Ugly House Photos

Cluttered Tempe, Arizona home.  And it’s a short sale, of course.

Snap, crackle, pop.

The pantry is open, literally.

At least the pot rack is cleared off.

There’s more stuff.

“If you pay full price, I’ll throw in the 2nd refrigerator.”

The curtains cover up the storage area.  Need used tires?  They’ve got ‘em.

Lots of towels in the bathroom.

Unmade bed.

Convenient bed for all-night gaming sessions.

Cluttered bedroom with coffee maker!

Elvis!  Rolls of toilet paper above the bed for late-night accidents.

Another unmade bed.

Let the grass tickle your feet as you relax on the swing.

Enjoy the sparkling clean swimming pool!

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When buyers search for homes on-line, they screen out those they don’t want to see.  Mostly based on photos.  You only get a few seconds to excite a potential buyer.  This Sun Lakes, Arizona seller was too scared to go out onto the patio?

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Digital cameras are great.  Photos don’t cost a dime.  So it’s okay to take several photos and pick the best one.

Why not take a photo with the flash on?  Or with the lights on?

Are fisheye lens necessary?  They create creepy photos, especially of bathrooms.

Is that a photo of a Ford Focus?  We can’t tell.  It’s out of focus.

Maximum exposure is good for promoting a home.  Over exposure on a photo is not.

Why include this photo…?

…When you could just stick with this one?

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Three photographers want to show off how great their cars’ visibility is.

Looks great from the driver’s window.

Clear view from the front windshield.

Professional real estate photography from the passenger’s window.

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This Mesa, Arizona home is a great learning tool for home staging.  It has many examples of what not to do when selling your home.

Visual Clutter:  Please put away personal items, trinkets, doodads, knick-knacks, etc. before selling.  Anything that would visually distract a buyer.

Pets:  Please remove pets from real estate photos.  Could be a turn-off to buyers.  Please remove visual clutter as well.  A neutral bedspread pattern is another option.  If the budget allows, new window blinds.

Poor Photography:  Flash in a mirror means a new photo should be taken.  The toilet tank lid should be replaced.  Please complete repairs before selling.  Remove clutter as well.

Covered Up Counters:  Please remove all unnecessary items from kitchen counters before selling.  Same goes for above the cabinets.

Refrigerator Magnets:  Please clear all items off of the refrigerator.

Collections:  Consider reducing the number of items in collections.  Buyers might stop, look, and spend too much time on your collections and forget about the house.  Please keep entry ways and foyers cleared of items.  Please put away coffee table clutter such as water bottles and toilet paper.

Driveway:  Please remove vehicles from the driveway before taking real estate photos.

Weeds:  Buyers do not want to see weeds and unmaintained landscaping.

Not Selling a Lifestyle:  Buyers want to envision themselves living in a house.  House photos should have energy, should be sexy, or should feel relaxing or inviting.  Random items on a patio do not have any of these attributes.

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“Hey, wait.  I haven’t finished remodeling the bathroom yet.  I’ve been busy fishing.”

“This bathroom has plenty of elbow room.  Literally”

Hey, Mr. Professional Real Estate Photographer.  We see you.

We see you again.

And yet again in a 3rd photo.  [yes, same house, same photographer, 3 times]

Dressed to impress.

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For some parts of the country, the real estate market is upside down.  (This photo has not been changed or altered.)

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Some home staging can be so exact and minimalistic that it comes across as cold, sterile, and fake.  These sellers decided against that staging technique.

In the office, they went for the rooted-in look.

In this room, they went for a versatile look.  It’s a bedroom, it’s a storage room, it’s a …

In the living room, they went for the night look…

…AND the day look!  It shows off the room’s different personalities.

In the bedroom, they wanted to show how much room there is for hoarding.

Warm kitchen.

Bright kitchen.

Need shelves in your bathroom for toiletries?  Remove the drywall and use the noggings as shelves!!

They wanted to emphasize that the garage can be a multi-purpose room.

You can never have too many hangers.

Dead tree out front?  Perfect for Halloween.

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I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I kneed to buy this house!!

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Vague and out of focus living room photo.  Not helpful to buyers.

This is a good one.  The seller took a picture of his/her computer monitor with the house’s Google Street View photo.  Too difficult to do a screen capture or walk outside?

This seller tried to promote that his/her home is close to a school.  But taking a photo of an elementary school while inside your car is kinda Chester the Molester like.  Now it looks totally creepy.

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