Half those pictures came from a foreclosure currently for sale! I guess we know why so many foreclosures don’t show the inside; people simply trash the places. There is no excuse for bad realtor photos. I especially like the ones where there is trash all over the place and it is obvious that noone has cleaned up anything. Sometimes I don’t get it.

I wish I had taken a picture of the home I previewed yesterday (asking priced at over $1 mil.) where I observed a Koi Pond in the backyard. Then I noticed that the four healthy-looking giant Koi fish were not moving. It took me a minute to determine that they were fake Koi (or dead Koi, I’m not sure)!! That was a first…

Nice job Kris and thanks for covering my tour. It’s just amazing to me what garbage agents will post, and even more, what garbage sellers seem to be prepared to accept.

Norm, Your video is priceless. The voice over was hysterically funny. Agreed that there is a lot of garbage out there. I often wonder if the sellers ever know what’s happening “on their behalf”.

Thanks again Kris. I always expect my seller to be the first one to look for their house online and I try to put something together that they’ll feel good about. I often have to take a lots of photos to get a handful of decent ones , but hey, digital is cheap. If a person can just learn to recognize a really bad image half the battle is won.

I have tried for years to get our MLS to require at least one photo to be submitted with each listing.
The response from our MLS?
“We can’t require every agent to own a camera” and “what if the property doesn’t photograph well?”.
And we think we are professionals?

It is amazing how many agents don’t even take multiple photos of their listings. The added time to take great photos is almost always paid back in the additional showings that you receive. Now with video being available through many sites such as WellcomeMat.com or YouTube.com it creates an even bigger divide between those who use technology and those who don’t.

John: You are preaching to the choir. Why anyone would go out and take one or two pictures when the MLS (in SD) allows 12 is beyond me. They’re already out there, so why not take the max pics? Even if the home really sucks, you should be able to get more than one or two pics, plus you can find a local park, school, Baskin Robbins, etc. People want to see what the neighborhood is about too.

John, I haven’t quite embraced the YouTube video concept as a listing selling tool, but that and the video podcast are in my “list of things to evaluate” this year. Not enough hours in the day, sometimes. The one thing I know for sure is that any agent who isn’t at least aware of the technological opportunities and implications of today’s on-line world is going to get buried in a nano-second.