Keeping Your Property Shots Picture Perfect
AI can give you great property shots. Just try not to catfish potential renters.
Not so long ago, it was incredibly
easy to spot an image generated by
artificial intelligence.
There was just always something … off about it.
Hands, for example. Hands were never right. People had extra fingers. Or they had an arm coming out of their chest. Maybe you didn’t notice at first glance, but once you really examined the image, you couldn’t unsee it.
And that was true for AI-generated property images, as well. Light switches would be randomly floating around. Doorjambs went diagonal. Sometimes items looked like they were floating.
But as we know, there have been many advances in AI. Now AI-generated images are a lot more realistic. For apartment leasing agents, this could make it really tempting—and easy—to catfish potential residents when posting images of a community and available units. (Let’s not even get into the issues with dating apps!) A paint job here, a slightly bigger bathroom there. Before you know it, your cute one-bedroom is suddenly a palatial suite. It might seem like a harmless way to get people in the door, but it could backfire on you and make prospective renters feel duped.
Using AI for a little pizazz is one thing. But you also have an ethical (and possibly legal, depending on your state) responsibility not to deceive your potential renters. In our feature, “AI Do’s and Don’ts for Listings and Leasing,” Matthew Kaufman walks through the do’s and don’ts of AI property images. For example, Shelly Steitz of Cadence Marketing Solutions told Kaufman that she uses AI to remove trash or film from windows in images of units under renovation.
“You want it to look like somebody actually lives there and that it looks true to that property’s brand,” she said.
You’ll find more tips in the issue. We hope you enjoy!
