The Terrible Real Estate Agent Photos blog, which has gained quite a cult following in the past years, started 8 years ago. In 2013, the guy named Andy was flat scouting in London but he soon realized the listings had unique things in common. He told Bored Panda in a previous interview: “I was spending more time saving hilariously bad photographs to my desktop than booking viewings, which left me with a dilemma: What to do with the photos?”

On the other hand, Andy assured us that the level of professionalism in real estate photographs is definitely improving. “Perhaps partly due to the risk of appearing on Terrible Real Estate Photos,” he added. After all, no homeowner or landlord would like their baby, I mean real estate, to end up in this horrid collection. Which even has its own book of the worst examples!

In the current real estate crisis with properties soaring in prices that would outgrow Everest, the terrible real estate photos are relevant as ever. Are we really willing to put up with the absurdity of terrible properties sold for thousands upon thousands of dollars?

However, if you are still thinking about buying a property in this crazy post-covid market, you are likely to end up getting something that may need (or may not, depending on your budget!) a home renovation. And this is a crucial point that tests your skills, knowledge and savviness in taking every measure so that the house or flat doesn’t end up in Terrible Real Estate Photos some time in the future.

And doing that is a form of artistry in itself. So we reached out to Philippa Main, the professional realtor from Tampa Bay who went viral for her brilliant and insanely funny listing description about “the worst house on the street” some time ago. Philippa was happy to share what are some of the most common errors people make while home renovating, so that we can all learn something useful today.

“There are so many errors people make when doing home renovations that can be summed up by the idea that it is more expensive to try to do something cheaply, because it will inevitably cost you more in the long run when it has to be redone in order to make it right,” Philippa explained.

The realtor went into more details and said that one of the biggest mistakes people make when renovating a home is hiring unlicensed professionals to do the work. “I had a client go under contract on a home recently that was in the process of having a covered patio installed. During inspections (before the covered roof was even complete) the home inspector discovered none of it was up to code and it could have potentially been a hazard in high wind situations.”

Philippa continued: “in order for it to pass county inspections and for the buyer to feel comfortable moving forward with buying the home, the sellers had to replace the entire structure. So they paid once for it to be done poorly, then paid to have the materials removed, and then paid for new materials and for a professional to properly install it.”

“On top of that, the unqualified person they first hired to do the job actually ruined the main roof of the home during the installation, so they had to hire a roofer to repair their roof as well,” Philippa recounted and added that “All that could have been avoided if they had hired a professional who was licensed and insured to do that kind of job from the start.”