Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
This is terrible. Real estate professionals should never be doing this. They really need to maintain the high standards of the industry by sticking to only doctoring loan applications, appraisals, comps, home inspections, cap rates....
Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
16y
I'm no legal expert by any mean, but it seems to me that this is out right deception. Not only I would demand from the seller to make sure the sunset occurs exactly where it is in the photo, but I will also demand to physically remove all the properties located above the subject property that were not in the photo ... :mrgreen:
Investor · Diamond Bar, CA · Member since 2009 · 446 posts · 233 votes
16y
Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:
This is terrible. Real estate professionals should never be doing this. They really need to maintain the high standards of the industry by sticking to only doctoring loan applications, appraisals, comps, home inspections, cap rates....
Real Estate Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
I am not sure the article is accurate. The Century Plaza Towers do look correct in the pic and if you are to the east of them looking westward, you should be able to see the sunset where it is shown in the pic because the area is pretty flat in West L.A. and Santa Monica to the south of Wilshire Blvd.
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
16y
Wow, there's a line and in my opinion, they've crossed it...
We photoshop all of our listing pics, but only to enhance the colors, the brightness and the sharpness of the images, not to distort reality.
While there's probably nothing illegal about what they did (though maybe), it just seems very, very wrong...if nothing else, it violates the, "everything in this listing is true to my knowledge" ideal...
Real Estate Investor · Kalamazoo, MI · Member since 2010 · 681 posts · 241 votes
16y
I've seen where furniture and plants have been photoshopped into an empty house.....essentially virtually staging it......but it is always disclosed that the home is actually empty, and this is a depiction of what it would look like furnished. Doing anything without disclosure is questionable if not fraudulent in my opinion.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
This is terrible. Real estate professionals should never be doing this. They really need to maintain the high standards of the industry by sticking to only doctoring loan applications, appraisals, comps, home inspections, cap rates....
Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
16y
Originally posted by Vikram C.:
I am not sure the article is accurate. The Century Plaza Towers do look correct in the pic and if you are to the east of them looking westward, you should be able to see the sunset where it is shown in the pic because the area is pretty flat in West L.A. and Santa Monica to the south of Wilshire Blvd.
Vikram, unfortunately you are mistaken. If you type the address 1525 BLUE JAY WAY , LOS ANGELES, CA 90069 in Bing map, you'll find out that the angle where the picture was taken is pointing south. Sunset could never occur there... :wink:
Real Estate Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
I see what you are saying, Eddie. They took a correct pic of Century City from the east and made it the background image for the pic of the property.
From the house, you will not be able to see the two towers separately as the angle will not be right. So in reality, there is no southward picture at all and what you really have is a completely different background image along with the property as the foreground image.
Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
16y
Exactly. They also did it with one of the pictures showing Downtown LA in the background. Again, this picture was taken from a hill north west to the house pointing south east. From that angle, downtown would be much further to the east and behind the hill and could not be seen from that angle. (See 2nd picture from the top)
http://guests.themls.com/view_photo.cfm?mlsnum=09-415251#
Landlord · Seattle, WA · Member since 2010 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
I can't help but believe that buyers looking at a property and notice that the property looks very little like photos they have seen will question the honesty of who they are dealing with.
An agent that knows a property looks nothing like a MLS listing might be well served to let their potential client know this.
Knowing that an agent would go to this much trouble to hide or manipulate something would make me wonder about more important aspects and there honesty.
Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
16y
That is true Charles, but the same rule applies to those wide angle photos. I think that in the end, if you do all that, you are aiming for client's disappointment.
How many time have you seen photos of living rooms that look as big as an indoor stadium only to find out that they actually as small as a bed room?
When I advertise for rental, I do it too, but I always add a disclaimer saying that spaces may look bigger than they are due to the photography. I also explain that the purpose for it is to include more detail in the picture.
Landlord · Seattle, WA · Member since 2010 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
I think a buyer is more apt to believe that the wide angle shot may not be deliberate deception. Editing pictures clearly is manipulating what is or is not there. Adding some light might go unnoticed, but adding shrubs where none existed before will probably be noticed and seen as deceptive. I certainly wouldn't want anything to do with a real estate that goes to those lengths to distort reality.