neal was talking about that Rick didn't want to touch.

Funny blog. For most its common sense.I guess they think its decorative.

Ines...

Thanks for the chuckle. I now must go have a peek at our listings and see how many toilets we have.

Damn! I have never given this a second thought ... Never mind a first thought ... That's a DUH on me :)

TLW...ROAR!

Lloyd - it COULD be decorative....but they are not....unless you do the famous fish-and-flush from MF's post.

TLW - you are welcome....I saw so many toilets that I HAD to do it.  If you do have toilets, just CLOSE THE LID!!! (....and hide the toilet paper if you can)

Ines, no, no, no the lid has to be up, it is the lids natural position, it save time.  You never no when the pain hits and every second counts.  Can you imagine not making it because you had to lift the lid up.  So you want to show you Buyers that the house is always ready to handle all emergencies :)

Bidet hose...enema hose   whatever!!!

OMG George ...just put it down to take the picture and then put it up again.....is that better?

Bob - OH NO!!!!

I too don't understand why agents need to take bathroom shots either. But, I do like George's reasoning. LOL

Ines, nope that might be just the minute that the pain hits and there is that lid in your way.  Just think what the picture would look like then :)

Ines - GREAT post!!  TOILET SEAT LIDS DOWN PLEASE!!!!!

Just as others said, my eyes went directly to those toilets - yuk!  I get to my listings a little early and do a quick walk-around to see what I need to take care of before the buyers get there.  Invariably, there's at least one toilet seat up, and I have to touch it to put it down.  Why oh why do people leave those UP???

Some bathrooms just need pictures taken of them - with the lid DOWN.

Ann
"love-in-a-mist"?  what's up with THAT security wording????  cute though

Ines,

Thanks for making me laugh, I completly agree! Now, I'm just waiting for Chris to show up with a "don't flush this" LOL! :)

Huh, Some great shots.  HOw about the extra rolls of toilet paper and the newspaper in the trash :)

Oh my GOD - I can't stop laughing either. 

ALL of my buyers shop houses based on the size of the toilet. Oh wait....I don't have any buyers. Never mind.

Funny that you post about this! I do the same thing. I make sure the seat is down for the photo. And if I am doing an open house, I make sure they are all down too.

Jay - of course you had to like George's reasoning - Monika has problably given up on you by now.

George - you mean to tell me you would pee infront of whoever is there?  Shutting the door takes more effort that raising the lid.  I hope you don't sing in the potty!  : )

Ann - I had totally forgotten abou that.  I too go through the house and put lids down before showings.  I guess it's a bigger pet peeve than I thought.

Suzanne - Where is Chris Elizabeth Griffith......maybe her Google Alerts will go off.  I heard Chris Griffith is a toilet expert.

Monica - I had not even noticed the toilet paper - at least there's not a 3 inch novel next to it! LOL!

Bryant - the size of WHAT??!!!  I'm glad you don't work with buyers.....silly Tutas!

Debi - must be a "woman thing" - HA!!! WHAT DO THE REST OF THE MEN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT!!

Are these bathroom pics from a room in a hospital or an elderly care facility?  Seriously, just say that the bathrooms need remodeled.  Apparently my market is different than yours.  Good luck with those homes.  Great blog!

Brian - LOL!  My point exactly - leaving the seat up shows like it's a crappy bathroom (no pun intended).  2 3 of those bathrooms are from $1 million + listings (one is a $4 mil listing).....pretty sad no?  Back to either not showing the bathrooms or to photographing these correctly.

Those pictures certainly drove home the point, the toilet should be closed.  Nothing worst than showing a house where the toilet is open and it is dirty.

Ines - I'm with you!  In my house the lid stays down if it's not being used.  Period.  I just have a thing about leaving the lid up.  Guess I was raised to be a snob!  LOL  Oh well....it certainly detracts from the room when that is the focal point.

Ines, now the singing would be embarrassing, and would defiantly chase away Buyers ...... LOL

I was more distracted by the hideous colors and the bidet hose! OMG!

Jennifer - open is one thing, dirty....EEEEwwwww!

Carol - I live with 4 boys (the 4th being my husband and the taker of the toilet pictures) and as much as I fight it....the lids are ALL UP!

George - ya think?  : )

Lisa - the bidet hose wins, hands down!

HEYYY!!!!! In my defense, I was NOT selling a house. :)

Look who made an appearance, all the way from San Francisco!!  selling or not......put the frigging lid down! LOL!

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist! This was the second popular post on AR today about Toilets! Plus, I was having a really CRAPPY day! Maybe we could enter this in the Carnival of Crap?

This is a big pet peeve for me too.... and this shows it so well.... I think I will email this post to all of my sellers - thanks for the laugh and the truthful post

Hey aren't those pictures MLS property?

One of those rooms doesn't even have a tp holder.

What do you suppose all the candles are for in the last one?

And....owners with cats always close the lid.

Nice pink and blue toilets you have in south Florida!

...

Rich - I didn't see the other one can you tell me where!  and YES!!!!  please enter it into the Carnival of CRAP!  Do I get Salmon with that? : )

Thesa - but notice how the men defend the toilet - it's THEIR thing....all except Rich.

Bob - the candles are for "setting the mood" and "relaxation" - get your mind out of that toilet!

Ines,

This was way too funny!  In the defense of the picture takers - at least they went inside and took photos.  We have a lot of folks around here who don't even get out of the car! 

I recently found a couple that made me laugh. One was a picture of their pool... and there were 2 people sunbathing. The other was a picture of the living room with a baby in its diaper laying in the middle of the floor. So my question is... What realtor would actually take this pictures then push them to the MLS?

Al - it's to match with the flamingos! : )

OMG Rich.....was that you who fetured this??  You are too funny!

Thomas Crapper would be proud. The comments about the men leaving the lid up should be clarified. Two of the photos have thd "lid" up and two have the "lid" and the "seat" up.

Keep the cat out of the loo please close the lid as well.

Rita - you got THAT right!!  at least they are pictures!

Adam- the sunbathers might bring traffic in.......you never know!  As for the baby, I don't know what to tell you.  I recently photoshopped a cat out of the way, I guess you can do the same with a baby.

Randy - I love how people are scrutinizing the pictures - I had not even noticed the seats!!!  LOL!

Rick & Ines.. This is a big pet peeve of mine Or should I say a big PP OF MINE?? LOL!

toilets have no place in listing photos lid up or down! Bathrooms if they have some exceptioanal quality can be featured but no toilets plese!

Ginger

I never would have thought about that.  We usually don't use the bathroom pictures at all unless the bathroom is spectacular.  You've seen one plain bathroom, you've seen them all.

You are absolutely right on with this one...

I can't imagine why, maybe it shows there's water in the bowl???louvi

INES! I HATE bathroom pics, but good thing these weren't ARIAL shots.

Thanks for the laugh.  I think pictures of toilet seats up are nasty.  I think pictures of ugly bathrooms are not necessary.  This has always been a pet peeve of mine and I'm sooo glad that you brought this up.  Thanks!

Ginger - LOL!  I love bathroom pictures....but based on the opinions above, I think I'm the minority here.  I wonder what the consumer thinks?

Valarie - that's what most people above seem to think - no bathroom pictures eh?

Armando- water?? I think it's just not paying attention to detail (TG it's only water)

Mariana - maybe we can start a fad and take aerial photos of toilets!  HA!

I cant get the men in my house to close the lid..... you want me to get my clients too.....   fat chance.... but god it is annoying huh.... and so unattractive

Tracey - see I agree with that - no ugly bathrooms.....unless you are showing a fixer upper and want to paint a really grim picture (it could be a strategy).

Desiree - we're not asking clients to close lids, we're asking the photographers.  Are you kidding me?  I have the same problem in my house!

Mariana - is that a butterfly coming out of that aerial photo of the toilet?

Good post!  Never thought about it but it does make sense.  will pay closer attention next time.

I just have to share this pic with you.  Now how would you stage a bathroom with this tiolet set in it???

Never mind the damage to the floor!

oh wait I got a good one for ya..... ever seen what a toilet looks like in china?   brb

Yes I came back because I have another one to enter into the CONTEST!????? Smile

Check this out.  Speaking of taking up space and variety.

This one has no means of closure!

In our MLS it's kind of a joke that you can tell who's listing it is by the photos.  We have one (male) agent that invariably takes a photo with the lid up.  LOL glad I'm not the only one!

Now don't get me wrong... my brother lives in China so I am not trashing them... but.... this is a standard toilet in China.... No lid problem there... cause they don't have them....   I might also mention that they are flush with the ground so you have to "squat" over the whole.... and don't forget to bring paper... because they don't supply it....     Beautiful country but they need to work on this one

I'm a firm believer that there is never a need to show a photo of the bathroom in marketing materials for a listing.  Surely there are other more attractive parts of the home to show off!?!?

Rosemary - I WANT that toilet!!  LOL!

Desiree - huh?

I know this is going a different direction, but look at at this picture of a public bathroom in Switzerland

Gives a new meaning to "transparent real estate"!

You guys are quick!!!

Rosemary - I guess those people have some tissue issues!  : )

Debbie - that's funny (it's like people knowing if I took the pictures or Rick did) LOL!

Desiree - I would love to see a close up of the sign behind the toilet....what is that?  a graph showing foot positioning?

Margaret - but if the average bathroom costs anywhere between $5,000 - $15,000 to redo.....I would like to see what they look like, don't you think?

no its a description how to use the foot pedal on the back to flush that freakin' contraption

I understand your frustration with leaving the toilet lid up, but was this post honestly that important or educating to be featured? Come on.

how true it is, why does no one think about this one simple detail.

Desiree - I am so glad!

Justin - I don't do the featuring and we're just having a little fun, relax.

Joe - I hope you think about it the next time you photograph a bathroom - think of that little annoying voice saying "put it down.....close the lid"

OK, don't even get me started on the Japanese toilet.  Have you ever heard of the Toto?  Not the band, the toilet?  I went to some very fancy shmancy Japanese Restaurant in Beverly Hills, I walked in to the bathroom after a few glasses of Saki.  I open the stall door and the darn toilet seat opens by itself, I sit down and the seat and is heated (I kid you not)!  OK, if that's not enough there is a control panel on the side, with all sorts of buttons.  I start pushing these buttons and water is squirting and it's heating up and all sorts of weird things.  Some women in the next stall is hysterical laughing because her Toto is doing the same thing.  I'm wondering, is it the Saki or what?

This $5,000 toilet is all the rage in Japan.  You can check it out here.  Sorry Ines, since we are dong Potty day, I figured I'd just get this out in the open. 

Neorest 600 Features:
- Sleek, tankless, one-piece toilet with integrated Washlet seat
- New Cyclone Flushing system, no waiting for refill, no refill noise
- Skirted styling with concealed trapway for easy cleaning
- Integrated Washlet features front and rear warm water washing, automatic air dryer and deodorizer
- SanaGloss: Super smooth, ion barrier glazing cleans your toilet bowl with every flush
- Automatic Operation: Lid opens, closes and toilet flushes when sensor is activated
- Three Year Limited Warranty

Sleek, tankless, low profile elongated one piece toilet with integrated Washlet. Low consumption (6 Lpf/1.6 Gpf) Cyclone flushing action. SanaGloss glazing. 12" rough-in.

Designed and perfectly engineered by TOTO,the world's leading architect of technologically-advanced bathroom products, Neorest represents the ultimate in bathroom luxury. Luxury that transforms bathrooms into dens of tranquility. Luxury that will elevate your lifestyle to a higher level of comfort and cleanliness. In essence, Neorest is the next generation of bathroom opulence and hygiene.

Tank cover, fittings, mounting covers and Washlet included.

Suggested List Price:
White - $5,000.00
Basic - $5,750.00

Tracey - please be my guest.  We were introduced to the Toto by none other than Laurie Manny a couple of days ago who happens to have a listing with one of these!

Rick & Ines,

My turn at the toilet talk......I'm surprised no one has commented on the feng shui aspect of keeping the toilet seat down....This is so the "good chi" of the home doesn't escape. 

Harold - AHA!!!  What a great point!  Toilet lids down win....once again!

Tracey - here's the post

Long Beach Home Bathroom Remodels

I have to say this is my biggest pet peeves. Our office is in Japan and we have the same toilets as in Japan. They are called squat toilets BUT they are supposed to be really healthy for you. That is the natural way for a human to go to the toilet  in nature so they keep your body's plumbing in good conditon! Now no toilet paper is a whole other story.

Todd - I've heard that those squat toilets are definitely healthier for you - it's funny how we get used to certain things and cannot accept others.....but that's another post alltogether.

Now if you think of these Japanese bathrooms, they must be easy to photograph....just don't point at the floor and keep the camera at eye level

One does get their monies worth on AR, I have to say that,lol  I had a really wonderful picture that I thought I kept on this computer, it is not there. I will find it and share it . Cleaver and very worthwhile post. It does go to the heart of the matter!

William - I know we've gotten of course here for a bit, but I do think that a lot would argue that the post does not go to the "HEART" of the matter....but somewhere else!  ; )