Is It Too Much to Ask Agents to Take Clear & Accurate Listing Photos?

It makes me crazy when I see bad photos and photos of messy rooms. No excuse! They deserve to sit on the market.

I was on our local NextDoor.com site the other day and someone posted a house for sale so I thought I’d check it out. Might be a FSBO in need of assistance! As I was going thru the photos I was convinced it was.

Every sin you could commit with a house for sale was in evidence. Not only that but the home wasn’t ready to market to begin with. Crazy paint schemes with horizontal striped walls, kitchen counters covered with stuff, probably all 50 states and a few foreign countries represented on the fridge magnets, dirty carpets etc. etc.

Nope! It was listed by an agent! All the comments were trying to excuse the home’s inadequacies with promises the seller would take care of those items before closing!

For the life of me I don’t understand why Broker owners don’t demand good listing photos from their agents. It is a poor reflection on the brokerage and the agent. I have always thought of an agent can’t provide good listing photos how vested are they in getting your home sold?

Hi Mike, glad I could help and best wishes for huge successes with your new firm!

Agreed. It's hard to believe that sellers don't go view their homes on line and then come down hard on an agent who posts poor photos.

Of course, if it's the sellers who won't clean up for the photos shoot - they deserve what they (don't) get.

Apparently, yes it is!  When I see listings with poor photos or Iphone photos--I think the same thing: lazy cheap agent. I always hire the professional photographer to show off the home.

Good morning Mike McCann - Nebraska Farm Land Broker ,

I see this everywhere on line and can't believe sellers aren't angry with this kind of marketing! I rely on professional photographers and in turn have the listing perfect perfect when they arrive for the photo shoot. It is a team effort!

I hire a professional photographer for every single listing. In this day and age, you can't get away with your own photography. People expect better.

I tell my photographer to shoot all of the carpet beetles clinging to the ceiling in that fixer, shoot every crowded room in that house where the seller picked her bag and walked out. I shoot what I'm working with. Some things can't be altered to fit sensitive eyes.

I just glossed over a well priced listing for this very reason. One single photo with sideways orientation of a cluttered kitchen doesn't shout look at me. I don't have the time now but may give the agent a second try if I see they've added more pics into the mix. Here via Kathy Streib.

I have a foreclosure agent in my office and her listing sell for more than like listings by other agents.  WHY? because the photos.  And oddly enough we recently had a listing agreement addendum from a bank that said a professional photographer must be used.  I applaud them.

It's really for me, not all bad.  I recently sold a listing after 300 some odd days on the market for well below market/ appraised value because the photos were terrible.  My buyer got a great deal because no one else was asking to see it, but I got my buyer to go look.

    Bad photos tell me more about the listing agent, than about the house. 

It is unfortunate for the sellers that poor pictures are posted for them. Thanks for sharing your spot on thoughts, Mike McCann - Nebraska Farm Land Broker. Hopefully some Will learn from them.
Bruce

My very first listing was a small house with tons of stuff piled inside, broken items, cracked floor tiles, dark rooms. The seller wouldn't fix anything, and hey, it was my first listing - I was taking it no matter what condition it was in. 

I told them if they weren't willing to fix anything, I couldn't take any pictures of the inside. They didn't care. That house never sold but boy did I learn alot. And it hasn't gone back on the market in the last five years so I suspect the inside is even worse now.

Oh, and the point is, I agree. The pictures have got to include the inside, and they have to be good.

Hi Mike,
People are so visual and they expect good photos these days!

Mike, to answer your starting question, apparently, many do think it is asking too much to provide good photographs of properties.

Because they do not want to be bothered with those details, it would be interested to track how long their listing are on the market.

Thanks

Great example of what just a little effort can do to a space. The area doesn't even need to be staged if the photos are of high quality. Thank you for sharing.

Mike,

Thanks for writing diverse blogs.

No pictures or poor unseasonal pictures in MLS is one of my pet peeves also.

In my market in Suburban Philadelphia, many agents are going for a professional photographer so house presents well!

Just came across this post By Kathy Streib

http://activerain.com/blogsview/5195604/show-ready-and-camera-ready-can-be-very-different-

Also saw this excellent tips by a photographer in Texas.

http://www.prepmyhomeforsale.com/

Thanks,

Bipin Chandriani

homesbybipin.com