Is Taking a Photo from Your Car An Ethics Violation?

Katerina, I appreciate the vote of confidence. Just like all agents aren't created equal, neither are sellers. As we often see, some sellers are more educated about the process than others. As a result of the posts I've read regarding this subject over the last few days, I will make it clear to both my buyers and sellers that we provide a superior level of service that is reflected in everything we do. If I don't tell them, who will?

Katerina, your point is well made. Photography is most definitely subjective, and surprisingly, many sellers have no idea how their property is being marketed. However, it is a fact that poor photography often eliminates a property before anyone ever walks in the door - unless market conditons dictate that it will sell even if no photo is ever posted (which in the St. Augustine Board is a big no-no, as I just learned when posting a listing there also and we couldn't figure out how to load the photos, so let it go over the weekend). Thanks for always giving the 'other side of the story' :)

Katerina Gasset: I think you misunderstood what I said. "I think listing agents that don't invest in professional photography equipment (with a nice wide angle lens) or a professional photographer are doing themselves and their clients a grave disservice".... I have no problem with agents that do as you do and " spend hours ( and we have) to edit photos to get the right lighting, the right angles, the right coloring, the right saturation, etc," 

I have a hard time with agents who put bad pictures up on the MLS...the agents that invest little or no time to take good pictures, edit them, etc.

I was agreeing with you :)

Seems like there is always somebody wanting to scream "This is a violation!" or "This is against the law" when they don't know what they're talking about. 

Those people need to go get a new hobby. 

Good morning Nestor and Katerina,

A picture is worth a thousand words and should represent what the caption will be.

As long as you are not plagiarizing where would ethics become involved.

Make yourselves a great day.

Good morning, Katerina!

The issue about the photos and information about the property is simply between the Seller and the Agent.  The Seller is the one that determines whether or not the photos should be used on the listing.  What I do is enter the photos and info into my website, then send a copy of it to the Seller for their approval.  Once approved, I then enter it into the multiple sites and MLS's.

Brigita

Poor marketing and bad photographs are not usually ethical violations. Smart home sellers will take a close look at the previous marketing efforts and photographs used by prospective listing agents. 

Every now and then, there are sellers that do not want to show interior photographs.

Regardless of the number of photographs, there is no good excuse for poor photographs.

When a staging client asks my opinion on choosing an agent, one of the things I recommend is that they look at an agent's listing photos when they are considering hiring them.  I believe the quality of the photos says a lot.  

Once they choose an agent, sellers should review the photos of their home intended for mls and speak up if they don't like what they see.

I don't understand the continued listing of poor quality mls photos.  I think some of it IS laziness,  and/or a lack of marketing skill, and just plain ignorance.  I applaud your stand that there could be reasons for bad pictures and we shouldn't be so quick to judge an agent for posting them.  However, their name is attached to those bad pictures and if they consistently post bad pictures it will reflect poorly on their name....on their branding.

Nestor & Katerina Gasset I have not seen the post to which you are referring. But I agree with you that poor photos is bad marketing not an ethics violation.

I agree no breach of the code of ethics, but do have to disagree that the photo quality is between seller and listing agent. The MLS is for agents. Agents to market to other agents. A source for comps when doing a CMA, and a source of comps for appraisers. When agent A takes a couple crappy photos of a very nice house that can affect the appraisal for a neighbor. Our MLS has very few requirements- at least one photo from the road side. It's not much but better than no photo, and a good starting place. We have enough appraisal problems in our area - bad photos and little or no remarks don't help the situation.

Hi,

How do you get a link  back to us in the comments? I should do that :)

Appraisers can't tell anything about the inside of the house if the photos are lacking and little to no remarks. 20% of our lakefront listings don't even fill in the water name search field. A handful of lakefront listings don't even have them listed as a lakefront.... Others you can tell have a walk out basement from the 1 photo, but not in the search criteria. 

An appraiser can't really go and preview the inside of homes that have already closed. The MLS was originally for brokers, agents and appraisers. We aggregate our listings to other vendors from the MLS so now advertising can be included in its purpose. Personally, I wish our MLS would demand a minimum of photos and remarks.