Ugly House Photos

The Best Worst Home Staging Photo:  ARMOR ALL

Our big winner of the Worst Home Staging Real Estate Photo contest is in a class all on its own.  It dominated every round of voting, eventually winning in the final round with 59% of the votes.

The voters and potential buyers recognize that a cluttered room and a poorly lit room create a negative image of the entire home.  Your eyes can’t focus on the main features of the home.  There is a fireplace hidden in the clutter.  Buyers can’t see the size of the room and can’t imagine their furniture in the room.  Most buyers will create an image in their minds about the seller too.  This is a case where it would look better completely empty.

Thanks, everyone, for voting!

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The Best Worst What Were They Thinking Photo:  FLY STRIP

Our big winner of the Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Real Estate Photo contest truly is a head scratcher.  Why would the seller of this home use a close-up photo of a fly strip to promote the sale of his home?  What message does it send to buyers?

Thanks, everyone, for voting!

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We’re winding down our review of the Worst Real Estate Photos from the past three years.  Tomorrow, the winners of Worst Home Staging Photo and Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Photo will be announced.  There’s still time to vote.

Here are other UglyHousePhotos Awards from various categories.  We hope you’ve enjoyed our walk down ugly memory lane.

WORST OVERALL UGLY ROOM:  Water damaged roof caused insulation to fall down and water to ruin the ugly carpet.  Ugly window curtains.  U-G-L-Y.

WORST BBQ GRILL:  If Fido lives in that little dog house down there, does that make him a hot dog when the BBQ’s going?

WORST TRASH:  This trashy house from Casa Grande, Arizona wins the prize.  See more photos here from our original post in June 2008.

WORST CARTOON ROLE MODEL MURAL:  Why would someone paint two anime party girls on their wall with one of them smoking?  It’s a bad example if they have kids.  It’s too immature if they don’t have kids.  Buyers will not rave about this house.

WORST OTHER ROLE MODEL MURAL:  A drunk chef.  And badly painted too.  Perhaps the “artist” was drunk?

WORST SHOWER TILE:  Ugly tile for sure.

WORST WINDOW:  Lots of paint and/or putty slopped all over the old casement window.  Looks bad.  Will be a real pane to clean up.

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Here are the rest of our UglyHousePhotos award winners from the past three years.

WORST DRAPES:  This photo slipped from our memory for the Worst Window Covering post.  It’s too good/bad not to share again.

WORST PAINT JOB:  What is this supposed to be?  It’s on the ceiling.  Pure madness.

WORST AMERICAN FLAG DISPLAY:  They should be ashamed.

WORST OUTDOOR GRAFFITI:  Wow.  And the neighbors saw nothing?  All twelve times?

WORST INDOOR GRAFFITI:  Tomy’s parents thought the skull graffiti would have a positive effect on his life.  We’re positive he’ll end up in juvenile detention.  Nice way to scare off buyers.

WORST LANDSCAPING MAINTENANCE:  The seller remodeled the house and installed fresh grass sod out back in September 2007 (when it’s still 100 degrees in Phoenix).  He forgot to water the grass.  Duh.

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Best of Worst What Were They Thinking Photos Top 4 – Final Round

The Top 60 Worst “What Were They Thinking?” photos have been narrowed down to the Top 4 thanks to the votes of our readers.

Here are the final four candidates for your vote as Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Photo. You are allowed one vote per day. The winner will be announced Saturday.

ON GOLDEN POND: What is this amateur fish pond doing here so close to the house? Mosquito breeding ground? Rainwater capture system? Reflecting pond? Horse trough?

FLY STRIP: What was the photographer thinking by taking a close-up of a fly strip? It’s sure to bug buyers.

STOMACH ULCER: What were they thinking when they designed this pool cave thing? The idea might have been good, but the execution made it look like stomach ulcers or hemorrhoids.

STAIR DIVING: Who came up with this idea for stairs down to a small basement? Razor sharp edges to cut your shins and feet. No safety rails or protection if when you slip and fall down. If you break your leg, don’t come running to us.

Vote for your favorite Worst What Were They Thinking photo. Vote once per day. Voting ends Saturday morning around 8am Pacific time (11am Eastern).

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The UglyHousePhotos Awards for Worst Water Wall Murals go to:

5th Place:  There is potential here.  The coloring in the waves is good.  The clouds are good.  The trees are good.  It shows action.  But the castle on the left is weird.  The white thing on the right is a crystal palace?  Will guests feel seasick here?  Does it fit in with the room?

4th Place:  The clouds are nice.  The rest is flat.  What’s floating in the water?

3rd Place: If you were near an erupting volcano, would you be smiling?

2nd Place: A pretty waterfall!

1st Place:  They tried.

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Best of Worst Home Staging Photos Top 4 – Final Round

The Top 50 Worst Home Staging Photos have been narrowed down to the Top 4 thanks to the votes of our readers.

Here are the final four candidates for your vote as Worst Home Staging Photo. You are allowed one vote per day. The winner will be announced Saturday.

OPEN KITCHEN: Vote for me! Kitchen cabinet doors are overrated. Do you love the clutter on the counters? I’m doing laundry too.  Will buyers want to buy me? 
Representing Glendale, Arizona.  The original post is here from March 2008.  This home featured another photo in the Worst Home Staging Top 50 and is the 2nd place winner of Worst Fence.

JOHNNY REB: Vote for me! Confederate flag! Marihuana poster! Christmas lights! Ugly chair! And so much more!
Representing Smithville, Texas.  The original post is here from September 2009.  It also features an ugly bathroom and a cluttered dining room.

AN APPLE A DAY: Vote for me! It’s applemania!
Representing Phoenix, Arizona.  The original post has only this photo seen again here from February 2008.

ARMOR ALL: Vote for me! I’m dark and dreary and creepy. I’ve got a suit of armor, a fireplace somewhere, sunflowers, a roll of paper towels, and gobs of junk and clutter.
Representing Phoenix, Arizona.  The original post is here from June 2008.  It features three other cluttered photos of the home, including a pink flamingo.

Vote for your favorite Worst Home Staging photo. Vote once per day. Voting ends Saturday morning around 8am Pacific time (11am Eastern).

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The UglyHousePhotos Awards for Worst Unfinished Painting Projects go to:

5th Place:  Junior wanted a cool mural of Batman’s Metropolis city, but mom couldn’t finish the job.  Now the next mom gets to finish it.

4th Place:  Who knows what they were thinking.  The yellow walls are weird and unfinished.  The ceiling looks bad.  This home was filled with strange paint creations as you’ll see in our 3rd Place winner.

3rd Place:  From the same house as 4th Place.  They couldn’t finish one color before starting another.  Here is the original post with more photos from July 2009.

2nd Place:  So what paint color is it gonna be?  Ugly brown or turquoise?  The rest of the house was a mess seen here.

1st Place:  It’s like they either didn’t care or didn’t try or didn’t have money for more paint and then lived with it.  This photo of the master bedroom was the cleanest part of the house.  This hails from one of the worst, nastiest, filthiest homes I’ve ever seen.  It was featured in a June 2009 post and got the most readers’ comments of any post we’ve done.

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Best of Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Photos Top 8 - Round 3 – Group A

The Top 60 Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Photos have been narrowed down to the Top 8 thanks to the votes of our readers. The Top 8 are split into 2 groups of 4 photos each.

Here are the remaining four candidates of the top 8 for your vote as Worst What Were They Thinking Photo. You are allowed one vote per day. Good luck choosing just one! The top 2 of this group will move on to the final round on Thursday.

TAN WHILE U SLEEP: Uh, why is there a tanning machine above the bed? What if you fall asleep while it’s on? What if you forget to turn over?

D IS FOR DUMB: A doorway in the shape of a letter D. Why? What were they thinking? Trip hazard.

STOMACH ULCER: What were they thinking when they designed this pool cave thing? The idea might have been good, but the execution made it look like stomach ulcers or hemorrhoids.

STAIR DIVING: Who came up with this idea for stairs down to a small basement? Razor sharp edges to cut your shins and feet. No safety rails or protection if when you slip and fall down. If you break your leg, don’t come running to us.

Vote for your favorite Worst What Were They Thinking photo. Vote once per day. Voting ends Thursday morning.

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Best of Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Photos Top 8 - Round 3 – Group B

The Top 60 Worst “What Were They Thinking?” Photos have been narrowed down to the Top 8 thanks to the votes of our readers. The Top 8 are split into 2 groups of 4 photos each.

Here are the remaining four candidates of the top 8 for your vote as Worst What Were They Thinking Photo. You are allowed one vote per day. Good luck choosing just one! The top 2 of this group will move on to the final round on Thursday.

ON GOLDEN POND: What is this amateur fish pond doing here so close to the house? Mosquito breeding ground? Rainwater capture system? Reflecting pond? Horse trough?

EXHAUSTING: Uh, this seems a bit creepy, unsafe, unhealthy, etc. What were they thinking?

HOT STONES: What possessed them to glue stones to the side of the bathtub? Where are the faucets? Why?

FLY STRIP: What was the photographer thinking by taking a close-up of a fly strip? It’s sure to bug buyers.

Vote for your favorite Worst What Were They Thinking photo. Vote once per day. Voting ends Thursday morning.

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