NAR…Will they be looking at your digital pictures?
November 25, 2007 by Monika McGillicuddy
Filed under General R.E. Information
Sometimes the best thing about the house is the picture…Is that not true?
At the National Association of REALTORS convention in Vegas I attended the professional standards forum and committee meeting where among other things we talked about digital enhancements to listing photos.
I am on my second 3 year term as a State Representative serving on the committee and as a blogger I’ve been particularly interested in all the proposed changes to Article 12.
In DC this past May we talked about Blogs and including them in the scope of Article 12. I wasn’t too excited about the potential of NAR touching my blog.
All spring and summer members participated via e-mail…comments for and against making changes were carefully considered by the working group.
We didn’t know what the recommendations would be and eagerly awaited the working group’s findings.
About a week before leaving for Vegas I got my agenda. I knew at that point that unless modified from the floor, a very real possibility, that the group was going to be leaving the changes broad and not narrowing in on blogs specifically.
The committee went on to approve an amendment to article 12
REALTORS shall be honest and truthful in their real estate communications and shall present a true picture in their advertising, marketing and other representations.
REALTORS shall ensure that their status as real estate professionals in readily apparent in their advertising, marketing and other representations, and that the recipients of all real estate communications are, or have been, notified that those communications are from a real estate professional.
That means we need to make sure we are identified on our Blogs as well. How many times have you gone on a blog…clicked on the “about tab” and found nothing…you have no idea who you are talking to.
There also is an addition to Article 12 that was approved and it covers deceptive URLs and the registration of such
REALTORS shall not:
1) Use URLs or domain names that present less than a true picture, or
2) Register URLs or domain names which, if used, would present less than a true picture
Discussion took place but the general consensus is that one cannot register a URL and hold it hostage… this will be interesting to watch and I can’t imagine the enforcement process on this one.
This convention was full of blogs…it seemed to be a “hot” topic and the NAR risk management committee also discussed blogs from a risk perspective. Very Interesting!
During the Open forum we talked about Article 12’s “True Picture” requirement and if NAR should set up rules and regulations regarding the altering of listing photos.
As a committee member I’d like to know how you all feel about it and share your feelings with the subcommittee.
Is enhancing a picture of a home for sale false advertising?
How about brightening up faded white paint digitally?
Removing peeling paint digitally?
Power washing a home…digitally?
How about removing Power lines? Making the grass look greener? Adding shrubs and flowers to a yard? Removing swing sets? Distorting the size of a small room with a wide angle shot? Making a dark room seem full of light?
How about climbing on a roof to take a picture of the view?
Where do you draw the line?
Should there be a disclosure requirement like “these photos have been digitally altered” or “altered digitally to enhance the appearance” or “photos digitally altered to enhance marketability”
We all know there are buyers out there who buy sight unseen and agents who unfortunately sell sight unseen…all based on photos, videos and virtual tours.
What do you think?
Many times I swear the best thing about some of the homes I show is the picture!
Monika – I personally feel you need to use a light touch when it comes to digital editing. Lighting up a photo that came out dark is one thing but greening up the grass is not good.
Photos online are a big deal. It is amazing how much you can improve a photo just be standing in a certain position. I once got chilled by another agent who felt my picture was “misrepresented”. Funny it was a pic of my very own house. All I did was stand in the middle of the street so the house showed in a good angle. NOTHING else was done to the photo, yet he felt I “misrepresented” the property. Go figure!
In my book erasing power lines would be a major misrepresentation. Cosmetic improvements like greener grass aren’t a biggy. Buyer’s shouldn’t be making a decision to buy a home based on the greeness of the grass.
Now if I were selling a property “sight unseen” to a buyer, I would be sure to take my own photos and include every WART I could find.
On a snarky note, I’m glad NAR has finally decided that the internet is not a fad.
Thanks for working on this committee. I can rest at night knowing an experienced voice of reason is present!
kk
Ashley,
I lighten or edit my photos all the time but what I don’t do is alter the reality of the house. Like remove peeling paint and power lines, add shutters to windows,add flowers and stuff to the yard…yet I’ve seen agents do this.
Kristal,
There was a grass situation…photo of the house was a summer time shot and the grass/lawn was enhanced. It looked lush and very green. Buyers bought in the winter time…come spring it was clear there was no lush green grass anywhere…nothing but crab grass. pretty unhappy buyer. Of course that was more than the greenness of the grass. It will be interesting to see what if anything happens with this.
Thanks for stopping by KK
I don’t want rules on greenness of grass. Our grass usually goes dormant sometime in the summer. I think the listings that don’t have someone out sprinkling the grass have every right to keep using the picture from May or June when the grass is green and I am not going to worry about if other agents have better photo shop skills and TOOLS than me. How could you enforce that?
I once made the sky blue in a photo.. we often have gray sky in Ohio and I digitally fixed something the seller was going to remove… I admitted it once on RealTalk and Bill ? in NJ made it seem like a federal offense… maybe I’ll blog about it someday… it’s not like wires. It could be removed… the seller was supposed to remove it.
“Distorting the size of a small room with a wide angle shot.” buyers are going to be disappointed when they see it… unless of course it is bought sight unseen. I have never experienced that sort of sale.
I think it is funny how many real estate blogs are so anonymous.
I have no problem digitally altering or removing items not staying or attached. I’m getting good at removing shoes and stuff and making the sky blue to me is no big deal. But I have to wonder where one draws the line. Why have a real estate blog and be anonymous??? Makes no sense to me.
Moni, that sink was grand back in the day lol. I don’t know about you, but the percentage of not so good photos has not decreased along with what should be digital and internet savvy. At least in my area. It makes me nuts!
LOL…it sure was. I wonder what a creative person could do with that photo…make the sink all shiny and clean…give the kitchen a paint job.
Some of the photos in MLS are just too much…who wants to see someones underwear???
Thank you for your site
I made on photoshop backgrounds for youtube, myspace and even more
my backgrounds:http://tinyurl.com/6r7cav
all the best and thank you again!
Thanks Createmo…I’ll check out your backgrounds.