My latest couple of projects have involved a pretty intense look at the state of real estate listing photos. I have been working on some hyperlocal stuff in my brokerage where the listing photos have been a PRIMARY component of the site. I have also been working on a fun site with some friends that celebrates the best and worst of real estate listing photos. (Note to Athol Kay – not sure where your blog went, buddy…but I enjoyed it so much back in the day that I had to get some friends together and do something similar)
Ahh…back to TMI. Have you ever noticed that REALTORS often find that the most difficult picture to take is the bathroom? If you have a listing with a KILLER commode (and a professional photographer) like Christi Dennison (a REALTOR in our brokerage..) you can get results like this:
But for most of us, a) the “John” is nowhere NEAR that nice and b) the camera we use merely captures the top of the toilet tank and a sliver of the side of the shower. 😉
So WHY take the photo? Our listing photos are what attracts folks to see our listings, not unlike Match.com, Chemistry.com and eHarmony.com. Would you get a picture of your LEAST appealling ass-et and put it up there? Did not think so. 😉
I am seeing so many folks take listing photos like they are more of a disclosure of property condition than the “come hither” invite that they should be.
The bottom line?
So I have come to the conclusion that it takes a REALLY GOOD bathroom shot to beat NO bathroom shot at all. It is simply TMI.
Thoughts?
Mark Madsen says:
Funny, Eric. I need to put a slideshow on my site for the best and worst local listing photos.
This is my favorite from your blog:
http://trulyawfullistingphotos.com/speaking-of-ways-to-not-sell-a-living-room/
August 13, 2010 — 5:44 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Hey Mark-
Yeah…that actually came from an old RealEstateWebmasters forum post and when Jim saw that I was doing the blog, he sent it to me and reminded me that he was the undisputed champion in that regard…
I AM looking forward to seeing if someone can top that one! (grin)
Eric
August 13, 2010 — 6:11 am
Jeff Brown says:
IMHO, Athol Kay was a huge loss to the RE blog family. The guy was my daily dose of wicked smart, and often deadly humor.
August 13, 2010 — 6:59 am
Greg Swann says:
I can give you TLI, if you like. Here’s a photo I pulled from ARMLS the other day:
How, you may wonder, could that photo be that bad? Here’s the original that was uploaded to the MLS system:
We can only be grateful that the state imposes licensing requirements on real estate salespeople. Otherwise we might be delivering innocent consumers to incompetent boobs…
August 13, 2010 — 7:02 am
Mark Madsen says:
“We can only be grateful that the state imposes licensing requirements on real estate salespeople. Otherwise we might be delivering innocent consumers to incompetent boobs…”
Today is my last day of real estate school, so I’ve spent the past two weeks getting familiar with the competence of my potential competition / colleagues.
I hope the exam is at least moderately difficult, otherwise the whole “licensing” thing isn’t going to protect the people in my city.
August 13, 2010 — 7:16 am
Greg Swann says:
> I hope the exam is at least moderately difficult
That’s a hope that will endure.
The big shock for me was how easy the broker’s test was. Precisely one question different from the salesperson’s test — a question on brokerage profitability, not consumer protection.
August 13, 2010 — 7:20 am
Eric Blackwell says:
@Jeff Brown – Amen to that. I get addicted to very few blogs…but his was one.
@Greg – Nice. Like you, I sleep well knowing that licensing requirements protect consumers. 😉 **cough**
On the other side of the coin, we will be using trulyawesomelistingphotos.com to showcase the folks who get it. (some of Greg’s stuff is already on its way up to that blog soon. Excellent photos.)
So if you want to nominate someone or even send me one of yours that you are proud of…send it my way. The best way to eradicate mediocrity is to reward excellence. I am happy to promote, link to, befriend and run with those who truly get it.
That’s the way that BHB rolls. As do I.
August 13, 2010 — 7:22 am
Jeff Brown says:
Greg & Mark — How easy is the licensing test? My son studied at home for two weeks, takin’ endless tests. When he took the real test, he was the first one done. I forget the time it took him, but it was clearly ridiculous. But the punch line was when he stood up, picked up the test, and walked over to the proctors. They kept asking him questions that made no sense. After a few of these, they finally figured out he wasn’t going to the men’s room, he was finished. 🙂
My wife did the same thing, using the same service, with the same results, and she’s terminally dyslexic.
That’s how easy it is.
August 13, 2010 — 7:29 am
Scott Gaertner says:
Good topic Eric. I’m glad you brought it up as I have really strugggled with how to show shit rooms, or “unphotographable rooms” over the years. I’m still not sure of the best way, but for now my formula is – I don’t.
Not in the main photos anyway. I just put the most compelling photos in the main photos, and try to drive the viewer to a virtual tour. In a good virtual tour the bad photos can be concealed and enhanced by the drama of the music and other photos. This is one of my less updated listings but I think it comes of better than the normal photos: http://www.tourfactory.com/605479
August 13, 2010 — 7:38 am
Greg Swann says:
> I have really strugggled with how to show shit rooms, or “unphotographable rooms” over the years. I’m still not sure of the best way, but for now my formula is – I don’t.
I missed this this morning — and I wish I had time to play. We have taken some amazing bathroom photos over the years, and it would be fun to put together a slide show of what can be done. Alas, that project will have to wait until I can con an unpaid intern into shopping all our sites.
Meanwhile, my take is that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses. We’re always looking for ways to show them off.
August 13, 2010 — 7:11 pm
Benjamin Ficker says:
When I took the Arizona test, I finished both the state and national in about 40 minutes (most of that was waiting for the computer to load the next question). They give you three hours. When I walked up to say I was done, I started getting sympathy from the guy administrating the test, until he saw that I passed them both with flying colors.
August 13, 2010 — 8:52 am
Sean Purcell says:
Looking forward to that website Eric. BTW, what’s your take on video vs photos as the PRIMARY component of the site? Have you been able to mess with that on any of the hyperlocals yet?
August 13, 2010 — 8:56 am
Sean Purcell says:
With all this talk about the RE license test, you’d think everyone has forgotten the most important act of protection in the past year: NMLS. That’s right, never again will we be subjected to an economic meltdown caused by inept loan officers. There is now… a test.
August 13, 2010 — 9:01 am
Al Lorenz says:
I’ve thought about a site like that. The state of the market here is truly awful photos are not unusual if not typical. My issue is we are in a small market and I don’t think it would be productive to highlight so specifically an aspect of them not doing their job well. Instead, I try to highlight great photos. I will do a posting and link to your site though! That way, folks get an understanding of the good, the bad and the ugly. Thanks!
August 13, 2010 — 9:38 am
John says:
Eric,
I had to laugh when I read this because I can’t tell you how many photos I took of bathrooms and forgot to get out of way of the reflection from mirrors….
August 13, 2010 — 1:32 pm
Alex Cortez says:
Um, I can’t say that I have any sympathy at all for those who decide not only to take bad pictures, but more importantly CHOOSE to post them. Fortunately, in my market the share of questionable characters who post bad pictures is nowhere near as bad as other areas that I peruse. Great topic, Eric.
August 13, 2010 — 5:05 pm
Athol Kay says:
Speak my name and you summon me…
I went back to nursing and have made decent money that way. Medical benefits yada yada yada.
The current blog project is about having a happy marriage… (by which I mean doing it like rabbits).
As an aside, bad real estate photos are easily found. Just search the expireds.
August 13, 2010 — 5:52 pm
Claire says:
Of course another option that the photographer has is to take photos from several angles in the bathroom use one when taking out the reflection of themselves from the bathroom mirror in their post production.
August 13, 2010 — 6:51 pm
jay seville says:
I think most listing agents suck in general doing a terrible disservice to their clients with their wannabe attempt at taking appealing photos of the home.
I mandate all my agents use the highest quality vendors for their photos and virtual tours as our clients deserve it and nothing less:
http://pix1.homevisit.com/mlsTour/?id=45624&skin=&ver=
August 13, 2010 — 7:15 pm
Rodil San Mateo says:
Since Sean raised the video vs photos question, I’d like to ask for feedback on a listing video I produced for a Realtor with whom I co-market:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5kMDffEVYo
Note that I’m a mortgage banker and just play an amateur videographer on TV 🙂
Curious as to what you think works well and what needs improvement. SD vs HD quality, length, selection of shots, etc. I purposely left out video of the bathrooms and non-master bedrooms because I thought they didn’t add as much value as the shots that are already included.
August 13, 2010 — 11:12 pm
Eric Blackwell says:
@Athol – Just summoning you back to say “thanks”. I really did appreciate your blog and your effort. Congratulations on your new life.
@Sean – Email coming later today. As for video vs photos…another post coming up on the subject shortly with my truth on the subject.
@Greg – I agree with you that if you can make them shine, bathroom photos are great. If you cannot, leaving them out is preferable to leaving an ugly one in. Hope that point was not lost in me having fun with this.
I REALLY think the comparison to a dating site like Match.com or eHarmony is pretty valid.
Many of the great photo takers that we will celebrate on trulyawesomelistingphotos will be those who can shoot the lower end homes and vacant homes in an appealing and informative way. Those are the folks with huge talent and dedication to making sure that their listings get shown the most.
August 14, 2010 — 2:50 am
Teri Lussier says:
> On the other side of the coin, we will be using trulyawesomelistingphotos.com to showcase the folks who get it.
Eric, I love this idea. I think it’s not such a good thing to highlight the worse about ourselves. Showcasing the best among us is inspirational to all, and educational to consumers.
>having a happy marriage… (by which I mean doing it like rabbits).
I always thought doing it like humans in love was preferable, but hey, whatever splits your banana… 🙂
August 16, 2010 — 3:21 pm
Eric Blackwell says:
@Teri – yep. There are some amazingly good REALTORS at showcasing a home in today’s online market. They do it VERY well, even when the listing is not the Taj Mahal.. and they need some well deserved recognition…
I like to think of the two as carrot and stick for the industry to help get some constant and never-ending improvement. So much more effective than a MPDS designation from NAR. On second thought, just the simple act of excellence should drive this…
Before y’all go and look that one up (grin) it is of my own making. It stands for My Photos Don’t Suck. 😉
Won’t be long before someone will come up with one of those….meh…
August 16, 2010 — 3:35 pm