White windows in broker photos

While this may be a "tactic" now, it wasn't always that way. A little bit of photography background is needed to understand what you are seeing. When photographing an interior, in order to obtain proper exposure inside, the windows generally end up overexposed--or "white" as you say. That is the way windows tradionally looked in virtually all RE photos. But with digital photography and Photoshop came the ability easily to merge multiple photos of the same shot taken from a tripod at different exposures. Buy blending a properly exposed interior shot with the same image exposed for the exterior window views you get a photo where the interior and windows appear closer to how the human eye would see them. In simple terms--it is done by cutting and pasting windows from one shot on top of the bad white windows of the otherwise good interior shot. It is now pretty common to do this and whereever the view is visible in a window in a RE ad, this is the technique that was used.

Where windows are "white" it is for one of two reasons: (1) the photo isn't very good and the seller/agent didn't go to the trouble to create a quality image to post where the window view is clear, or (2) the seller/agent knew exactly what they were doing and intentionally left the windows overexposed because the views stink (brick walls, ugly power substation, no sky). The thinking is that by overexposing the window the photos don't turn off potential buyers before they even come to the apartment.

or...

(3) The apartment is actually an FSBO, not an exclusive listing, and the agent was rushing to take pictures on a cheap camera, held next to his thigh.

True. If the photo is on a listing from Ardor, Domain, and the like--usually without a specific address, and usually with no floorplan, and the other pix look like your 4 year old took them on a cell phone camera, then I'd avoid the listing completely.

i have found Ardor and Domain to be sketchy. you provide your contact info and they say "oh, that apt's just been taken off the market, can i sell you something else now that i have your info?" a week later, that same posting was still up. i don't even look at their postings now.

I've see the same thing and it is not an exposure issue. Although that certainly can result in a blown out look. What I've seen is a complete white out that surely represents the removal of brick walls, shaft views and the like. It is misleading. Check the written description. Any mention of "views" or "great light?" I bet not. Just as you can often learn more from what's not included in the description versus what is, apparently the same is true of the photos.

kgg - agree. I've seen the white windows and then don't ever see a description on the views.

Life is too short to look at a brick wall.

word :)

The best line I've heard yet in my apt. search was in a FSBO one bedroom with two small windows that looked into an interior airshaft. This was about $900K and it had no closets--maybe 700 sq/ft total. So I look out the window and think I said something like, "I feel like I'm in a cave." It was evening and the owner went on about how the wall outside the window--maybe 15 feet away--had been painted white and how amazing it was the way the sunlight just beamed down that courtyard/airshaft onto the white wall and reflected right off that wall into the apartment all day long. Amazing what some white paint can do, apparently. People will just say anything.

post here your favorite "white window" listings for the weekend ...