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, other than the usual theme of bizarre and disturbing listing photos.
Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.
“There are 5 technical bedrooms, including a main floor master with attached bath and jetted tub, a loft and 2 bonus rooms.”
I wonder if this is one of the “technical bedrooms” (that thing on the right could be a mattress I guess?) or one of the “bonus” rooms?
“The floorplan flows seamlessly including living room, separate eating area, new kitchen w/ granite counters & stainless appliances, tiled bath accentuated with timeless design & hardwood floors throughout entire home.”
Bonus! Shape-shifting front door that doubles in width once you step inside the house!
Double Bonus! Omnipresent Czech Sky!
“KITCHEN HAS WHITE PAINTED FINISH, BLACK GRANITE COUNTERTOPS, AND CALCUTTA GOLD MARBLE BACKSPLASH.”
Speaking of shape-shifting, I’m really not sure what the heck is going on in the KITCHEN of this home, but I think I’d be a little afraid of finding out.
“Selling agent & buyer to verify all information to buyer’s satisfaction.”
Note that this is the sole photo on the listing, and yes, it is shown full size.
“Attractive two bedroom home just 1/2 mile from Green Lake and convenient to bus lines and commuting routes.”
…and just 200 feet from 85th and Hwy 99. I love the hastily “erased” real estate sign. It appears to be a Windermere sign, and the home has been listed with the same Windermere agent since originally hitting the market over 480 days ago. I assume there must be some MLS rule against displaying your brokerage name in your photos, and this was an easier solution for the agent than choosing another angle for the photo (or even bothering to shoot any new photos since June of 2009).
“The spacious living room has hardwood floors and is anchored by a wood burning fireplace!”
One detail the agent apparently failed to notice about the living room is the mirrored shelf next to the fireplace.
Let me know if you have an idea for the next “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme.
I once was an expert witness on a house where the kitchen was laid out at rather strange angles, sort of like that third one, but worse and it was that way in real life, not the result of bad photo pasting. There were three different types of cabinets, some of the doors were just cut plywood, also not cut at 90 degree angles. The appraiser I was up against didn’t made a deduction for the condition of the kitchen.
At least the photographer in that last picture was fully clothed.
Image 4 sure looks like someone took several photos of kitchens in IKEA and then did a very poor job compiling disparate images with different perspectives into one vomit cluster. Look at the shadow on the floor starting at the left of the image and see how the cast shadow continues across the floor (inconsistently) under the refrigerator. The IKEA giveaway is the hanging pendant light above the refrigerator and the blacked out open warehouse ceiling.
You Need to Call Ghost Hunters
You definitely found a ghost in the mirror….LOL
Fraud is the only term for it. The MLS strictly forbids doctored photos in listings.
The first photo and the last photo are at least representative of the product.
I am quite surprised that you didn’t post the sex dungeon photo from the forums. That photo both completely disturbed me and made me howl with laughter for 5 minutes.
Awesome.
Agents care so little, or are so intent on being deceptive they may as well use photos from Ikea.com to show the house.
It’s one thing to set a shot and take a professional picture. Wide angle lenses, fake backgrounds, and enhanced dimensions should fall under false advertising and result in a loss of RE license.
RE: LA Relo @ 7 – I think the Ikea comment is more of a theory. To me it looks like someone who doesn’t own a wide angle lens piecing things together. You’d have to go into the house to be sure either way.
The problem is, even with a wide angle lens, there will be some distortion, as the wide door picture demonstrates.
RE: D. in Ballard @ 6 – That was good. I wonder how many calls the occupant gets indicating that the visit to view the house will last over an hour. ;-)
RE: LA Relo @ 7 – Agreed. But wide angle lenses are perfectly acceptable and would be preferred for interior photos. Wide angle lenses would always be in the quiver of a professional photographer.
By D. in Ballard @ 6:
My personal favorite on the dungeon listing was how they took a picture from inside of the cage so you could get a better perspective of the room.
That whole Detrimental Listing Photo thread had me in tears.
OMG new reader here, can someone post that sex dungeon photo – cant find it!
RE: Beekeeper @ 12 – That would be this listing, which was posted in the forums here.
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Renton/19827-119th-Ave-SE-98058/home/225715
I suggest “Does the Art Come with the House” edition. My favorite is the top-of-the-stairs pic of Gwenivere knighting Sir Lancelot.
RE: hoary @ 14 – You’ve got a photographer-in-the-mirror photo, there, too, alongside what appears to be a human head balanced on the back of a chair:
http://media.cdn-redfin.com/photo/1/bigphoto/624/82624_4_0.jpg
this is the good side too I bet… but never mind it is the inside that needs work.
http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=300787852
How can you not click on the sex dungeon link?
This belongs in The Onion.
Oh no, daughter coming into my office, must click on something else now.
RE: David S @ 10 – No doubt, but they’re misleading. They always make a room or a yard look much bigger than it really is. Why do that only to have a potential buyer show up and be disappointed?
I’ve always wondered why so few listings have floor plans. Usually it’s only new ones.
By LA Relo @ 18:
Most people don’t have blue prints for their homes, which wouldn’t be that good in any event, but they also don’t have the simple drawings used for new construction.
I recently had a listing where the people had very detailed records of the house being built, and dozens of pictures even, but they didn’t have anything like what you suggest.