Uh-Oh! Nude Man In Real Estate Listing Photo! Read The Top 10 Worst Home Showing Offenses

Evidently the man living at 5517 Oakwood Cove in Austin, Texas was trying harder than most to sell his condo on HotPads.com. Break reports that the man forgot to put his clothes on before going around snapping pictures of all the rooms to post online for all the world to see. As if it isn’t weird enough that he was walking around taking pictures in the nude, where was his brain when he walked into the bathroom filled with wall-to-wall mirrors and began taking pictures? What makes this become even more absurd is why the man didn’t see himself in all his glory as he began looking through his photos to decide which ones to place on the website. There is a huge flash from the camera in the mirror shown in the picture. It’s only a shame that the flash wasn’t located about 24 inches lower. Along with the detailed description of the home, which Daily Mail reports included “five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and roomy decks”. Potential buyers were not impressed with the unlisted amenities and unmentioned additional features shown in the bathroom. After the picture was reported, HotPads was able to remove the listing, but not before a huge amount of public saw it, and now have the man’s address and censored picture plastered all over the internet. The National Association of Realtors have put together a list of Top 10 Worst Home-Showing Offenses. So, if you are preparing to put your home on the market, either with an agent or to sell yourself as the owner, take heed to these suggestions:

1. Leftover Home Owners: One of the biggest no-no’s for buyer’s agents is to have the home owner still in the home at the time of the showing. They’ve been known to be in the shower, or even in bed. Agents always give plenty of notice, so get out prior to the showing!!
2. Pets And Their Messes: Potential buyers do not want to have to face your yapping Chihuahua or have your kitty rubbing up against their legs. Also clean up any pet toys or food, in addition to other messes made by your fuzzy critters. Elke W. McMenemy, broker-owner at St. Augustine Real Estate Inc. in St. Augustine, Fla., has said he has even seen “fully loaded litter boxes” according to The National Association of Realtors.
3. Bad Smells: Odors can come from many sources, such as pets and smoking. “Sellers get immune to the smell that their pets have embedded on their property,” says Halina Degnan with Gables & Gates, REALTORS®, in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you want to sell your home, it is imperative to rid your home of foul odors.”
4. Critters Running Wild: If you have exotic pets, put them away. If you have infestations, get an exterminator. Potential buyers don’t want to see rodents in a house they are considering to be their home.
5. Odd Home Makeovers: If your paint job looks like Ray Charles did it, hire a professional. Don’t try to be Tim the Tool Man. What may look cool to you appears to be a disaster to a potential homebuyer.
6. Dirt and Clutter: Do sellers really have to be told to flush their toilets, make their beds and pick up dirty laundry? Evidently! No one wants to see your mess. Clean it up!
7. Personal Information Left In Plain Sight: Unless you want to be a victim of identity theft, put away the bank statements and credit card bills.
8. Too Dark: Turn some lights on! Make it as bright and cheery inside.
9. Keys Missing From Lockboxes: First of all, how do home sellers even get into those lockboxes? Are they not coded by the agent? Secondly, why would they want to take the key out? The National Association of Realtors tells of one agent who was asked to crawl through the doggie door to unlock the door for her clients. What? Uh, No.
10. Distracting Photos: Be careful of photos that are sitting out for anyone to see. The National Association of Realtors recalls “Tara Hayes, ABR, e-PRO, with Rector-Hayden, REALTORS®, in Winchester, Ky., recalls showing a family a home that had life-sized, nude photos hanging, which left her clients racing for the door covering their eyes.”

Kudos to The National Association of Realtors for compiling such a great list! What is ironic is that number ten on their list brings us back full circle to the nude man taking his own photos to list his own property. He should have read this Top 10 list! Here’s a little advice. If you are planning to post an innocent picture online, keep your pants on. It’s really not that difficult. Photo credit: DailyMail.co.uk