Are Real Estate Photos Misleading?

Are real estate photos misleading? Should you rely on them? When you begin your search for a new Sacramento home, you’ll no doubt browse through all the Sacramento listings on real estate websites. You’ll pay attention to the real estate photos. Perhaps you will even imagine yourself in those rooms or on that property. Then, if you’re like most home buyers, you’ll choose the homes you wish to see based on those real estate photos. You’ll also dismiss homes based on their photos.

If you’ve already begun looking, you know that while pictures say a thousand words. Sometimes those words aren’t truthful. A skilled photographer can make rooms appear larger than they are. He or she can also be selective in what goes into each frame – in order to omit faults that might make you choose not to visit the house.

It doesn’t make sense to deceive you and other home seekers in this manner, because you’ll see the truth once you visit. Meanwhile, you may have wasted your time and perhaps gotten excited over the idea of a house that doesn’t really exist. But that’s not the entire problem . . ..

Real estate photos can also cause you to overlook perfectly good houses. It is an unfortunate truth that not all agents are good photographers – and not all agents are willing to hire a professional real estate photographer. Thus, some real estate photos can lead you to believe that a house isn’t worth seeing when it could be exactly the one you want.

Some agents post dark photos, so you can’t see the house or the rooms. Some post fuzzy photos. Several take pictures of all the wrong things – like a toilet or an unmade bed. Others fail to educate their sellers on the value of de-cluttering. What you often see in real estate photos is all the homeowner’s “stuff,” instead of the house. That doesn’t make it a bad house. It just makes it a poor presentation.

Go ahead and look at the pictures on real estate websites and give your agent a list of homes that interest you. Then rely on that agent to tell you if the houses really are worth taking time to see. At the same time, give your agent a list of “must have” and “would like to have” features. She can search both MLS and her own “knowledge banks” to find houses that will please you. A buyer’s agent, working to help you accomplish your goals, is the most valuable tool you can have when searching for a home.

The solution is easy: Work with an experienced Sacramento REALTOR®. Your home will be filmed by our highly skilled professional photographers. Call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold, at 916-233-6759.

— JaCi Wallace