It’s time for another installment of Real Actual Listing Photos. Once a month (or so) I round up some of the most bizarre listing photos from around the Seattle area and post them here, with brief excerpts from the real actual listing description, and probably a bit of snarky commentary.
The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.
No particular theme this month, just a series of odd photos that readers and I have spotted on Seattle-area listings north of downtown.
Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.
“Watch Eagles, Blue Herons, Trumpeter Swans and Snow Geese winter in the Skagit River Delta.”
What can I even add to this kind of… majesty? Spotted by wreckingbull. This is definitely a contender for Listing Photo of the Year.
“Walk to Grasslawn Park, Bridle Trails shopping, and Bellevue Golf course.”
Nice… um… poolawn. Spotted by Danny.
“Straight out of a Thomas Kinkade painting this classic English Tudor will welcome you home for years to come.”
I’ve cropped this one rather than resizing it, so you can see the bizarre portion of the photo at full-size. I am seriously perplexed about what exactly I’m looking at here. Is it a full-sized clear glass sculpture of a man? Some sort of photo processing artifact? The ghost of Thomas Kinkade come to haunt the listing agent for shamelessly exploiting his name? Whatever it is, it’s weird and unsettling.
“Tired of looking for parking after a long day of work? Why not own your own spot and quit circling the block!”
Yup, it’s a parking spot. On the MLS. With 12 photos.
“…opportunity awaits in this 4,400 sq ft lot zoned L3. Future Townhome site feasibility available for review.”
Can you feel the opportunity? I can feel it.
“Sale include plan designed by architect James Rudolph.”
Shown with the original choice of cropping. Perhaps they intentionally made it small because they were afraid someone might steal James Rudolph’s work?
Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme.
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Some think the value of a pool is the negative of the cost to fill it in, so once filled in the buyer doesn’t have to price the cost of fill dirt, top soil and sod. ;-)
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” Is it a full-sized clear glass sculpture of a man?”
Shadow behind the left foot, and thicker shading on the fingers of the right arm… Yes, I believe that is exactly what it is.
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@Kary – but as with all seller-performed repairs, if the seller does such a crummy job of it that it has to be re-done, that just further adds to the cost.
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It’s Kevin Bacon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuzgdLHPehM&feature=related
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Rumor has it these photos were taken by drones. Hmmm. The invisible man was picked up by quirks in the holographic programming. Be on your best behavior.
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At first I thought the man-in-the-corner was a multi-exposure photo to make it look like a ghost was standing there… which is probably more interesting than having a glass sculpture there.
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Although the pool may be gone, the shed containing the gas-fired heater for it is still there!
For added effect, they should have put a colorful air mattress with some sunglasses laying on it in the middle of the ‘pool.’
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Yup, it’s a parking spot. On the MLS. With 12 photos.
As a guy into real estate, Tim, I find it egregious that you would bad-mouth a nice piece of property, such as this wonderful cozy parking space, especially one located in the great Pacific Northwest, what with the eagles, brown bears and beautiful Douglas firs. Remember the first thing you learned in the on-line real estate school: location, location, location. This beauty is almost a corner space in the parking structure on a great level with great schools. It’s, as some would call it, a GEM!
I have half a mind to pick up the phone right now and call the owner of this great parking space. Sure, it’s got a column that will eventually take off the left rear fender and it’s got it’s share of oil and transmission fluid, but, come one, what space doesn’t? Great schools, remember? I’ll put 3% down on an FHA with the minimum PMI with a non-PMS agent ASAP, A few bags of kitty litter and can of white spray paint later, and I’ll flip it.
Speaking of flipping: Ron White “Flip Mexico” video – very very funny.
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LOL… when I read your comment: “Nice… um… poolawn.” and looked at the picture… that looked like it had a little dog house in the corner of the yard, I thought that comment meant something other than the combining of “pool” and “lawn” until I read the reader comments down here that clarified it for me. If I were the owner of a small dog, though, it would be more convenient on those rainy evenings that going out for a walk in the neighborhood.
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this is by far my favorite of this series… there literally were 12 photos of the parking lot and one of the street intersection… awesome.
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RE: gerg @ 10 – Agreed. We’ve all seen 300k (and higher) listings w/ *no* photos! And honestly the public remarks are quite creative. I’ve criticized so many listings before that I feel obligated to credit Chris Cooley for an excellent listing.
I could actually see dropping 9k for a guaranteed parking spot. But I wonder how much of the condo assoc liability you take on w/ that project – if there’s some godawful deferred maintenance issue, how much would you have to share in the pain?
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RE: Mel Torme @ 8 –
and…it’s North of I-90!
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RE: ChrisM @ 11 – I paid either 5k or 10k in 1978 for an indoor parking spot on First Hill. It was money well spent, in part because it made selling the associated condo unit much easier.
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There is this guy who has been e-mailing me who says he can touch up listing photos to get rid of crap that may be in the house.
So, he is saying he will photo shop listing photos to have the place look clean, clear, and bright.
I’ve told him I think that’s a bad idea, but when I saw the invisible man photo, I was thinking, that might be the guy.
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By David Losh @ 14:
It is a bad idea because buyers will see the place and be disappointed, which is not a good emotion for them to have from the seller’s point of view.
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I don’t think you can buy that garage if you don’t own a unit in the building. That’s usually a rule of the HOA.
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About the ghost in photo 3: Legend has it, he killed several people with a barbell, buried them in the pool in photo 2, and then took his own life. To this day, he guards the doorway just in case the pool ghosts try to sneak back in to his house and raid the fridge.
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Just to be fair another photo out of that listing shows the same “ghost” in a different position.
http://media.cdn-redfin.com/photo/1/bigphoto/406/396406_5_0.jpg
I also find it interesting the you would place a large freestanding glass statue behind the opening side of a door that opens inward…
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[...] BALD EAGLE! And unlike the home in September’s installment, this eagle appears to be legit, not Photoshop (though the view at right is cropped from the [...]
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