Looking For Real Estate For Sale: 5 Tricks Of Real Estate Listings
Posted on: 19 July 2018
If you're trying to buy a home, you may occasionally discover that a listing doesn't look at all like the actual property. One of the reasons a real estate professional is often needed is because they can spot the little "tricks" that people use to make their homes look bigger and brighter. As you look through listings, you may want to look for a few of the following signs that there might be some trickery involved.
1. Colors That Are Too Bright
If a listing looks unnaturally bright, with colors that really pop, it's likely that the saturation of the photo has been increased or that the photo was taken in "HDR" mode (which also makes colors brighter). This can give the illusion of a cleaner and more modern home.
Take a look at the outside edges of a photo. If walls, doors, or windows appear to be curved, then the photo was taken with a "fish eye" lens. Fish eye lenses make everything seem bigger by altering the image to blow up the center.
3. Strange Perspective
Does something in a photo appear to be right at the foreground, such as a pool? Using a strong perspective generally means that an agent is trying to call attention to a specific thing, and away from something else. Often it makes the item in the foreground appear much larger than it is.
4. Odd Positioning
Are all the photos in a listing from a single angle? This usually indicates that there's something that the person taking the photo is trying to hide, such as an undesirable feature that you can see from inside of the yard.
5. Dark or Blurry Photos
If photos are too indistinct to make out, it's very likely that there are some aspects of the property that are being hidden, such as the property not being clean. Today, most people have high resolution cameras and cameras with flash in their own smartphone. Listings on the MLS have to be put there by a professional; if things are being hidden, it's for a reason.
Of course, none of these tricks mean that the listing is worthless; it might still be a great home, just not what you expected. However, it's a good example of why using agent is very valuable when looking at real estate for sale, as they can chase down leads for you and report back on what they've actually found.
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