If We Can Tell The Photos Are Enhanced, Does It Help To Sell It?

 

It is no surprise that I’m seeing more residential and commercial listings around the country which are enhanced by Ai. Maybe it is because I have been working with tech teams which create virtual reality environments specific to real estate, but I continue to find it easy to recognize Ai enhanced photos and videos. There is a big difference when using Ai to “show” a property or a room which is proposed and does not exist than to make a real property look more favorable than it will when a potential buyer or tenant sees it for the first time.

Long before Ai and virtual reality environments, we would often see a photo of someone we were about to meet. When we actually met him or her, we would instantly be able to tell that the photo we saw is very much outdated. Our image of that person would immediately become less favorable. The same theory goes with properties. If seeing the actual property becomes less impressive than the version we saw before arriving, many of us wind up being “less impressed” while we are touring. 

Real estate agents and brokers with properties to market should want it to be the other way around!

Suppose you place a “realistic” photo (or series of photos) in your promotional pieces and advertisements for your listings. Before showings and/or open houses, you clean up and make improvements to the appearance of the property. Make it look even better than the photos!

By doing so, your goal is to make the visiting potential buyer or tenant think even more positively about the property. The value of an out loud “Wow! This looks even better than I thought!” is more in your favor than a “Oh, this doesn’t look as nice as I was expecting”. If you are holding an open house or hosting multiple showings simultaneously, chances are the visitors will have already toured other properties they may be considering. Getting a “This is better than I expected” reaction carries more weight when they just visited other properties which may not have impressed them “even more”.

The below linked article includes a video which shows Ai being overused in a residential presentation. It is way too easy to tell, especially when you look at their weak simulations of a fire in the fireplaces. Those made me think, “I wonder what else is fake about the interior”. 

Getting a potential buyer or tenant to be “first in” on your listing or opportunity should be done with a realistic approach and not one which is practically an insult. The last word in Ai is “intelligence”. 

 

https://www.azfamily.com/video/2025/12/31/what-know-about-ai-content-real-estate-listings/