Athol Kay, a real estate agent in Connecticut, collects and posts “Bad MLS Photos” on his web site. These are photos that agents across the nation have found in the MLS and have sent to Athol. (See link to his site on the bottom right of my sidebar – it’s really funny!)
Jessica Swesey, a blogger on Inman News (a real estate news site), wrote a post about a San Francisco listing that includes a photo that would qualify for Athol’s list. It appears to be a head shot of the owner’s little dog. Sometimes you just wonder what the agent was thinking when they decided to use a particular photo to “try” to sell the home. I doubt that the little dog conveys with the property. 
One of the funniest photos I saw was that of a well-staged, very attractive upscale living room. The photo was so well done, that the exterior trees and landscaping were easily viewed through the large window. Everything looked perfectly done until you looked closer and in the distance in the yard noticed the two Labs doing what dogs do and what people sometimes hose them down for. Oh, whoops!
I’ve also seen some with the owner’s trying to hide – they often follow us when taking photos. This particular owner was trying to stay out of sight by sitting on the stairs. Unfortunately, his reflection was captured in a mirror. So there he is, sitting in short shorts crouched on his stairs.
Mirrors often create problems for us, and there are MANY bath photos of the agent taking a photo of themselves reflected in the bath mirror. Worse yet, many agents actually USE these photos in the MLS. Go figure!!!
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http://www.reagentinct.com/2007/10/27/my-photography-portfolio/
A whole blog of bad mls photos.
Kelly, thanks for stopping by. The link you included is Athol’s but he hasn’t updated that page since October. The link that I mentioned – that’s on the bottom right of my side bar – is the one he updates often.
Elaine I remember that photo, I think it was on AR, not sure lol. It sure was a classic! I just browsed homes for hrs today trying to find ppties to show clients and saw a few with six photos, all extremely dark; they may as well just not taken them!
I agree. There is an “big” agent here that could supply Athol’s list all by herself. She’s had some doozies … that are hard to resist sending to him.