Your Photo Didn't Show The Toilet In The Neighbors Yard

Should our listing photos show the BEST or the WORST characteristics of the property?

I am from the school of thought that our listing photos should be taken in such a way to draw every possible buyer out to look at the property.

This means finding the best angles to take photos from, moving garbage cans, framing the photos so you can't see the toilet sitting in the neighbors front yard... stuff like that.

There is talk in the Spokane Association of Realtors about agents being absolutely bent out of shape when they take a client to a listing and they find aspects of the neighborhood that aren't very appealing.

They are somehow proposing that the SAR take steps to prevent agents from taking what they call "misleading" photos...

Am I missing something here?

I want to ask them "What happened in your childhood that caused you to grow into an adult who thinks that's not the dumbest thing you ever heard?" or take a line out of the movie Tommy Boy "Did you eat a lot of paint chips as a child?"

It is my opinion that the sole function and purpose of the listing photos is to entice buyers to come look at the property in person. And short of taking pictures of a better looking house, we should be doing everything we can do to make the property stand out in the photos.

I do not over process the photos in Photoshop, but I do adjust brightness, contrast, and certain levels due to the limitations of digital sensors in the cameras, but I don't advocate going so far as to change the color of the grass or anything like that.

But that really isn't what the discussions are about. I think the original topic came about because some agents actually "paint" the photos. Changing colors and trying to make their photos look like works of art.

But when I sit in the committee meetings and we discuss the issue, the agents pushing for "reform" are ranting about these instances when they show up and their client sees something in the neighborhood or even about the property itself that wasn't reflected in the photos.

Was there any misdeed done by not photographing the toilet next door? Was the listing agent acting improperly by not photographing the ugliest angle of the subject house?

I don't think so.

Your thoughts?