Last Saturday I was across the hall in another agents office chatting about Seattle real estate (what else!) and I noticed on the screen of her laptop an article on MSN. The article was on the ethics of using PhotoShop to "touch up" online photos used in marketing. This was a very interesting and engaging article, and I really enjoyed it. Ethically challenged people sure make life more interesting and complicated!
Well...of course then I wanted to air (okay...vent!) my opinion on BAD real estate photos. Most Seattle real estate agents do a credible to fabulous job with photos of the homes they list and market...then there are the ones who's cameras should be taken away! It riles me up so much when I see a listing with poor photos, all I can think is poor, poor sellers.
You have probably seen them online: crooked photos (yikes an inebriated photographer!) dark photos (scary, who would want to live there?) photos of unlovely rooms (no photos of the "cooks kitchen" but one of the semi-finished basement?) poor choices of angle (nice ceiling, but what does the room look like?) and the real money loser, amazing Sound (Lake, City etc.) view and no photos or good ones to draw a buyers interest!
A home a friend recently was leasing is on the market now. It's on Lake Washington, has wonderful views of the lake from almost all the rooms, so you can imagine the list price. Well, at that price I would have thought the listing...MARKETING...agent would have engaged the services of a professional photographer to capture the value of this house, but instead, the photos online barely show the views. I wish I could share some examples with you, but unfortunately I would have to have the permission of the listing agent, and it's not likely they'd give it for a post like this.
So next time you are on line looking at houses and condos, look at the photos, do they show an appealing home? Does the written marketing celebrate a home's virtues but the photos tell a different story?
So a Tip for Sellers, make sure you ask to see examples of your listing agent's Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) listing photos, and ask to see the listings for similar types of homes and compare them. Make sure your agent will truly market your home properly so that it appeals to as many potential buyers as possible. You don't want to miss the opportunity to capture the eye of the buyer who is willing to pay the highest price for your home by having less than great photos posted on line.
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