A Picture of a Hoboken Condo is Worth a Thousand Words
Categories: About Realtors, For Sellers
How to Sell Your Hoboken Condo – Step 1.
It’s no secret anymore that buyers start their home search on line. What do you think they look at? That’s right – the PHOTOS! Well, also the video. Yes, there are agents who do video – real video, not “virtual tours” which are a compilation of still photos. Every day when I look at the new listings hitting the MLS I am flabbergasted by what I see:
- MLS listings with no photos – Why bother? Some agents say “oh, I didn’t have a chance to take the pictures yet but wanted to get it listed”. I’m sorry – you can’t wait until you have all your materials ready to list a property? If you don’t have photos, you don’t have flyers, you don’t have exposure on all the consumer sites like trulia.com or realtor.com either. Isn’t that sort of a wasted opportunity? Could it be that the listing agent doesn’t want the property shown by other agents?
- MLS listings with fewer than 9 photos – Unfortunately, 9 photos is the max allowed on the MLS (don’t ask me why). Why would an agent would post fewer than that? Did you know that if your agent pays extra costs he or she can upload mor than the standard 9 photos on sites like realtor.com? He or she can post up to 25 photos on realtor.com and the search results are listed in order of those with the most photos to those with the least. So if you are a seller, where would you want your property to show up? At the top of the list or the bottom?
- Terrible photos – I see them every day. Blurry photos, photos of the toilet bowl with the lid open, photos of the kitchen with a bunch of junk on the counters and table, photos of the bed unmade, photos that are shot with bright windows in the background so that the room looks like a dark black box, photos of the realtor in the mirror taking the photo. You get the picture!
So when you are interviewing an agent about selling your property, ask them for the address of other listings they have had, both sold, expired and withdrawn. Then go on line to realtor.com or trulia.com and take a look at their work!
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Every Picture Tells a Story, Don’t It?
Categories: About Realtors, For Sellers
What Were They Thinking?
Back from vacation hard at work as if I was never even away, I was doing a search for a customer on the MLS today I couldn’t help but notice something. Why would a listing agent not post photos of the property? Not any. Not a single one. More than that, on this particular listing, there was no verbal description of the condo, either. Do they really want to sell it? Or do they just want to sell it themselves (contrary to the spirit and possibly contractual obligations of the MLS). I can understand if a listing is brand new, say 1 day on the market, the agent may not have the photos ready. This one has been on the market over a week. If I were the owner of this property I would be having a canary.
Of course, every day I see terrible photos. Toilet bowls with the lid raised, kitchens with messy counters, unmade beds, messy closets and more. Unfortunately, the MLS gives us only 9 opportunities to show off a property. You would be shocked how many listings don’t have 9 photos or don’t have any at all! Wouldn’t you want your listing agent to show your property in the best light possible? Maybe we should start a contest for worst photo of the week.
Weekly Wednesday Wrap up will be posted tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. It may not feel like it but summer is really here.
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