Listing Photos: Truth in Advertising

Maya Paveza
Published: 10/01/2010
Posted by: Maya Paveza Inc.

Many Real Estate Agents are not good photographers, but learn to be better. Part of our job is to take photos of our listings, and to show those homes in the best possible light. I think that is a great goal, as we are marketing homes – and trying to appeal to the Buyer who is making their choice to view a property solely on the photos we present online. But is it truth in advertising?

Tonight I showed two houses, the Client expressed certain expectations based on the photos he saw online. The photos shown, versus the reality of the properties was remarkable. The first house was a foreclosure, the condition was awful, and had it been properly represented we would never have been there, but the listing agent (or the Sellers) elected to show old photos. The expectations then for the second property were that those photos would also “falsely” represent the house.