Vent: Spent 5 years listing my Lynnwood house with staged photos before I realized buyers just want to see the actual layout.

A family friend walked through an open house and asked why my listing looked like a magazine cover but the bedroom was actually 3 feet smaller than the photo showed, and now I’m wondering how many people I turned away with those fake angles has anyone else stopped using wide-angle lenses?

3 comments

3 Comments

wren_thomas161d ago

Oh definitely, @grant_cooper nailed it. I mean, staging empty rooms to look bigger is basically tricking people into thinking they're getting more space than they actually are. I've seen listings where they literally used a fisheye lens to make a 10x10 bedroom look like a master suite. That's not staging, that's just lying with lenses. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience, buyers are way more forgiving about a cluttered room than a misleading photo. They'd rather see the actual weird nook or awkward hallway than feel duped when they show up.

grant_cooper1d ago

Hold on wait, you actually staged empty rooms to look bigger?

clairec781d ago

My realtor did this with a 12x14 living room in 2018 and it backfired hard. People showed up expecting an open concept great room and got a normal sized box instead. I learned then that honest square footage details in the listing are way better than camera tricks.