Photographing Foreclosures

Photographing foreclosures can be a nightmare.

    Some asset manager sends you an email telling you that they have a new property and would like you to go and check it out. Normally the asset managers have little or no information to offer up, but most of the time they just are not willing to give information out. You head out to the property, given the info you have it's going to be a mystery.

Front Shot of house on stilts.

    You pull up to the property sweating in fear that some home owner is going to chase you off, luck be with you and it's vacant. Grab your keys and start heading for the door. Keys work and push the door open but before you go in you wait for the cock roaches finish falling and anything else that runs free. Stepping over the trash and adjusting to the stench,

Bedroom with dresser.

you start shooting, two shots of each room, the breaker, the furnace, and any damage. The whole time you creep through out the house hoping some one is not hiding in the house and the dead cat in the basement doesn't come alive and eat you.  You carry a three size D battery flashlight as if it's the best protection for you but most of the time there is really nothing in the house. Mean while you still need to get those photos done and you notice the is a barn, shed or some kind of out building you have to  check out as well. You get there and WTF there is a dead horse, dead dog, wasp and or it's full of junk and trash , I like it when it's an empty out building. 

Kitchen and trash.

  Some photos I have taken over the years have netted me a nice collection. One of the stranger things is the left items of people that did live at the property. You find some personel items  like family vaction photos, food, and the most odd stuff is always in the bathroom. The stuff people buy and do in a bathroom amazes me.  

Is this your bathroom

 Photos of the property needs to be what your asset manager thinks they need. Some basic photos are front, left, right, rear, mechanicals, address, trash in the house, at least two photos of each room, roof and street shots. This is only one part of the photos that you eventually will be getting, soon there will be trash out before and after photos, marketing photos and any repair that is going on. 

   Enjoy a few photos of some foreclosed properties, oh believe me these are the tamest ones I could post.