Well.....

As long as it wasn’t cropped, shot through a fish eye lenses, run through a filter, had the brightness played with…among other tricks.

I love shopping on line. It fact there have been days when I can honestly utter the phrase…”see what I’m wearing…bought it all on-line”. However sometimes when the package arrives I have to send it back. It just wasn’t the same as it looked on the web site.

This rings more true when it comes to real estate and the pictures that you see on real estate web sites. Too many of my clients will tell me…”oh I don’t want to see that, the kitchen looks small” or sometimes it the exact opposite. “Did you see how huge the master bath is?” (Can you say “wide angle lenses”?).

That’s why it’s important not to rule a home in or out by the pictures alone. Not everyone who is listing property has a degree in photography or even knows that cameras don’t only come on cell phones! For example, making a decision on pictures alone might make you miss the bright sunny living room because the listing broker took the picture on a cloudy day with the blinds closed.

On that note, property photos get loaded up by the listing agent onto the multiple listing service which then provides a data feed to most of the other real estate sites out there (that's why you shouldn't judge your Realtor's site by the pictures - most were taken by other agents).

The Moral of the Story:

Work with a good Realtor (and a Buyer Agent at that - someone who works for you and not the seller). Ask questions and create a dialogue about your needs. Real Estate agents are in hundreds of homes a month either showing them to clients or previewing them as they come on the market. So when your agent recommends you should see a home…chances are it’s because they know what the place really looks like versus what you might think it does having seen it on-line.

As a Buyer's Agent, I don’t rely on the pictures.  Neither should you.

[For more information or an appointment to discuss you real estate needs please contact James Marsden, a Buyers Agent at Charlesgate Realty Group, at 845-800-0112 or by email at jmarsden@charlesgaterealty.com]

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