First off....why is it every single bpo you do happens to be the only house on the block with their whole family outside....

normally i politely ask if i can take a picture...and usually no complaints...

today...i drove about 25 miles for a single bpo...it was a super duper uper rush...so it was worth it...
i take the street sign photo...then street scene...then i am about to take a picture of the subject....and BOOM 2 kids come running out and start jumping around....

the last thing i want is kids in my picture, at this point im like what do i do? im not going home...and i really shouldnt approach children...and i need two more photos...one front and one side pic....i decide to be sneaky...i go to the right of the property and take a side picture cutting out part of the front lawn and children....now for the front...oh good they ran to the left side...maybe i can jsut take it with out them...right before i snap it....the boy runs out and is like what are you doing?

i stand there very awkwardly for a second...collect myself.....think...pause...think again....then slowly say

"ahem...can i take a quick picture of your home without you in it (i felt like i said it an a creepy like voice as if i was offering them candy to come into my van) the kid looks at me scared...backs off and grabs his sisters hand and pulls her back...

i say screw it in my head...snap the photo...run to my car before they can go grab their parents and speed off...

just another day in a bpo'er shoes

Oh moneymike...not good.

I don't know about where you live, but here in the paranoid suburbs your sketch would be plastered all over the local paper.

Seriously.

Do not ever ever talk to little kids. Settle for a really bad shot of the property. Learn to snap the photo from a moving car. Or, super duper rush or not, just go home and get it later.

This isn't about breaking the BPO company rules, it's about putting yourself in danger of being accused of something you don't even want to think about. These are not trusting times we live in. I think you "dodged a bullet today".

I'm going to agree with Concept on this one. I've never talked to kids in front of a house I was taking pictures of. I've had a few times where there were kids in the front yard and it was too far away to just come back another time. Most of the time if I drive around the area for 5 or 10 mintues, the kids will be gone by the time I come back. If not, I stop as far away as possible and zoom in to get the pictures. I don't get out of my car to take 99% of my drive by photos, so like Concept said, I have learned to snap the photo quickly as I drive by, just pausing long enough to get a clear photo.

i forgot to add...that i originally waited in my car for about 15 minutes because i had to make a phonecall...but then...i got impatient and figured i could take it without talking to the kids and without them ending up in it...i had to get out of my car to get the right angle.(i was obviously wrong) ..i agree i usually dont get out...

I've used the simple microsoft paint program to copy patches of grass, bushes and siding to make people "disappear". I've even copied and pasted an empty window to hid someone looking out of one that I didn't see until going through my pics back at home. If I were savy, I bet photo shop could work wonders as well. It sure beats a 60 to 90 minute repeat round trip.

Moneymike, I have to say your story is so close to home. Down here in Houston, everyone lives outside, cooks outside, plays outside...they don't seem to care about the mesquitos, the heat, the humidity. So, the situation you described happens to me a lot, but I am usually very close to home and can come back in 10 minutes, so it is not as big a deal. It happened last week (on a dead end street, to make matters worse). Kids were in the front yard of the subject property. Plus, across the street, the entire neighborhood was having a party, with one of those plastic jumping moonwalks (I hate those things). The only thing that saved me was an empty house for sale next door. So I pretended to be interested in that. I would look in the view finder with the camera pointed to the house for rent, then quickly turn the camera toward the subject and snap, while continuing to look at the house for sale...I had to take about 8 before I got one right with no kids.

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, but we do feel awful when some kid who sees us driving slowly down the street takes off like a streak of lightning. You know he or she is scared and is just running to a safe place. It's only happened to me a few times, but I feel so bad. Still--it makes you so proud of the kid and of his parents--because they taught him to stay safe and he actually listened.

It's hard to crop the kids out, but the other day I had an interior with wall to wall grafitti--it was the worst stuff I have ever read...and I had to crop it all out. My entire interior was floors, plus closeups of sinks, stove top, etc.

I guess it's just smart for us to always keep a copy of the job order with us and a copy of our real estate license. Your post hit a nerve because I do worry about the police stopping me--let's face it, we are doing what most people thing is a bad thing--they see us as bad people, or maybe snooping private detectives, or rejected girlfriends or suiters, or maybe someone "casing the joint". So we always wonder when our number will be up.

I do remember reading that we should not edit our photos because we may get in trouble for accidentally editing out a crack in the brick, bad wood in the trim, etc. So we do need to be very careful with that...they usually already have other photos of the house to compare ours with.

A little off the subject, but I was sent a BPO that another agent did not finish, and it still had their photos. I was very critical of them, till I visited the property and saw what prevented a better angle. Plus (and this almost never happens), their photos were better than mine. There went my bragging rights. The entire report was finished except for the value...don't know what happened there for them to do all that work and then not submit it. This is not always the easy job some agents make it appear. One thing she left out--from the subject front yard, you have a perfect view of the entire NASA complex, a 5-minute ride or less. To me, that was worth mentioning. Sorry, I'm off subject now.

One last thing--the FLU beats a 90-minute round trip.

Why are you out of your car?

because kids were in the yard....and i was trying to take a pic without them.... i think i wrote that in my initial post..if not..thats why

Myself, I get good pictures even if there are people in the shot or not. The Gods at the BPO companies don't care, they just want their pics and BPO done.

However, I always bring all of my paperwork including work orders with me. If by chance a police officer happens to see you taking pics of a house and questions you (it has happened to me), you have proof of what you are doing with you. My SUV also has my company name on the spare tire cover, so it is further proof I am a realtor doing my job and not someone stalking anyone.

Always practice safety, get in, get your pics, get out, and then go do your BPO on the computer.

I had one mom call the police on me when I was taking photos and her two children were in the back yard and not in the photo. I will never take a photo with children in it. I have taken shots with adults and just photoshopped a shrub over them.

When they came to visit me, I showed them the job order with the asset company and bank information included and they said fine.

About a month and a half later, I had the pleasure (just kidding) of assisting in the eviction.

I have not had too many problems with kids ,they run around so much if you come back a few min. later they have disappeared. I did have something happen a few weeks ago. I always zoom in and snap street signs as soon as I turn the corner,so I can identify homes later that night. It just so happened the corner home is owned by a state trooper and he noticed me taking a photo...he thought of his house! I did not think anything of it and proceeded to get phots of subject further down street...But I did not get out of town without being pulled over and questioned.Thank goodness I did not get a speeding ticket but they questioned me and looked at all my photos! p.s. I am glad that I have my folders with work orders and other info with me so I was able to explain why and what I was doing!

I don't photoshop or change my photos in anyway. Might come back and bite you. I just put it in my comments and never had a problem. Also last time I checked it is a free country. If you in a public area (like the street) you are free to take pictures of what ever you like. Cops or anybody else can't do a thing to you. Kind of like I can tell an officer I THINK or it's my OPINION that you are a complete jerk. Nothing they can do about it. Freedom of speech baby. Also do you think paparazzi run around with work orders? Nope. Sorry about the cop thing kind of irrated at them right now. 7 speeding tickets this year. All of them because I was looking for an address and didn't see the lower speed limit sign. (45 down to 35) Last one threatened to take me to jail because I was crying! I made his superior come out and made him apologize to me and admit he was wrong.

Darlene - why would you crop out the grafitti if you are supposed to be taking pictures of the damage?

Let's face it. Sometimes you need to get out of the car. It's really hard to take photos on the fly if the subject is on a busy highway and you're risking an accident if you slow down enough to take the picture. I used to always get out of the car...photo snob that I am...to make sure I got a good photo. Sometimes your subject is set back a long way from the road and you can't SEE it from the car. But I take 95% of my photos from the car these days. In an earlier time, I was on foot taking my photos and a woman came up to me...accused me of taking photos of HER house...which was not true...she was full of wild stories about her ex putting me up to it and spying on her. I placated her somewhat by giving her my business card, showing her that her house was not in any of my shots (I had only taken the street photos at that point). I wasn't about to disclose which house was my real subject. After she eventually left me alone, I swung around and got my subject photos and got the heck out of there.

Wow! I cannot believe that anyone would edit or crop out the photos!. I know some orders specify "no people" in photos, but then I make extra passes or they get what they get. Using photoshop to change the photos in any manner is misrepresentation and, in my opinion, fraudulent. Moving a bush to conceal a person would affect how the landscaping appears. what happens when the bank gets the property back, or a different report from another agent (done all the time, more than one BPO from different agents) and the photos don't match? When they realize whose photos were altered, you are probably instantly on their "do not use" list. As to cropping out grafitti, why? No matter how bad the language or images are, the client needs to see it so they know what they are dealing with. if you don't show them the actual condition of the property, good, bad or ugly, how can you justify your values? They see carefully edited photos and say, "oh, it doesn't look THAT bad!" However, your work does....
Don't mean to upset anyone or get a battle started, but our job is to show the property as it is, and value it accordingly, not to try to make it look better. Just my opinion!

From first hand experience, never, ever, ever, get out of the car. You really need to be able to get the heck out of an area in a hurry if the situation calls for it (dude comes running he** bent after you w/a gun is a good example.)

About the fixing photos. Are you guys serious? Sorry, but I'm not driving by a house 20 times to not get people in it, or editing out something that may be offensive or what have you. What's there is what's there. How else to depict the true nature of what a house is actually like?

I've only had one company complain about people being in the photo and it was the most ridiculous thing. These people on the porch really had no life. 7:00 am....on the porch. 9:30 am.....on the porch. Noon....on the porch. 3:00 pm....on the porch. 5:30 pm.....on the porch. I was in the area all day fortunetely with other business but hell....no wonder the property is in foreclosure. The next morning I was there at a little afte six just as the sun was coming up. Snapped the photo from a bit of a distance and lo and behold....just a few second later.....they were coming out on the porch.

I leave people in the pics, but I erase their faces.

I don't change anything in a photo, but I have been known to lighten or darken if that helps it look better. These companies aren't paying enough money to warrant taking extra time editing photos. I have darkened up house numbers to make them more legible a time or two when because darkness was nearing and the shutter speed was so slow that the photo was too blurry to make out the numbers.

I would love to stay in the car 100% of the time.

But, I just got orders that require pics of a view from the property as well as all sides of the property and street views from both directions.

I absolutely want to address this issue of photographs...the leaving out, the editing and whatever, but can't do it tonight.

One quick thing--I always include subject front, both sides, both street directions, street sign, house number and any closeups that may help. I love photography, so this is not a big chore with me--some of you prefer other areas of the BPO. But, I can take all of those from my car. It's dangerous without a camera strap (you could drop the camera) but I stick the camera out the window with my view finder on and get all photos. So keep practicing...it will happen and then you can stay in the car.

I do want to go over the missing photos post and make that very clear what happened there. But I'm turning in for the night and will have to post tomorrow night, if possible.

I think everyone has gotten into this situation before. The best thing I do is try to zoom in from a far enough away distance and get the shot without the occupant knowing. One day I drove by and waved to the guy sitting on the front porch when I got the photo. I did not realize he was sitting there until I snapped the photo. I never get out of my car to take pics. Too many dogs roaming around and who knows what else out there! I want to be able to get out of there fast. I have gone into some pretty rough areas, there have been times I do not even put the windows down to take the pic. Snap and roll....

One, I NEVER get out of the car and have never had a problem not doing so. Secondly, if there are people outside I will wait or drive back by. If they still are outside I either take the photo or take a couple of shots of the house and leave them out. I still get most of the front this way. Thirdly, I would NEVER edit a photo. I would rather have a few people in the photo than doctor up a pic. Like someone said, you could be opening yourself up for liability. I will end this way.....I would never tell or suggest to someone new in BPOs to get out of the car, if there are people or not. This is just not good practice. My windows are tinted and I mostly hold the camera right up to the window and after three years of BPOs I have NEVER had one single complaint about pics. Good luck!

I did some photoshop on one photo. The people came out of the house screaming at me. There was a guy in the yard coming at me and there was a woman in the doorway. I was fortunate enough to not have the guy in the photo but the woman WAS in the doorway. There was no way I was going back to that hostile situation to try again so I turned in the photo with this woman opening the door and standing there. QC got me and said no people in photos. I explained the situation and they said, sorry.. our client won't accept that. So I blacked out the whole doorway in the photo (very well, I might add) and it looks like the door is just standing open. Sent it back in and it passed QC. Sorry, but I don't get paid enough for some of the demands of these companies. They are getting more and more demanding and more and more cheap to the agents. Have you seen the requirement, no people or animals in photos? What's up with that? Some animals are out all day! Who cares if an animal is in the photo. That is ridiculous.

Perhaps my neighborhoods are not as bad as others, but I routinely get out of the car - especially when the BPO requires a side photo. (What's up with that anyway?) If there are adults out front I just tell them that I their mortgage lender sent me by to survey their property. I just tell them that its a routine procedure that lenders do to verify the collateral for the loan is still in place. I don't ask to take the photo, I tell that I am taking a photo - but they might not want to be in it. Most people are very cooperative. I have never once had a problem. I have had cases where someone has asked that I not take the photo, but I do anyway. At least they know what's up.

I didn't know people were not allowed in the BPO photo's.?
Maybe that's whey they have been keeping this one BPO for review?
I thought it was because, I used a listing a little further away. The owner had over improved the house(3 stories). So his neighbors benefitted, the owner didn't.

But one of the photo's I used a little kid on a scooter would go away and kept asking questions......he was cute so I just snap the picture and ran back to my car, because I had been ther too long......and talking to a kid is dangerous these days.
I was desparate this one time and I spoke to 2 pre-teens for direction to a new development that wasn't on the map. I was lost. I didn't like talking to the kids
and another thing. I didn't know you werent' suppose to get out of your car? I don't all the time. But if I didn't I'd have car parts in the frame?

Why is it a no no to get out yout car.?
I know from past experience, that people are nosey. Sometimes I car and somtimes I don't care...should I?

I don't really think it's a no no to get out of your car - I think it just depends on your location. Many of the properties that I go to are in the burbs in decent areas and I have no problem with getting out of my car to take pictures. But there are times when the properties are on busy streets where you are forced to take them from your car or in bad neighborhoods where I might be putting myself in a bad situation if I get out of my car.

Here is my opinion (It won't be a popular one!) If agents are so afraid of subject neighborhoods, maybe they should remove that zip from their area and let an agent that is more familiar with the area have those orders.

I grew up in one of these "bad neighborhoods". I understand and respect the people who live there and know how effectively communicate with folks if a question arises. We are supposed to be experts in the geographical areas we service. How can you be an expert if you've never stepped out of your vehicle in an area?

That is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. I can see adequately what is being asked of me from my car. Sometimes I have more problems in the "good" areas with being flipped off and screamed at than the "bad" areas. With that being said, I am not going to go prancing around in one of the citys I service when there is no reason to. It was the #1 murder capital of the world for 7 years in a row. Why would I get out of my car just to say I was out of the car? I do have listings in bad areas and I service them just fine - I just make sure I have someone else with me when I have to go inside. A drive-by inspection is a drive-by inspection. No more, no less.

Makin Money, you are absolutely right.

I didn't mean that anyone should get out of the car just for the heck of it. I rarely get out. What I am saying is that if agents are so terrified of these subject neighborhoods, what are they doing there? How can they be experts? Don't you have to be familiar with something to be an expert? Remove the zip from your list and stay where you are comfortable. What are they going to do if asked to complete an occupancy check? Wait, I know, call the water company How accurate is that!

I wasn't even refering to a "bad neighborhood." Funny how you automaticaly assumed that. I've been chased in the 'burbs, rural areas, as well as in the urban areas I work in. I see no valid reason on a drive-by BPO, to put the car park, and step out in the middle of the street to get photos of a house. Not after multiple encounters w/owners carrying guns, knives, or ball bats in the counties I work.

I don't know if I'm more surprised that people are actually getting out of their cars to take the photos, or more surprised that they're surprised that it's causing issues!

I have taken 100% of my exterior photos not only while sitting in my car, but through my heavily-tinted (as dark as Texas allows) windows. It in no way detracts from the photos and keeps me safe and the people in the houses clueless - which is the way I like it.

I had to take exterior photos today of a manufactured house that faced the side of the yard, making the only visible portion, the actual side - and that was heavily covered by brush. There was no way I could get a full shot of the front, unless I got out of my car and walked into their front yard.

Guess what the company is getting? The best I could take from my car, which is a semi-portion shot of the front, and a long-distance shot of the back, which was visible from a street over. There is no way on God's green Earth that I'm going to endanger my life by walking into someone's yard to get photos for a BPO - I don't care how nice the area may be.

I've had to do this before (heck, I had to submit a photo of a gate before, because that was all that was visible - and this is what I was told to do when I called in) and with the proper statements as to why you turned it in with the photos used, has always been sufficient. I usually state that the dwelling was not fully visible from the street and that my values are based off of the dwelling being in average (or whatever) condition, blah, blah, blah.

There are a few suburbs of Houston that are notorious for having wooded front yards, to the point that the house is barely visible. What am I supposed to do? Climb a tree to get a clear shot??

As far as people being in the shot, if they can see me, I drive around and keep going back until I can get the shots needed. I'll usually snap the one I can get, and go back and get the next, until I can get them all.

Hear hear! I am with you all the way on this. This is exactly what I do. Plus in Texas it is usually so hot outside that to roll down your window would let all the cold air out of your car. Not the best thing for your fuel economy to be making that air conditioner work any harder than it needs to.

Since my windows are tinted too I usually lighten my photos with a photo-editing program. It takes two seconds and makes 'em look great.

Every once in awhile I'll have to lighten them up, but barely. I've found that if I press my lens up to the window, they turn out better than if I sit back and take them.

I'm looking for a new car right now, and I also insist on getting black leather again. Between that, tinted windows, and a dark shirt, I'm not that visible behind the glass.

One other thing - I always take my address verification first, because that is the one that takes the longest, due to have to zoom in. Once that's out of the way, the others are cake, and if they're not, then I don't have to come to a full stop to get the others, since I don't have to sit still to zoom.

I don't take my street shots from the car, but I take all of my other shots from inside my car. I can get both sides, the front an address shot and any damage photos without ever leaving my car. I'm in nice areas and not so nice areas and it doesn't matter to me. Sometimes I get a mirror in the side shots, but I just crop it out before I submit it.

I take the street shots through my windshield. It makes me more diligent about keeping bird crap off of it.

I totally do this too! My street shots through the windshield look fine. If you hold the camera up high enough you won't get any of your hood in the photo. Or if you do, just crop it out. Occasionally I will go to a street that is perpendicular to the subject street and just snap the picture through my driver's side window.

I do that sometimes. I have never taken them through my windshield though.

I do it all the time. I usually don't even stop. I turn down the street, make sure I'm not going to mow anyone, or anything down, slow down, and click! Oh, and I make sure my windshield is clean.

Seriously, aim it high enough and it takes a clear shot. If you get the car in it, crop it out.

Just a thought here:
These are ordered as "drive-by". They're not ordered as "drive there, get out of the car, walk around the house, take a lot of pix, talk to the occupants" BPO's.
Tinted windows, 10X zoom lenses or camera phones will get the job done.
The only other option is to complete these orders early in the morning when the occupants and neighbors are still sleeping it off.

If I am ever approached by people, for the purposes of keeping it simple and easy to understand, I just say that work for an appraiser and I am taking comparable photos. Even though I am taking pictures of the subject, they don't know and they don't care. They just want to know that you are legitimate. This applied to a gentleman that nocied me circling the neighborhood. They were expecting someone and thought I was their visitor. I always stay in my car unless I jump out to get a street scene. I've only had one occupant of a subject property notice me and they were inside the home looking out the window. I think the neighbor called them. The occupants ran out to talk to the neighbors when I was driving away. By then, I was finished and I didn't care

Its funny how you say if you are too afraid, then let someone who is more experienced handle the orders. Im afraid of a certain neighborhood in Detroit, but I know it very well. My property preservation guy is a Detroit cop and he is afraid of that neighborhood. He said that section is the most dangerous in the entire United states. While he was bidding the trashout, there were people stripping the house across the street. Im not kidding when i say almost 50% of the homes in this neighborhood are fire damaged, boarded, vacant, or stripped.

That zip code covers alot more than that neighborhood. Actually that zip code has some of the nicest neighborhoods in Detroit. If I removed that zip, then im removing alot of great neighborhoods. Next time you should think before making such a stupid statement.

48223?

I did an interior not too long ago with an appointment. I show up, owner's not home but the teenage kids are. They let me in, I shoot a bunch of pictures with them in it. One guy asked if I wanted him to move off a bed he was laying on... "Nope, stay there". Click click and down the road I go. The bank got the "Real Deal" on that BPO. It was a short sale that I took pictures of the house on a Saturday. The home was a complete mess. I guess it doesn't pay to clean up the farm when you're selling short.

My areas must be nothing like others. I don't get out of the car ever. I take the street through the windshield right when I get on the street. I take the front and address at the same time. If I'm required to get sides I just take them from an angle from inside my car. Most of the time have to stick my hand out the window to do this. In my area I'm not afraid of any neighborhood, especially in the day. But like others have posted you never know even in the nicest neighborhoods. Most of the time I can get all but the address while the car is rolling. Also some houses have the address so nice and big you don't need another picture of it. If there are trees and you can't see the house that's what photo description comments are for. I suppose I should have more of an unassuming car. I drive a newer Audi, but it's what I got. Or I could drive my Chevy 2500HD truck, but that might get more noticed, plus lousy gas mileage. What do others drive for the bpos? Or recommend. I'm sure a beat up honda civic would be best.