I’m assuming that the little house on the right here is the subject…but who knows?

A common denominator of Bad MLS photos…clutter!

Honestly…this really is in a lising right now! Who knows why?

OK, I’m sold…where’s the contract? Brilliant idea to use this pic, don’t you think?

Love that hammock…I guess this qualifies it as a bedroom?

Speaking of bedrooms, is this one? How do you walk around in there? Great idea having the TV on too.

Is that a duck on the table? This is all really sort of depressing…but all of these shots are currently being used to market homes in the Bay Area today. It’s amazing…and hilarious!

This is actually the lead shot on this listing! I guess it was too much work to pick up the debris?

No doubt about it…this wall would sure make me want to buy this place!

I’m not even sure I can tell what this is? Is it a covered patio?

Nice lighting!

I love this one! Looks like a tire track on the lawn there…maybe it’s advertising additional parking?

It actually could be a decent kitchen. I particularly like the trash can in front of the sink.

So, how do you get up to go to the bathroom at night without tripping over something?

The thing is, these are ALL actual photos from active listings in the MLS right now. Wouldn’t you think it might be sort of an advantage to make the place look GOOD to sell it? What do I know?

How about this one…are the drapes the selling point?

Maybe some light would help here?

Why are pics taken with the TV on so common in a bad pic?

Perhaps if we removed some stuff…we could actually SEE the kitchen?

Maybe it’s the faux Persian rug that’s supposed to impress us?

Nice sink! Oh…wait, there’s a stain! That’s it…deal’s off!

Maybe if it was in focus?

Nice wood fence?

What can I say? They’re fun at least!

No, it’s not an REO or short sale. Nice, huh?

Sort of makes you want to dive right in, doesn’t it?

Hey! Is that Elton John?

Not sure about the house, but how much for the Volvo?

OK, is the house leaning? I know that if I was a buyer and I saw this wall I’d be SUPER excited!

I think it’s the hot sauce there that does it for me!

Everything looks great…outside!

This is a recurring theme…what exactly is for sale here?

Ummm, let’s see. According to Wikipedia marketing is “an integrated process through which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return”. It seems that with alot of these photos currently being used the above concept doesn’t apply so much, huh?

Ummm…what’s for sale here?       

I guess it was a tad too much work to move those boxes?

Nice shot!…of the screen!

Maybe if it was in focus?

See, the idea is to make the room look as large as you can…

What’s with all these TV’s being on? Hey, is that ESPN?

Any chance we could take last night’s dinner off the counter during the photo shoot?

Maybe there’s no bedding available?

Now really, can any of you imagine exposing your home to the marketplace like this? It’s hilarious…

There’s a real estate agent in Bristol, Connecticut by the Name of Athol Kay who has a great blog. Among other things, he has this little schtick called the Bad MLS Photo of the Day where he’ll show photos like the one above. He’s gained quite a bit of notoriety as a result, including some press in national publications  as well as the likes of the Los Angeles Times. It’s absolutely hysterical stuff, folks! I love going to Athol’s blog…I can’t believe what some realtors and sellers do with some of these photos. I guess I’ve always had the opinion that photographs are taken to try and promote a listing, to put a property in it’s best possible light. What do I know?

Seriously, I think taking good photos of a house may be the most important thing (outside of pricing it right) that a seller and their agent can do to market their home. 85% of home buyers begin their search on the internet looking at listings, the home needs to show well online first. My office has a full time, on staff, photographer for just this purpose and, although I’m not 100% sure of this, I think most of the other offices around here provide the same kind of service. I’m sure there are plenty of agents who do it themselves too…some of them are even good at it. Professional photographers really do have a knack for this though. I’ve seen photos in the local MLS featuring only an open toilet, kitchens with dishes stacked in the sink, beds with laundry on them, pictures of the sellers pets and backyards that were completely brown…all the vegetation was dead. My favorite recently had 9 separate still shots of the front exterior of a house in San Mateo taken from slightly different angles…like maybe 6 inches to a foot at a time. I was completely unclear of the concept but I did get a progressivly better view of the wheels on the little Toyota in the driveway via that technique.

There’s a bank owned foreclosure in Foster City right now, that actually sold because it was priced right, that offered this picture.

We’re not immune, huh. Maybe the only thing worse are no pictures at all. I can’t tell you how often buyers ask me why a house they’ve seen online has no pictures. There are several right now in Foster City, go figure! Some listings are on the market for weeks before the photos show up too. Folks, people are shopping online. They’re looking at photos of homes in their price range to determine if that home is worth actually going out to see in person. If there’s no photographs at all there and all of your competition has photos, why should they be interested in your place?