I can't stress this enough: First impressions are important, especially when it comes to real estate. And terrible real estate photos can certainly give a negative first impression. Agents at the top of their marketing game have it down to a science—hiring professional photographers, furniture stagers, and image retouchers, and maybe even buying flowers as a pop of color and a finishing touch. Of course, not all budgets can accommodate these expenses, and many agents take on the task of staging on a shoestring budget. And while most understand the basic principles of photographing a listing—making the property look attractive to potential buyers—the memo was missed by a precious few who either took a certain creative license over their listings or just couldn't be bothered. In some cases, a simple crop could make a world of difference, or, you know, removing the possessed clown sculpture in the corner or the floating body in the pool, but other shots are just full-blown disasters from the get-go. Although a quick clean-up or change in perspective would have boosted the quality of the following images from abominably bad to acceptable, I'm thankful for the treasure trove of terrible real estate photos I have collected over the years. But why some of these shots weren't simply left out of the listing, we'll just never know. Maybe you shouldn't hire your Mom's friends daughters-neighbor, just because they seemed nice at that event last year.