comp pictures

[Richard Carlsen]

All good war stories and some very good additional reasons for using MLS pictures. I used to worry about some of the $18,000 mobiles out in the sticks that I had to shoot pictures of. I really worried about the 12 guage because that makes a great shot our of an average shot in an area where the family tree looks like a telephone pole.

I'll stick with the MLS photos for use as the comp photos in my reports or my own appraisal photos from my own data base thank you.

 

[tjshannon]

I've read the posts regarding comp photos, and I'd say they've pretty much said it all about how to click and run. As with many, I have had a # of uncomfortable or scary incidents including a fellow who chased me down and pulled a gun demanding the film.

This and other incidents have pushed me toward using MLS photos in many cases. I also prefer to use them when I do an appraisal out in the boonies. I have spent 2 or 3 hours driving all over rural counties looking for RR2 Box whatever. I do note the source on the reports also noting if a for sale sign is visible, that the properties are not currently for sale (unless they are, of course.) I've only had a few complaints; lenders wanting more current photos. Using MLS photos is reliable and can be a big time saver. I know that many might find this objectionable, but the realities of the market place make any time saved a plus. An appraiser I know asked in horror what if one of the photos was of the wrong house. I thought about it and decided - so what? First, the odds of this happening area slim. If the comp is a 3200 sqft two story house and the photo is of an 800 sqft bungalow, I think I'd catch that. If, on the other hand, the photo is wrong, but of a similar home - say the home next door to the Subject - where's the harm? If the data is correct, the report has not been compromised.

Any thoughts?

TLS

 

[BigBlueGA]

I kind of feel like MLS photos are actually MORE reliable than current photos.. We had one case where a guy bought a house and immediately stacked the yard up with outbuildings, fences, etc...

However those were not there at the time of sale and of course that raises questions from underwriters.

Also in a market saturated in cookie cutters (which I am fortunate to be in), it's even remotely feasible to use MLS data reliably. You can tell by the figures usually if they are accurate both by the photo, the general trend of features in the neighborhood, the accuracy of the figures (usually when you see a flat "1500 square feet" you know the realtor never put a tape on it), and also by the realtor that input the data.. some are always dead on, others I wouldn't rely on their data if my life depended on it. Of course, the word of the day when dealing with this is always "verification".

That last little bit is slightly off-topic but I wanted to mention it because it came to mind reading another post.

My only gripe about MLS pictures is that our system kills the resolution when they are uploaded and you can tell there is a difference in quality if you really look hard at them.. the upside of that is that they don't take up half as much hard drive space.

 

[jtrotta]

Funny thing happened at class the other day; instructor said he had done several photo's in a specific area known as; the most dangerous comp.area. You actually could not shoot the comps. because the comps. always shoot back - whoaaa

Even funnier, the Lenders were all well aware of it. 8)

 

[BigBlueGA]

Haha..

*puts that in his book of appraiser jokes...*

 

[Blue1]

In rural areas they hear you coming up the driveway. I know 'cause I have one of those driveways. I can hear anyone coming for a long time before they arrive at my front door. Knowing this, I usually have my card at the ready. If no one is evident, I take my shot. (while looking for double barrels peeking out the windows of the home) I then make a "U-ey" and get the hell out of there. Had one guy chase me. I stopped...........he came up to my car.............I slid down the window and he said that I didn't shoot the front of the house because it was facing the other way! He actually wanted me to go back and shoot the other side of the house........turned out that he had a "garden" on the side I shot and he didn't want me to put that picture in my report. He had a gun........I said O.K.......don't remember much else........

 

[Richard Carlsen]

re: quality of MLS photos.

I sit on the Board of Directors for my local board and we just raised the allowable picture size from 50kb to 80kb each. That is almost exactly the same quality size I end up with taking a digital picture and reducing it slightly in the download. Quality is generally not a problem. I do have one MLS (I won't mention the Traverse Area ***'n of Realtors by name) that is a totally on-line system (and a slow, painful system at that) where the quality of the pictures is marginal due to size. But I can live with it especially when the alternative on a lot of recreational properties would be a picture of a snow-covered drive or a "No Trespassing" sign.

 

[BigBlueGA]

Unfortunately, our MLS system shrinks the picture size to 320x240 which puts them somewhere in the ballpark of about 35k.

 

[aprazer]

Maybe its the stereotypical image of New Yorkers, but I'm chased down about 2-3 times per year. About half the time it ends amicably. Baseball bats seem to be favored weapon. A few weeks ago I had 70+ year old guy chase me, box my car in and spit on my car. His english was limited and did not understand what I was doing.

The strangest one was in a high crime area (1/3 of the community is owned by HUD), where a guy cut me off, jumped out and took MY picture.

 

[BigBlueGA]

And I'll say it again...

God Bless the MLS.