More on do-it-yourself listing photography. It reflects poorly.
It’s widely known that one of my life’s biggest irritants, right after polka music, is bad MLS photos. The ones that make me craziest, because they are so avoidable, are the “agent in the mirror” photos.
So, don’t hire a professional photographer. If your client lets you get away with it, and you are able to sleep nights believing that you have given your best, fine. But, remember the laws of, well, mirrors. We can see you!
Along these lines, I had to laugh at this latest MLS photo I came across. Is it my imagination, or did the agent Photoshop their reflection out of the shot? Because, you see, from this angle science would suggest that you can’t help but see your camera wielding self staring back, unless of course you invested the money you saved on doing it right in an invisibility cloak. While I give bonus points for the post-production effort, I might have considered a do over.
Now, as a matter of full-disclosure, there was a time when I took matters into my own hands. Here is a photo from one of my listings in the earlier days. (Note to past clients: I am SO sorry. You should have issued a warrant for my arrest. But, it’s been ten years, and rest assured I have evolved right along with technology.)
Back in 1999, the whole concept of “staging,” not to mention out-sourcing, was pretty foreign. Today, if your listing photos aren’t seriously, super-awesome, heads should roll. As handy as I am with my auto-focus point and shoot, I couldn’t have done this myself:
And if you are going to shoot a bathroom, have a good reason. It doesn’t even need to be a most fabulously stunning bathroom, but it does need to serve a purpose and tell a story:
But, here’s the thing. It’s not entirely fair to blame the agents. Someone is letting them get away with this stuff. So, to all of the home sellers out there, please demand better.
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