Isn’t it amazing how little care some real estate agents seem to put into their real estate listings?
From bad MLS photos to typos in listings, I know most home stagers have seen it all.
I found this funny clip from Ellen poking fun at bad real estate listings. Thought you’d enjoy these examples of what not to do when selling a home!
About Those Sad Real Estate Listing Photos
On a more serious note, what are the worst things you’ve seen real estate agents do after you’ve carefully staged one of your client’s homes?
My pet peeve is the real estate agent who walks into a home I’ve just carefully arranged for photography and throws his coat over a chair, leaves his shoes in the middle of the hallway, dumps papers all over the dining room table and then takes the listing shots!
I was absolutely livid when this happened. I honestly didn’t know what to say.
Clearly my home staging client‘s real estate agent had no concern for how the place looked in his own listing photos! Otherwise, why make a mess of all my staging? I had been there all day, obsessing over every tiny detail. Getting the angle of a chair, the roll of a towel, every piece of art just right.
The Realtor was oblivious to all of it. I guess to him it was “just” a real estate listing.
Perhaps it’s because I was born to be a stager, but I feel photography day is “show time!” When everything has to be just perfect. Every detail arranged to remind potential buyers that this could be their dream home.
With up to 90% of home buyers looking at a listing online before deciding whether they want to visit the house, those photos need to be free of distractions and showcase every room from it’s best angle.
> Read more about why home staging works
Has this or similar happened to you when you’re staging a home before the real estate agent takes the listing photos? What are your pet peeves when you’re viewing a property online?
My peeve with REA is when I get called in to stage after the property has been on the market for awhile and then the REA does not retake pictures. How will prospective buyers or other agents know then what has been done to improve the look of the property?
Kathryn, I totally agree with you. That’s really wasting the money the client invested in staging. REA’s who have already seen the property in it’s before state won’t bring other new clients through because they’ve already seen it, and new prospective buyers who find the property on MLS won’t be drawn to it either.
A key reason to stage is so that top notch photos are on MLS so that there will be more showings. More showings means more potential buyers, which means a faster sale and potentially for more money.
Home sellers should INSIST that their agent take new photos and tell them that they will find another agent who will if they don’t comply.
Hysterical video Debra!! Happens all too much! My pet peeve is when I’ve staged AND taken photos and they don’t use my photos. Just finished a house where I got great sunny exterior shots and the realtor posted pics from a RAINY day!!! Because of this frustration I’ve added a new service of Photo Styling, mostly for homes that don’t need much of anything, but I have taken much better photos…I’ll send you some to post…
Jodi, thanks for writing in. That’s a great idea to add that service. Will appeal to home seller, real estate agents (who realize they don’t take great shots, or wish they didn’t have to bother doing it) and with FSBOs who need help with their online presence. I’d love to feature you in an upcoming article and get you some exposure. Please submit the details and a before and after photo of the difference your service makes to at:
https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/staging-success-stories/
Thanks for stopping by and joining this discussion!
I’d have to say the same thing – when you come in to stage; do a fabulous job and it really improves the listing…then they don’t re-take the photos! Why??!! That’s a big reason why we stage and what they’re paying for!
Also, the agents who call you back in and ask if you can change out the table because it’s not “their” style…or they don’t like the color of your bedding or towels. Hmmmmm, this IS home staging, not home decorating….
All in all, I work with some really great agents and investors. They really appreciate my service and call me back again and again.
Debbie Fiskum, Perfect Transformations Home Staging Denver
Thanks for sharing your experiences and peeves Debbie! Yup I’ve seen those too!
You Tube video sure to make the room burst out laughing! In response to your question, Debra, I haven’t had the experience you mention in your post but who knows what the real estate agent does inside the property once he/she sends the seller away during Open House. However, I have had the home seller rearrange or add things back once we finished staging and I discovered it on our walk through the home before the weekend Open House. Did have to talk with her about it and ask that she not feel the need to add things back after we agreed on what would be removed. She had good intentions so it is a good reminder that what we do, and why, can be shared (or repeated) with clients and real estate agents.
And to follow up to Jodi’s pet peeve – I am with you sister! After recently removing wall paper, painting, decluttering, repairing, and adding accessories and furnishings, the real estate agent took shots of rooms where none of the staging work was obvious or emphasized. I took great digital photos after we finished staging the home (the client and I) and sent those photos to my client so she could forward them to the agent. AND, my client asked me to sit down with her and draft up her features list because she felt her agent wasn’t focusing on all that her property had to offer! I too get irked when the agent gets the commission when they took poor photos, left out important features and misspelled several words. In fairness though, many agents have “assistants” in the brokerage office that type up the advertising fliers and it reflects poorly on the agents when they are remiss to look things over before they get emailed or printed.
Yes!! I can’t believe how many photos contain clothes on the floor, a garbage can in the kitchen, or something strange that doesn’t belong on a table/in a room! It blows my mind that agents actually submit these photos.
It always reminds me of those puzzles I did as a kid where there’s a room drawing and you’re supposed to circle all the things that are wrong, eg: the lamp on the table is upside down, etc. It feels like that going into so many homes!