How soon is too soon?

[Soigneur]

I’ve sold a property with settlement due on 25 Feb. Today I was browsing on TradeMe and I see that an agent has advertised the property for rent, available from 12 Feb! One part of me says who cares move on, and the other part of me is really annoyed, especially given they have used my sales photos in their ads. If they’d asked I would have given permission so it probably doesn’t really matter but just curious to know if this is common practice?

[donna]

If the photos are yours then yes they should have asked you if they could use the photos.

Unless of course somewhere deep in the fine print of something that you signed is a consent clause for the images.

cheers,

Donna

[Sanya]

Its a question of who the photos really belong too. Don't assume they belong to you.

I've seen agency agreements which specifically state that professional photos organised by the listing agent become their possession to use as they see fit.

Its common to see listing photos reused by new owners - reusing them in rent listings.

[Keys]

$35. We watermark ours.

[xsfat]

Apart from availability date, I see nothing wrong here. From my observation, it is very common to use photos from the sale in the rental advertisement.

You have spent money taking nice photos - it has helped you to achieve a sale price that you have accepted. The seller is using those photos to market the property as a rental. It would be a waste not to.

No doubt the vendor's real estate agent would have highlighted to the buyer that the property would make a great rental, and would have tried to extract every dollar from the buyer. With all of that in context, why would you quibble over photos???

So yeah, a long way to say - get over it.

[McDuck]

I’ve sold a property with settlement due on 25 Feb. Today I was browsing on TradeMe and I see that an agent has advertised the property for rent, available from 12 Feb! One part of me says who cares move on, and the other part of me is really annoyed, especially given they have used my sales photos in their ads. If they’d asked I would have given permission so it probably doesn’t really matter but just curious to know if this is common practice?

Lots of good points made by the other posters.

By NZ law, those photos are your property,

1 If you pressed the button on the camera.
2. If you weren't paid to press that button for someone else.

The early rent seems a bit cheeky too.
My feeling is, that you would be entitled to any rent paid, while the property is still in your possession.

If it's worth your time, you could email the agency and request payment.
Then you could go to the appropriate governing bodies to follow up, should they not be agreeable.