Can Real Estate Photo Editing Change House Colors?

Can Real Estate Photo Editing Change House Colors?

Real estate photo editing is a job that brings out the creativity and imaginativeness of photographers that sometimes it can carry them away. While beautification of photos for your clients can spell the difference between a successful or stale sale, crossing some boundaries can turn people off in many ways. What real estate photo editing has to understand that there are ethical, spoken or unspoken, rules that apply when editing an image. First is the ability of a photo to truthfully represent a property it indents to communicate, and second is being able to accurately represent it while working with elements that can be enhanced. These two things in mind will set the tone on how the work will be done for realty editor in many facets.

Colors is one of the tempting aspects to play around with in real estate photo editing. There is an overwhelming feeling power to be able to correct the images from the color cast to the hue to the overall liveliness of the image. Tempting, as the word is used, can lead to changes that may seem very beautiful and attractive, but crosses the line between what should be done and what could be done.

Is it the Right Thing to Do?

The question now is, is changing the house color the right thing to do? The answer lies in the context of the situation. In real estate photo editing, increasing a property’s value through perception and marketing is a common practice. In fact, some studies do show that people tend to see a property with higher value with high quality photos. Hence, it can be often inferred that the marketing aspect makes a whole lot of difference with real state photo editing at its core. People are easily attracted to things that are clean, fresh, and above all, pristine. But this fact does not mean that they should be taken advantage of or worse, taken as fools.

Changing house colors for mere aesthetic purposes online and to attract people to come look at it without any intention to bring an accurate representation of the property is deceitful. People who are drawn into the photo will surely start fuming when they see that the property up front is not what it was advertised in the photos. What’s the worst that could happen? For one the real estate company will see its credibility go down the drain. Word of mouth is so powerful that even just one person who’s experienced an unpleasant visit because of an unmet expectation can spread the news to a network of people, who then spread it to their own networks. The second wave of impact is felt by professional photographers. Real estate agents and companies will surely look to them to answer for the atrocious changes that happened without their consent thereby resulting into burned bridges and damaged careers.

Then again, there are scenarios that call for changes in the color of properties. Photographers should be careful to consider what their client asks for, makes sure that every move is aligned with them, and most of all, there are no blindsided decisions done on one end only. So to answer the question if it is the right thing to do, it’s yes and no! Confusing? Well the thing is it is not as straightforward as we would like it to be. But rest assured there are boundaries that define the inner circle of ethical changes .

What Triggers Changes in House Colors?

There are those that might argue that changing the colors of the house in post processing is totally okay. There are those that may believe otherwise. There are very specific instances that might merit the changes in house colors but definitely, real estate photo editing should think carefully and keep their real estate clients informed of these salient and sensitive changes. So, what are they?

  1. Time constraints

When there are agreements between real estate agents and photographers that actual physical color changes will be done at defined dates, then you can expect a house to look differently. The timings can be played out in synchronized fashion because actual paint jobs will normally take days to maybe a week. Real estate photo editing on the other hand, can take just hours to a couple of days. Now, people won’t wait for houses to be painted before they are sold, but the twist is, these properties need to be listed ASAP so they can get a critical mass of viewers and potentially land a handful of prospective buyers. Real estate photo editing now steps in to change the color of the house to make it look like the promised future state it will be. In this particular scenario, it is ethical and acceptable.

  1. Advertorial and Imaginative Purposes

This piece can be quite tricky and while an uncommon practice, changing house colors through real estate photo editing can showcase possibilities in adverts should people decide to buy the property. What this means is that catalogues, brochures, or any promotional materials that may want to show how one specific property can look charming in different colors can attract people to come and buy it. The caveat here is to note in the advert that these are merely visualizations and ideas rather than actual physical photos. It can be how the artist (or photographer in this case) creatively portrays the property in different ways the future owner can turn into reality. Again, an uncommon and unusually used marketing tactic, but definitely possible to execute.

Conclusion

While it is tricky, real estate photo editing must always consider the represent the property in its most accurate and truthful form. While the art of editing does seem to be a very enjoyable and creative process, there has to be limits as to what can be manipulated. These things, when unchecked, can present real and absolute consequences. Furthermore, changes that occur should be done in coordination and accordance to client requirements because after all, they are paying for the service. So the next time you feel like changing the colors on that house, make sure that the situation asks for it, more than just a proactive stance to make something look 10 times better.

 

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