Lovely Listing Photos With Hidden Flaws You’ll Regret Falling For: Do You Spot Them?: Massachusetts HomeBuyers HomeOwnerhsip

 Finding your dream home today all starts with the photos. Odds are, if you surf real estate listings (and don’t we all?), you’ve been seduced by gorgeous images of cozy wood-burning fireplaces, luxurious marble bathrooms, or home offices cleverly closed off by jaunty barn doors. I, too, have fallen hard for listings, then even followed through with purchasing these properties. Yet once I’ve visited or even lived in these picture perfect homes, I can tell you that many of the features I loved in the listings just didn’t live up to the hype in real life.

 Why not? Certain home upgrades, it turns out, photograph beautifully, but they don’t always look so great up close or function all that well once you’re faced with cleaning or maintaining them on a daily basis. It pays to head into your online house hunt with your eyes open to both the pros and cons of what you see in these pretty pictures. To help you prepare, here are ten things in listing photos that make for amazing eye candy, but may not be so sweet IRL.

1. Wood-burning fireplace

 When we see a fireplace in a real estate listing, our minds turn to winter nights snuggling with loved ones by the hearth. The reality? Most homeowners stop using a wood burning fireplace after the first year, since it’s high maintenance (lugging in firewood is backbreaking work) and makes a huge mess (sweeping up ashes while digesting Christmas dinner is a drag).

 One homebuyer I know fell in love with a listing because of the living room fireplace, but after buying the place was soon disillusioned with the feature. The burning wood created so much smoke, some of it seeped into the house and blackened the mantel trim. She has since stopped using it, and is considering a conversion to gas.

2. Barn doors

 Barn doors were a novelty when they first appeared in listings, and they always look adorable. A rolling door that doesn’t swing open is also a nice space-saving way to separate adjoining rooms. But if you’re a homebuyer, be wary.

 Many listings show barn doors closing off an office, powder room, or master bath. In real life, they often don’t work well. The reason: A barn door hanging from a slider doesn’t settle into the door frame, so there’s little noise reduction, which can be a big problem. In these cases, a well-fitting, solid-wood pocket door, though trickier to install, is much more functional and saves just as much space.

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Watch: Point, Shoot, Sell? To Show Off Your Home, Avoid These Listing Photo Mistakes

3. Claw-foot tub

 Is there anything more romantic than a listing picture with a claw foot tub? But the reality is that a claw foot tub works best if there’s also a shower stall nearby. If you have to shower in your claw foot, it’s not fun being encased in a shower curtain cocoon that will flutter inward and stick to your body. Also note how the claw foot tub is situated in the room. If it’s squeezed into an alcove and up against a wall, as it so often is, it’s a pain to clean underneath and around it.

4. Wood paneling

 Nature lovers often adore rustic interiors with plenty of wood paneling, which looks so alluring in listing photos. Yet in real life, all this wood can be drab, since dark rooms mute light. As such, homebuyers should pay close attention to the lighting in a wood paneled room. You’ll want to see a good mix of recessed lighting, overhead fixtures, and task lighting in addition to plentiful sources of natural light.

5. Light fixtures with exposed bulbs

 Are we not over the Edison lightbulb craze yet? Sure, exposed bulbs are a quick way to add vintage character to a plain Jane room. And they can look intriguing in photos, but in actuality, they simply don’t provide enough light. For starters, bare bulbs without a canopy are both too glaring and not bright enough at the same time. How can that be? The function of the missing canopy is to soften light as it beams down, making it warmer and actually brighter. Without something like a shaded pendant to force the light down onto, say, the kitchen counter, the light won’t be bright enough to help with seeing tasks at hand. Bulbs are also a pain to clean. So, for your own sanity, you might want to add a covering to them and call it a day.

6. Dark paint

 Dark paint on walls looks dramatic in photos, and can be a refreshing change from the endless stream of white rooms you’ll see in listings. Yet once you see these walls in real life, they may not impress you and may even look worse the closer you get. These walls have to be in impeccable shape, or else every flaw will show, and the painter has to know what she’s doing.

 A common mistake among DIYers is to use glossy paint on wallboard or plaster. You’ll notice that, in real life, it shows every imperfection much more so than matte paint, and may have an uneven shine in places. Plus, similar to wood paneling, dark paint sucks up all the light in a room. So be sure the home has a good mix of recessed, overhead, and task lighting. In addition, you will want to add table lamps, since lowlights can be alluring in a dark room.

7. Brick- or stone-paved driveway

 A brick or stone paved driveway certainly adds curb appeal. But before you fall for the real estate listing, ask yourself if you’re willing to do the maintenance that’s required. Pavers need to be sealed regularly to avoid discoloration from the sun and elements. And then there’s the problem of weeds. If the driveway is in a sunny spot, weeds will proliferate, popping up between stones.

 If you’re considering purchasing a home with a paved driveway, ask who installed it. You’ll want to hear that best practices installation methods were used. If bricks or pavers aren’t installed properly and you live in a climate where temperatures approach freezing, ice that forms then melts can cause stones to pop up over time, and you’ll eventually have an uneven surface. And the result of that will be not so picturesque.

8. Marble (or marble-look tile)

 Slab marble is giving us all emoji heart eyes right now when used in kitchen backsplashes and bathroom shower walls. It looks great yet in real life, marble works for only two types of people: Type A neat freaks and those who appreciate the patina of natural materials over time. Marble look porcelain tile is often touted as a less costly and low maintenance substitute for slab marble.

 It can also look great in photos, but it doesn’t always look as good up close, and it doesn’t age well. To pull off a smooth, uniform look, you have to minimize grout lines by using a grout color that matches the tile. The end result can look picture perfect at first. But over time, all white grout turns dingy. Choosing a darker gray grout is not a good solution, since the eye is immediately drawn to dark grout lines, which makes their pattern in the tile more noticeable.

9. Painted flooring

 The first time I laid eyes on DIY-painted tile in photos, we’d just moved into a new home with builder beige tiles on the kitchen floor that clashed with the backsplash. The idea of painting that tile floor was tempting. I was enamored with then new encaustic tiles that were starting to trend, and thought I could achieve the look using stencil and paint. So I understand why homeowners might latch on to the idea of painting ugly tile.

 It’s an inexpensive DIY project for a person who has patience, a steady hand, and time. And the difference in before and after photos is dramatic! But check back after a year of heavy foot traffic and, no matter how much primer or drying time were employed, they’ll be scuffed and peeling. In short, you’ll have to paint again, and again, and again, to maintain that pristine look.

10. Pea gravel

 Pea gravel is popular in listing pictures today not only for driveways, but also for surrounding pools and fire pits. Yet although pea gravel is nicely low maintenance (impeding the growth of weeds) and needs only to be raked over every so often to look good, it can be a nuisance underfoot. Truth is, the pea size stones get caught in sandals and flip flops, and it’s even more uncomfortable on bare feet. As such, while it’s fine for driveways, pea gravel may be much more of a pain near a swimming pool or in any outdoor space where you’re hoping to kick off your shoes and relax.

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