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Virtual staging used in home listings is very dishonest

Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:34 pm
Posted by boogiewoogie1978
Little Rock
Member since Aug 2012
19791 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:34 pm
They put smaller items in the rooms to make them look like they can hold more than they actually can.

Use scaled-down furniture so the room looks huge.
Drop in tiny nightstands or slim sofas no one actually owns.
Angling the camera in ways that exaggerate depth.
Editing out things like vents, awkward corners, or bulkheads.
Posted by AtticusOSullivan
Member since Mar 2016
2945 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:36 pm to
Just buy really small furniture.
Posted by Gee Grenouille
Bogalusa
Member since Jul 2018
7731 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:37 pm to
white woman made her job easier by getting someone else to use photo shop

more news after the break
Posted by gjackx
Red Stick
Member since Jan 2007
16581 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:38 pm to
I think staging is dumb, I'd rather see an empty room.
Posted by jaytothen
Member since Jan 2020
8543 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:39 pm to
quote:

Use scaled-down furniture so the room looks huge.
Drop in tiny nightstands or slim sofas no one actually owns.


Mingo's house is furnished like this.
Posted by boxcarbarney
Above all things, be a man
Member since Jul 2007
26058 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:40 pm to
quote:

Mingo's house


Posted by FIREAWAY
Member since Jul 2022
480 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:41 pm to
quote:

They put smaller items in the rooms to make them look like they can hold more than they actually can.

Use scaled-down furniture so the room looks huge.
Drop in tiny nightstands or slim sofas no one actually owns.
Angling the camera in ways that exaggerate depth.
Editing out things like vents, awkward corners, or bulkheads.




Or did they?
Posted by SlowFlowPro
With populists, expect populism
Member since Jan 2004
471485 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:42 pm to
It always reminds me of dog/cat products on Amazon b/c the Chinese sellers can never accurately insert the cat/dog into the product picture
Posted by terd ferguson
Darren Wilson Fan Club President
Member since Aug 2007
114336 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:57 pm to
Selling a house and my mower broke halfway through cutting the backyard the day before the realtor took pics. They photoshopped the pic of the backyard with fresh cut grass.
Posted by PsychTiger
Member since Jul 2004
108404 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:00 pm to
quote:

the Chinese sellers can never accurately insert the cat/dog into the product picture


They keep eating them too quickly.
Posted by jmarto1
Houma, LA/ Las Vegas, NV
Member since Mar 2008
38409 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:02 pm to
It is more efficient and coat effective. Go visit the house and use your imagination
Posted by Mo Jeaux
Member since Aug 2008
62853 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:05 pm to
Has Mingo been banned? I haven’t seen him around in a while. I don’t know why you guys hate on him so much.
Posted by Gorilla Ball
Az
Member since Feb 2006
13027 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:08 pm to
We’ve done both ways. It helps the potential buyer view or picture how their potential furniture etc will work in the property.
The house we sold in Baton Rouge one bedroom we virtually staged the rest of property we used our furniture.
We did use a professional stager to help with moving furniture around etc.
Property went under contract in 2 days.
Landscaping and pool helped as well.
Posted by Chucktown_Badger
The banks of the Ashley River
Member since May 2013
36308 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:12 pm to
quote:

They put smaller items in the rooms to make them look like they can hold more than they actually can.


you mean exactly like an actual, professionally staged house?

quote:

Editing out things like vents, awkward corners, or bulkheads.


This is the first I've heard of this happening. Have any examples?
This post was edited on 2/25/26 at 1:13 pm
Posted by Swamp Angel
West Georgia Chicken Farm Territory
Member since Jul 2004
9888 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:34 pm to
quote:

Angling the camera in ways that exaggerate depth.


This one is hard to overcome since realtors use camera lenses that are intended to capture as much of the room as possible in a single shot. It inevitably results in misrepresentation of the size of a room in the photos since the depth is exaggerated by the camera. Easiest way to spot this and account for it is to look for floor tile and see how rectangular they appear versus how square they ought to appear. That can give you at least a little idea of the actual size of the room in the photo.

This was one of the things that pissed me off the most when the wife and I were searching for homes a couple years ago. What you found when you went to actually see a property was significantly smaller and more cramped than what was seemingly represented in the photos.
Posted by ThePoo
Work
Member since Jan 2007
61487 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:41 pm to
quote:

Virtual staging used in home listings is very dishonest


Most images posted on listings are relatively dishonest even without fake staging

Most of the time the photos are highly edited and most of the time the actuality of the property does not live up to the photos.

Agents are doing a balancing act gambling on getting more interest in the property with great edited photos, the issue sometimes is if it is too off point, the client will go in with higher expectations of the property than they should have, inevitiably leading to disappointment
This post was edited on 2/25/26 at 1:45 pm
Posted by BluegrassBelle
RIP Hefty Lefty - 1981-2019
Member since Nov 2010
107048 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:41 pm to
A lot of them are starting to use AI for home photographs/staging. Sometimes they'll list is REALLY tiny on the photo (so worth looking for). They're supposed to be disclosed in the listing, so if you come across this and they don't disclose make sure you report it.

We pulled up the neighbor's listing the other day (in a house we've seen the inside of) and it was clearly AI in some areas.
Posted by shutterspeed
MS Gulf Coast
Member since May 2007
71596 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 1:43 pm to
quote:

Has Mingo been banned?


Make an Excel thread and see if he bites.
Posted by Teddy Ruxpin
Member since Oct 2006
40683 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 2:16 pm to
The online staging photos for my house used a setup in one of the bedrooms that is impossible. If the bed was oriented the way they showed it online, the backboard would block the bathroom and bedroom closets.

That was pretty egregious. My guess was the photoshopper hadn't been in the house and had no clue what was behind the camera.
This post was edited on 2/25/26 at 2:17 pm
Posted by mule74
Watersound Beach
Member since Nov 2004
12665 posts
Posted on 2/25/26 at 2:24 pm to
When I sold my home in Houston in 2020, I couldn’t believe how nice it looked in the pictures. I thought “I want to live there.“
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