If it's not included in the sale, why would I want to see that car? Am I supposed to feel posh just looking at it?

Luxe cars feature in the renderings here too.

Neither the Bentley Continental GTC (1st gen.?) nor Porsche 911 Carrera nor the house are included.

If it works for the high end Realtor then put it all out there: 'Your Mercedes belongs here'. It's better than the cluttered, blurry 'Live Love Laugh Family' $150-$250k house pictures. It's what separates the upper and middle class.

I agree with sealavender as to me the pictures appeal to the want-to-be's and not people who are comfortable in their own wealth. It would all depend on which group you are wanting to have as clients.

We have one realtor in town that does that, but no one else does. He does seem to repeatedly represent two groups, who are into showing off wealth, so I guess his marketing strategy works for the type of client he attracts.

Who parks like that?

You're just mad because your Honda Accord won't sell your home (I own an Accord). Would you do this to a seller with a lower end house? No, instead pick on people with money because for some reason they're not real (?). C'est la vie.

It draws attention away from the ugly house.

Revealingly, the most expensive local properties usually have no showcase vehicles. No need to convince you they're for the creme de la creme.

Prince's old digs: 61 The Bridle Path, Toronto. C$16,880,00.

There's a home (I use the term loosely) that's been on the market for ages a few miles from me. I don't think anyone has ever lived there, and the person who commissioned the build skipped town, owing the builder millions. It was pretentiously named "Villa Taj" then "Palace Royale" and to my plebeian eyes is gaudy as hell. In thepromo video at 2:30 the multi-car garage shows several high end vehicles, which were all borrowed just for the video. As to whether the marketing works? Well... this gem was listed in 2009 at $25M and is now on Zillow at $5M.

All homes marketed to private individuals are selling the idea of a better life in that home. There are places, such as L.A., where there is still a thriving car culture and pictures of a nice car casually parked in the driveway promote the idea of that better life.

I will argue that this realtor or photographer is just bad at it, because they are supposed to point to casual luxury and not featured luxury...

So yes the idea has some merit even if it fails in practice.

Worthy, that Mercedes just might be a Matchbox car. It's all in how you set up the shot. ;)

If it was just parked normally in the driveway, I'd have no issue with it. But it's so blatantly staged as the focus of the photo. That's where I think it's silly.

The rendering with high end cars doesn't bother me at all. They are placed where cars should be and seem natural. It's staged just like putting bushes and landscaping and all the rest. Higher end cars make more sense with that house than a broken down jalopy.

A little too blatant, and I'm another with 'who parks like that'. My own drive is circular, a nice feature for this otherwise quite ordinary middle class home. Lots of parking that we appreciate. My mail comes to a drop slot in the side of the house....if the drive isn't blocked - the post office could otherwise ask for a mail box on post at the street ;0) I don't want my mail streetside. DH has a friend or two I still have to scold from time to time, they will manage to park in a way that will block the drive that would otherwise easily hold a dozen cars.

I will argue that this realtor or photographer is just bad at it, because they are supposed to point to casual luxury and not featured luxury...

High-end vehicles are really the norm for the super-rich. A Dragon's Den panelist lived for awhile down the street from us. The housekeeper had an AMG E 63 wagon for shopping chores. The S65 sedan, at twice the price, was for him. (Not counting a barn full of collectibles at his country home.)

For real luxury, helipads are where it's at.

924 Bel Air Rd., Bel Air. l. US$250m. Sold US$94 million with a US$58 million mortgage.*

(And, it turns out, the helicopter was inoperative as the heli-pad wasn't licensed.)

I see this all the time in high end listings in my area. I find it silly. As for the helicopter listing, lol, I’m more intrigued on the fact that there was a $58 million mortgage? What in the ——?

Super jumbos in the multi-millions are not uncommon for high net-worth, low liquidity individuals. Consider Elon Musk's US$61 million in mortgages on five of his Cal. homes. (He's sold a couple of them since this story.)

@chicagoans the Burr Ridge one? 😆

Chicagoans, wow! That place looks like a hotel, not a house. If it were a hotel, I might be tempted to stay there sometime if it were in the realm of affordability. Would I ever want to LIVE there? No way!

@Leslie F Yes, Burr Ridge

@Elaine Ricci I think the original owner of the land wanted to create a place to live as well as a house of worship, hence all the parking. I can't remember or never knew the whole history, just saw it going up, then sitting and sitting. It flooded twice and was a foreclosure at one point. A sad waste of resources IMO.

https://cdn.realtor.ca/listing/TS637310286961070000/reb89/highres/2/R2461572_1.jpg

It seems to be a growing trend. To me, it always begs the question “if a home owner can’t manage to even park their car properly, what the heck have they done inside the house?”.

How Nouveau Riche!

That's a pretty dramatic house -- anyone who buys it wants to make a dramatic, in-your-face statement, so the flashy car in the front makes sense for that kind of buyer. It's not about money, it's about wanting to show off.

Lux car dealers often place new cars at new lux homes. Naples custom builder toured me thru his completed homes that were stocked with new cars before the snowbird owners arrived each season.

We got a good laugh at this shot in the listing.

not for me!