1438 Chestnut Uncaptioned Listing Photo

At least the close-ups of the lemons and flowers speak to flora while the wine bottle and Bertazzoni shots speak to the kitchen. But honestly, we have absolutely no idea what the photo above is supposed to tell us about the TIC at 1438 Chestnut.

And considering that out of the twenty-eight (28) listing photos it’s the only one (1) currently without a caption on the MLS, perhaps we’re not the only ones. Or damn it, perhaps we just took the (alligator) bait.

17 thoughts on “The One Without A Caption (For Now)”
  1. Those are some of the most ridiculous pictures taken yet. What it says to me is that the flat itself doesn’t really have that much going for it so we’ll pretty up the listing with pictures of artsy objects and lemons growing. Oh look – they have a wine rack. I want to live like that. If I buy this flat I can have lemons and a wine rack too!

  2. I agree with Owl for the most part though there are plenty of photos that describe the property itself in this collection. So it isn’t all fluff.
    I really enjoy looking at good photos though for the purposes of real estate I’d prefer “just the facts, m’aam” imagery. Whenever I see pseudo-arty stuff it raises suspicions that the property itself needs a little marketing boost to move at the seller’s price.
    Surely there aren’t so many buyers out there who are snowed over by fancy marketing enough to have them over pay ?
    (I wonder if anyone will be tempted to spin that large jack paperweight to see if it eventually tumbles to a stop or spins forever)

  3. You people are harsh. The photographer is obviously a frustrated art school geek who is only doing this architectural interiors work “to pay the bills” and/or retire his student loan debt.
    With the photo featured above, he’s trying to demonstrate that even while executing practical work, he still retains his ability to see ordinary objects in new and different ways. Be on the lookout for his upcoming one man show at SF Camerawork.

  4. Let the psychologist interpret… the oversized jack symbolizes childhood, a lizard usually symbolizes money and marigolds are associated with death: If you are childish enough to let the gator gobble your money (by buying this flat?) the agent offers her condolences.

  5. maybe the idea is that RE is so screwy right now that if they price it like a condo you won’t notice it’s a tic. pretty bland otherwise.

  6. Realtors select the photos themselves and many of them feel they are also interior decorators as well. When a property lacks substance you will see ridiculous photos of just about anything. Some realtors go as far as to photograph all the small shops and cafes as if they were being sold with what usually is an inferior property.

  7. wow… I’m out of touch.
    I think the unit looks great. Fantastic details. It’s a 2 BR PLUS office. very very livable. So much better than the “luxury” crap I’m subjected to on a daily basis in SF.
    I actually love the photography.
    In general I feel that the pictures do a great job of making this unit look great. For instance, the panoramic of the living room gives you an idea of the room without the super stretching that gives me nausea.
    The alligator head pic… sure artistic and dumb, as were the close ups of the lemons… but at least the lemons ARE part of the property you are buying. I think the pic of the back yard with the lemons hanging in the upper left corner was beautiful and shows the back yard in a great way.
    I would take this listing and listing agent 100,000,000x before I’d settle for the tilted crappy pics from an Iphone on a cloudy day, or a pic of the shop-du-jour that’s 2 miles away.
    More of these listings please. I think this is one of the best listings we’ve seen in a while
    I counted, and there are 3-9 “artistic” pics that really don’t tell us much about the property… out of 28. 3 egregious ones:
    #5: alligator head
    #26: blue flower close up
    #28: lemon close up.
    the following are arguable but I think these may not “just” artistic for the sake of artistry:
    #2: entryway. seems staged.. but again you do get the idea that there is an entry way.
    #8: flower closeup with kitchen in background. That said, you do see relationship of DR to kitchen with this pic.
    #13 closeup on Bertazzoni label. although you ARE getting a Bertazzoni which matters to materialistic people. sellers spent many many thousands of dollars on that garbage, might as well market it.
    #14: interior of wine fridge. again, you are getting the fridge.
    #19: golf clubs and fedora hat. that said, this is a picture of the hallway walk in closet, a selling point in SF IMO.
    #20 sink closeup. again, you are getting the sink.
    My only qualm:
    “Renovated kitchen with custom soft close cabinterty.”
    I don’t want any cabinterty in my kitchen, regardless if they are soft or custom. I like to my terties in the bathroom, and if they are not soft then I take fiber. (TMI I know).
    Odd with such focus to detail that there is

  8. @ex SF-er-
    Do you realize how whipped you sound? Realtors have you thankful that there’s an entryway, the dining room is next to the kitchen (what a great place to put it), there’s a closet in the hall, and there’s a sink! They haven’t provided pictures that clearly show you those things but you get an IDEA that they’re there. They have lowered your standards to the point where you’re thrilled that it’s (probably, we can’t really tell from the pictures) just a normal place without a bedroom wrapped in glass inside the living room.
    These pictures make me think of aging actresses who get photographed through gauze to soften all the ravages of time. You get the IDEA that they’re pretty but if you saw them in person you’d see all the things airbrushing couldn’t fix.

  9. While this pic is absolutely ridiculous, i feel that the lemons and blue-flowers closeups are even worse in terms of selling a specific piece of real estate. Cause when you’re looking at lemons and blue flowers you could be just about anywhere, but if you’re looking at a dead reptile’s head at least it sends the message that “you’re someplace less than 100% normal”.

  10. owl:
    what are you talking about?
    there are 9 “artistic” pictures out of 28
    that leaves 19 pictures of the property.
    There is a picture of
    -exterior (#1)
    -nice panoramic of the living room (#3)
    -another LR pic (#4)
    -TWO good DR pics (#6 and #7)
    -THREE good kitchen pics (#9,10,11)
    -TWO good den pics (#15,16)
    -bedroom pic (#17)
    -pic of other bedroom (#18)
    -bath pic (#21)
    -FOUR good back yard pics (#22,23,24, 25)
    *you could even use 26 as a good pic.
    if you don’t have any idea about this property from the listing then you have no imagination. Heck, many of the pictures show the flow… you can see how the LR relates to the DR and how that relates to the entry and the kitchen.
    I stand by my first claim.
    This was a FANTASTIC listing.
    There are 19 great pics of a small 2 BR property.
    there are 3 egregious pics (stated above)
    and 6 more that are plus minus IMO for reasons stated above.
    Put away the Hateorade, this listing ROCKS. And I rarely say that.

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