Removing photos of home from real estate sites

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To people who wonder why anyone would care about old photos being online,

I recently went on a job interview where I was asked by four people interviewing me about my house. They discussed at length the kitchen and living areas and asked me questions about it! It was the weirdest thing. It made me horribly uncomfortable since I was interviewing for an IT job. They also began to discuss the price of my house. TOTALLY BIZARRE! I understand people are curious and go online and gawk BUT at least some people to have enough class as to not openly question me about it! Would love to have online listings removed!

ITA. However, as an employer, you should understand that your employer deserves to know how you afford your lifestyle, and if you are living beyond your means. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but it does add up.

That is irrelevant in a job interview, and potentially illegal. I would walk right out of the room if those types of questions were asked. An interview is intended to find out if you can do the job, what you can bring to the table to do the job, and how you would be a good fit for the company. Where one lives, or how one can afford it, is not an employer's business.

An employer's business is anything they want to know that they aren't prohibited from asking about by law. The price/location/etc. of your house is fair game.

Why on earth would an interviewer waste their own time by speculating about an interviewee's kitchen layout and home price? Who cares? Methinks PP interviewed with a bunch of shallow morons who don't understand the point of an interview.

You would be amazed at how awful some interviewers are.

Let me tell you a story about a big bank on the east coast that invited me to interview. I flew out with a friend and landed a little late so wasn't able to attend the dinner the night before . Interview started at 10 AM the morning after but there was a breakfast at 7:30 so I figured I would get up and go to the maybe meet some employees get some input and then have some stuff to talk about.

My alarm goes off at 6 AM and I get dressed and go downstairs. My friend who is also interviewing told me thanks for setting alarm for him and I realized that I hadn't set one for him nor how to set one for myself (I use my phone). At that point I realized the company headset wake up calls for all of their candidates. At that point I realized the company had set wake up calls for all of their candidates. That's weird, particularly considering the breakfast is optional - and some people flew in from the west coast.
At the breakfast no employees show up so it's not a particularly useful experience. I go to the interview and the first person starts asking me about some very specific posts made by a business partner years prior regarding certain tax related things that would've taken them at least an hour if not more to find online. The questions are not germane to the interview . It's weird and creepy . I go to the next interview where the interviewer proceeds to announce he normally only interviews executive candidates but is fitting in today, and that he has nothing to ask me so I'm free to just sit around and play on my phone . I proceed to do just that. My last interview her of the day comes in and at this point I truly don't care anymore so I take my tie off a look at the interviewer and I tell him my last interview her of the day comes in and at this point I truly don't care anymore so I take my tie off a look at the interviewer and I tell him go "go". He loves the cocky attitude go figure .

I'm go to lunch again for lunch that should have had employees there but there are none. My flight home is at 7 PM but I realize there is a 3 PM flight so I may as well leave and get to the airport. I finish eating with everyone, say bye to the other candidates at the table and head out, stopping to talk to the lead recruiter I thank him for the time . He proceeds to explain to me that I am not allowed to leave until 130 when the lunch is over. Thinking he was joking I laugh and then he repeats himself. I go back to the table confused and sit down. The other candidates are even more perplexed. Realizing I really don't care to work for a company that treats people who aren't even their employees this way I get up and leave anyway.

A week later I get the job offer. Turned it down and told HR that if they felt comfortable enough to schedule my wake up calls and tell me when I'm allowed to get up from lunch, they didn't understand that interviews are a two way street.

trying this post again

Um no. I think you don't know how to use google calendar and/or phone. You probably accepted the invite they sent you via email using your phone, and the invite automatically put the event on your phone. You got a wake up call, because your phone defaults to setting an alarm.

It was the hotel phone that rang, not my cell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

How would who did the work impact the appraisers valuation? When it was done might (i.e. How old is the root), but who did it seems pretty irrelevant, to buyer, lender and appraiser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

How would who did the work impact the appraisers valuation? When it was done might (i.e. How old is the root), but who did it seems pretty irrelevant, to buyer, lender and appraiser.

Buyers often base their offer price on how much profit they think the seller "should" get based on what they paid and how much they spent on upgrades. It's an irrational way to judge the value of a home, but it may be useful in figuring out what the seller would or would not accept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

How would who did the work impact the appraisers valuation? When it was done might (i.e. How old is the root), but who did it seems pretty irrelevant, to buyer, lender and appraiser.

Buyers often base their offer price on how much profit they think the seller "should" get based on what they paid and how much they spent on upgrades. It's an irrational way to judge the value of a home, but it may be useful in figuring out what the seller would or would not accept.

Fair point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

How would who did the work impact the appraisers valuation? When it was done might (i.e. How old is the root), but who did it seems pretty irrelevant, to buyer, lender and appraiser.

Buyers often base their offer price on how much profit they think the seller "should" get based on what they paid and how much they spent on upgrades. It's an irrational way to judge the value of a home, but it may be useful in figuring out what the seller would or would not accept.

Fair point.

Why is it irrational?

It's perfectly rational to want to know that as a negotiating point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

How would who did the work impact the appraisers valuation? When it was done might (i.e. How old is the root), but who did it seems pretty irrelevant, to buyer, lender and appraiser.

Buyers often base their offer price on how much profit they think the seller "should" get based on what they paid and how much they spent on upgrades. It's an irrational way to judge the value of a home, but it may be useful in figuring out what the seller would or would not accept.

Fair point.

Why is it irrational?

It's perfectly rational to want to know that as a negotiating point.

Not PP but its irrational in the sense that its disconnected from what the market will bear. If the home is "worth" $X as compared to similar homes, it should sell near $X - irrespective of what the original buyers paid for it or put in it. The idea that it can be a negotiating point is only useful on the margin really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone care about this? HOme security?

I'd like to know this too. What's the big deal?

Because you may not want potential buyers to know which improvements you made vs. ones that were already there. For example, I looked back to photos from when our previous owners bought the house, and we could see that they didn't actually make the improvements to the house that they claimed they made (e.g. the bathrooms had already been renovated, the kitchen cabinets had already been painted, etc…). This allowed us to put in a lower offer b/c they really put $0 into the house although they claimed they put in like $30K.

Who the hell cares who made the improvements?

Obviously the buyers, plus their lender and -- most importantly -- the appraiser

This is not a second semester question

How would who did the work impact the appraisers valuation? When it was done might (i.e. How old is the root), but who did it seems pretty irrelevant, to buyer, lender and appraiser.

Because it would give you the age of items in the house which would be of interest to the buyer, lender and appraiser.

Buyer - when do I have to replace items

Lender - the house has old items in it and will the buyer be more likely to replace those items or pay the mortgage

Appraiser - they give value depend on the age of items. For example, if the previous owner did the kitchen 10 years ago, that would have value x. But if the current owner did the kitchen 5 years ago that would have a higher value.

[Anonymous]

I had this problem, so I did the following:

Logged into Zillow and claimed my home. It's super easy to claim a home--nothing official is needed, just you checking a box that you are the homeowner. In fact, I still have my old home claimed as mine. As a member, you have full editing rights to information on Zillow. All photos are now down!
Emailed Redfin ( [e-mail] ) and made a request to remove photos. Within 8 minutes, someone from Redfin alerted me that photos were now down. I checked, and they are now down!

I contacted the listing agent of my home, and she said they like to keep the photos up to help other realtors with comps. Not buying it. I told her all they need are the home's specs; how else did they do it before Zillow and all the other home sites? I'm still waiting, but apparently, the listing agent can uncheck a box on their end to remove the home's pictures. If all else fails, I will contact the broker and try that way.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

This thread is very bizarre, who cares what the previous owners did. You can find out how much any house is worth without these sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a victim of stalking and I can tell you we have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to block/erase our home photos and personal information everywhere on line. To answer your question - it's all about privacy and security.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To people who wonder why anyone would care about old photos being online,

I recently went on a job interview where I was asked by four people interviewing me about my house. They discussed at length the kitchen and living areas and asked me questions about it! It was the weirdest thing. It made me horribly uncomfortable since I was interviewing for an IT job. They also began to discuss the price of my house. TOTALLY BIZARRE! I understand people are curious and go online and gawk BUT at least some people to have enough class as to not openly question me about it! Would love to have online listings removed!

ITA. However, as an employer, you should understand that your employer deserves to know how you afford your lifestyle, and if you are living beyond your means. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but it does add up.

That is irrelevant in a job interview, and potentially illegal. I would walk right out of the room if those types of questions were asked. An interview is intended to find out if you can do the job, what you can bring to the table to do the job, and how you would be a good fit for the company. Where one lives, or how one can afford it, is not an employer's business.

An employer's business is anything they want to know that they aren't prohibited from asking about by law. The price/location/etc. of your house is fair game.

Why on earth would an interviewer waste their own time by speculating about an interviewee's kitchen layout and home price? Who cares? Methinks PP interviewed with a bunch of shallow morons who don't understand the point of an interview.

You would be amazed at how awful some interviewers are.

Let me tell you a story about a big bank on the east coast that invited me to interview. I flew out with a friend and landed a little late so wasn't able to attend the dinner the night before . Interview started at 10 AM the morning after but there was a breakfast at 7:30 so I figured I would get up and go to the maybe meet some employees get some input and then have some stuff to talk about.

My alarm goes off at 6 AM and I get dressed and go downstairs. My friend who is also interviewing told me thanks for setting alarm for him and I realized that I hadn't set one for him nor how to set one for myself (I use my phone). At that point I realized the company headset wake up calls for all of their candidates. At that point I realized the company had set wake up calls for all of their candidates. That's weird, particularly considering the breakfast is optional - and some people flew in from the west coast.

At the breakfast no employees show up so it's not a particularly useful experience. I go to the interview and the first person starts asking me about some very specific posts made by a business partner years prior regarding certain tax related things that would've taken them at least an hour if not more to find online. The questions are not germane to the interview . It's weird and creepy . I go to the next interview where the interviewer proceeds to announce he normally only interviews executive candidates but is fitting in today, and that he has nothing to ask me so I'm free to just sit around and play on my phone . I proceed to do just that. My last interview her of the day comes in and at this point I truly don't care anymore so I take my tie off a look at the interviewer and I tell him my last interview her of the day comes in and at this point I truly don't care anymore so I take my tie off a look at the interviewer and I tell him go "go". He loves the cocky attitude go figure .

I'm go to lunch again for lunch that should have had employees there but there are none. My flight home is at 7 PM but I realize there is a 3 PM flight so I may as well leave and get to the airport. I finish eating with everyone, say bye to the other candidates at the table and head out, stopping to talk to the lead recruiter I thank him for the time . He proceeds to explain to me that I am not allowed to leave until 130 when the lunch is over. Thinking he was joking I laugh and then he repeats himself. I go back to the table confused and sit down. The other candidates are even more perplexed. Realizing I really don't care to work for a company that treats people who aren't even their employees this way I get up and leave anyway.

A week later I get the job offer. Turned it down and told HR that if they felt comfortable enough to schedule my wake up calls and tell me when I'm allowed to get up from lunch, they didn't understand that interviews are a two way street.

TLDR. cliffs pls

Oh I read the whole thing and it was awesome! What company was it!!?????

[Anonymous]

All the people who walked through your house when it was on the market have pics on their phones. The appraiser came by and took pics for a refi! fuggedaboudit

[Anonymous]

Don't put photos up in the first place. Once text or media is on the internet, it's there forever. Even if the photos are deleted now, anyone, for perpetuity, can go to https://archive.org/web/ and pull up stored web pages that have been deleted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't put photos up in the first place. Once text or media is on the internet, it's there forever. Even if the photos are deleted now, anyone, for perpetuity, can go to https://archive.org/web/ and pull up stored web pages that have been deleted.

This looks like a scam: "download now to use as a 'trusted citation' later"? Are they serious?