You do all know that the photos featured in every month’s “MLS Musings” are from active condos and houses for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, don’t you?

It should go without saying.

But then again, some of the photos I feature in this column are so incredibly far-fetched that a casual reader might not realize where they came from.

I often take this for granted in this column.

And I can’t help but think that even the regular readers do as well.

We’re all so used to seeing terrible photos in this column that it’s often lost on us just how insane it is that these photos would be included as “marketing’ concepts, all in the name of showcasing a house or condo, in attempts to sell it.

Today’s MLS Musings has a theme, although I swear it was unintended.

Most of these photos just seem a little creepy.

Perhaps in different ways, and perhaps some are merely odd, or weird.

But case in point, check out these first two…

This photo appeared in a recent MLS listing for a condo, and it looks to me like somebody was creeping up on the door, pushed it a little bit open, then snapped a photo:

Seriously, all that’s missing is a hand on the left side of the frame, slowly opening the door.

I feel like there’s a person behind that door, on the left.

But what’s even weirder about this photo, is that the second bedroom in the condo actually had a person inside it!

Did that girl give permission?

Did she even know the person (assuming this was the agent) was taking photos for MLS?

Just really, really creepy…

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Wait…..what?  This is the feature photo for a condo on MLS?

What time was this photo taken?

Why was the agent outside the building at like 2:00am?

Or is this from the agent’s personal collection?  Maybe he knows the girl that lives on the fifth floor…

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Creepy in a different way…

….what do you think of the photos for this new listing?

That’s the living/dining room, FYI.

If that doesn’t sell the house, how about this photo of the kitchen:

You know how I always ridicule the agents who list properties with zero photos?

Well, this is the rare case of a house that shouldn’t have any.

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What would be more awkward about the photo for this condo listing:

a) The agent took a photo while two people were sitting, minding their own business.
B) The two guys knew the agent was taking a photo, and didn’t care?

Forever imortalized on MLS!

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This isn’t really creepy, per se.

But I don’t understand it:

There’s this newly-renovated basement, albeit awkwardly staged with one chair and an end table with a rose…

…and then a garden hose stretched from one end of the room to the other?

Somebody check the cold room!  I fear this might be happening:

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Who doesn’t love porcelain tile?

It’s a cool finish for a bathroom where you don’t want to use marble, since marble stains easily.

Hmmmm…..where else could you use porcelain?

How about……………every single square inch of floor space in a 1,200 square foot condo?

Nah, that’s crazy.  Nobody would ever do that…

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How about a few of my all time faves?  Photographers capturing themselves in the shot!

This guy tried his best.  You can see him reaching for the button on the camera as he stands out of frame:

Then he goes to the other bathroom.

This time, he tries crouching down, rather than standing off to the side:

Different property here, and this photographer has a remote, but it’s even more glaring than the first two:

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I’m into my third year of wearing eyeglasses, and maybe I need to update my prescription.

So you tell me: is this photo blurry, or am I going crazy?

Yes, that actually appeared on MLS.

“MLS: Where The Unthinkable, Happens.”

Cool slogan, I like that!

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I could probably come up with a better idea for marketing this condo than taking a single photo, in the dark, with no furniture, of 1/3 of the room, showing how the unit looks directly at multiple railway lines, a mere 50 feet from the window, only three storeys up…

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This, I just don’t understand.

You get twenty photos for MLS.  We all know this, right?

In the bottom, left-hand corner of the listing, you can see what photo you’re looking at, ie. “1 of 16,” which means it’s the first photo that shows up.  The first photo as in the “Feature” photo.

So how do you want to showcase your listing?

With a photo of the hallway, apparently…

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I’ve never seen this before.

Like, ever.

This listing came out on Tuesday, twice, at two different prices:

No catch, no misunderstanding.

Sometimes we see a listing loaded twice, say, at $799,900.

Sometimes we see a $799,900 listing cancelled, and then the “new” $749,900 listing comes out.

But this is literally two listings for the same property, at two different prices.

I don’t even know how that happens.

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Typppo’s happen.  They’re honest misttakes.

But if there’s one thing you don’t want to misspell in a listing, it’s the one item that users search for on MLS: the street.

Something tells me this listing won’t get much action.  Unless the user is also looking for condos on Jarvas Street, Richmind Street, and Adelayed Street as well…

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And last, but certainly not least, I laughed out loud at this one.

I know it’s a typo, but come on!

MLS doesn’t have spell-check, but that can’t look right to the person loading this listing.

…can it?

I suppose these are your target buyers for the property:

Have a fantastic long weekend, everybody!