AI-edited apartment photos are making rental listings harder to trust

In short: More rental listings are using AI to “stage” photos, and renters say it can make apartments look better online than they do in person.

What's going on

Renters and buyers are increasingly seeing “virtual staging” in real estate listings. This means software adds furniture and decor to a photo of an empty or cluttered room. With newer AI tools, these edits can be done quickly, sometimes in ways that make a space look larger or nicer than it really is (like putting a big dining table into a studio that cannot actually fit it).

In a story from The Verge, a New York renter named Joyce said she rushed to view a Manhattan studio that looked “big and airy” in the listing photos and seemed to have a fireplace. When she arrived, the apartment looked different, it was smaller, the kitchen fixtures did not match the photos, and there was no fireplace. A detail in the photos, a plant sitting on a gas stove, made her suspect the images were AI-edited.

Real estate agents say virtual staging can help people imagine updates, and it can be cheaper than physically staging a home with real furniture. One Realtor in Florida told The Verge she likes tools such as Stuccco and BoxBrownie, but she warned that using AI to create misleading listings could lead to legal trouble.

What to watch

Rules are starting to change. New York has a newer law requiring disclosure of AI in ads, although it mainly focuses on AI-made people, not AI-made furniture. California’s Altered Image Law goes further by requiring property ads to disclose when AI was used to change or enhance images. For renters, the practical takeaway is simple: treat listing photos more like “illustrations” and double-check key details during an in-person visit.

Source: The Verge AI