Side Effect of Real Estate Marketing Photos
Part of marketing a real estate listing is posting exterior and/or interior photos of the property online along with other details of the home, including the address, on the Multiple Listing Service, virtual tours, agent and real estate company web sites.
Problem is… everything that goes online, stays online… sometimes forever. Not many agents and even fewer buyers think about the implications.
In an era when bad people use Internet information for their nefarious acts, interior pictures can provide them with an idea of the property layout and ways to enter and leave. Although I have not heard of anyone in our area who has been victimized this way, I remind my buyers of the possibility and encourage them to install security systems in homes if there already isn’t one there.
One thing that can be done to minimize the problem is for real estate agents and others to remove the property address from their sites and simply identify the general neighborhood or district. I took this step on my pages a long time ago.
Recently, I mentioned this to a stager with whom I have worked in the past. I suggested she remove addresses from her web site or, at least, ask the buyers what they would prefer. Sadly, she did not care and said, “No, I am not going to call anyone to ask permission to show the address.” She may not have realized it, but that disregard for the best interests of those who have been her clients moves her off the list of stagers I will recommend to my sellers in the future.