Photos That Tell the Truth and Keep Your Address Private

Consider an example: a home provider posts a lovely photo of her house from the street, porch light on, maple tree in full color. It is the photo she is proudest of. It also shows her house number, her street sign, and the car in her driveway.

Photos do a lot of the work in a profile. They help someone recognize you when you meet, and they help both of you decide whether a home feels right. They can also reveal more than you meant to share. Here is how to choose photos that are honest about you and your home while keeping private things private.

Photos of you

You need fewer photos than you might think, and they do not need to be professional.

• One clear, recent photo of your face. OurTime puts it simply: "One recent clear photo outperforms five artistic ones"¹. AARP suggests skipping sunglasses and hats so people can see you².
• Recent means how you look now. The person you meet at the coffee shop should recognize you. An older photo can make a first meeting awkward and can make someone wonder what else is out of date.
• One photo doing something you really do, if you like: gardening, reading on the porch, playing piano. It tells someone about your days without a word.
• Just you. Leave out photos with grandchildren, friends, or others unless they have agreed. Crop out other faces, especially children's.

Photos of the home (for home providers)

Photos of your home should help someone understand what living there is actually like, today.

• The room you are offering, from a couple of angles, in daylight.
• The shared spaces the person would use: kitchen, bathroom, living room, laundry.
• Anything that affects daily life, like stairs to the room, a yard the person could use, or a pet's favorite spot.

Tidy up, but do not stage the house to look like a real estate listing. If the kitchen is usually busy with your cooking, it is fine for the photo to show that. A match who arrives expecting a showroom is the start of a misunderstanding.

What to keep out of the frame

Before you take each picture, look at the whole frame, including the edges and what is visible through windows. Leave out:

• Anything that shows where you live: the front of the house, house numbers, street signs, recognizable landmarks, the view from a window, and car license plates.
• Papers: mail, bills, prescriptions, calendars, and notes on the refrigerator.
• Valuables and security: jewelry, collections, a safe, a gun cabinet, keys, and the alarm panel by the door.
• Family details: framed photos of grandchildren, school logos, and anything with a family member's name.
• Health details: medicine bottles, medical equipment you would rather not discuss yet, and pill organizers on the counter.

The outside of your home and your street can wait. A person you have met in public and decided to invite over will see them at the home visit.

Remove hidden location data

Many phones quietly store the location where a photo was taken inside the photo file. If you upload that file, the location may go along with it. Before sharing photos of your home, turn off location for the photos or remove it:

• iPhone: Apple explains how to share photos without location information, and how to turn off location for the camera³.
• Android and Google Photos: Google explains how to see, edit, and remove a photo's location⁴.

If this feels technical, this is a good job to hand to a grandchild or a tech-savvy friend. It takes a few minutes.

Photos for home seekers

If you are the one looking for a room, you need a clear, recent photo of yourself, and perhaps one of you doing something you enjoy. You do not need photos of where you live now. The same rules apply: no street views, no mail, and no other people's faces without their permission.

Staying safe as you get to know someone

Photos are the first way a stranger sees your home, so they deserve the same care as your words.

Keep these off your profile. Your address or anything that points to it, the fact that you live alone, when your house is empty, the exact places you go and when, travel dates, health conditions, money matters, and details about your family. One test works for every sentence: does this help someone picture living with me, or does it help someone find me? Our guide "Honest, not everything: what stays off your profile" goes through the full list.

Get to know someone in steps. Each step lets you learn a little more before you share a little more.

1. Exchange messages through the site where you found each other, using your first name.
2. Talk on the phone.
3. Have a video call, so you can see that the person matches their photos.
4. Meet in a public place during the day, for an hour or less.
5. Meet again if you both want to, this time with your support person.
6. Only then, visit the home, with your support person there.
7. Before anyone signs or moves in: identity verification, a background check run with the person's written permission, references you call yourself, and a written agreement.

You can stop at any step, for any reason. "I don't think we're the right fit, but thank you for your time" is a complete answer.

Meet somewhere public. A library, a coffee shop, a senior center, a community center, or a restaurant at lunchtime all work well. Choose a place you know, with staff and other people around. Get yourself there and home again on your own, not in the other person's car. AARP's guide for people over 50 recommends meeting in public and keeping first meetings to under an hour².

Bring your own support person. HomeShare Online does not send staff to meetings or home visits, so plan who will be with you. Ask a family member, friend, or neighbor you trust. Tell them who you are meeting, where, and when, and call them afterward. For the home visit, have them there in person.

Know the warning signs. Pause and talk it over with your support person if someone:

• asks you for money, a loan, or help with an emergency, however convincing the story
• sends a check for more than they owe and asks you to send back the difference⁵
• wants to pay or be paid by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency
• pushes to move the conversation off the site quickly, or always has a reason they cannot talk by video or meet⁶
• asks whether you live alone, when you are away, or where you keep things
• asks for your Social Security number or bank details before you have both decided to move ahead
• hurries you, asks you to skip a step, or suggests you keep it from your family

Conversation starters

If you are an adult child, grandchild, or friend helping with photos:

• "Let's take your picture by the window this afternoon. The light's good."
• "Before we upload these, let's look at the edges of each one together."
• "I can turn off the location setting on your phone's camera. Want me to show you?"

If you are an older adult talking with family or friends:

• "Would you help me take a photo that actually looks like me now?"
• "Can you check whether anything in these pictures shows where I live?"
• "I want the room to look nice, but I don't want it to look like a hotel."

Show the room as it really is. Save the house number for the home visit.

Last reviewed September 26, 2026