I will be looking on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for properties for my buyers. I always take a look at the photos as they tell me so much about the property. Here is a list of some of the pictures I see and ask myself "why?"
1) The toilet in the bathroom
2) The driveway with two cars parked
3) The furnace
4) Laundry folded on the couch
5) Dishes in the sink
6) The cat in each photo
7) The person taking the photo reflected in the mirror
8) Garbage cans at the end of the driveway
9) Snow on the ground when it is July
10) All pictures taken with the fish bowl look
If this puzzles me, what does it do to the consumer that is looking to buy a house? Photos that are dark and you cannot make out the room, cluttered rooms, out of season photos, or fuzzy pictures all say to the buyer that someone does not care to do their best. It could be the agent or the seller, but either way, it can stop that buyer from going ahead to view the property.
Since over 80% of all buyers first go online to view houses, this can reduce the number of showings to a property by a high percentage.
Last night I went on a list call and as I was speaking with the sellers I mentioned taking photos on my listings. They told me the first thing they did was check my listings to see how they were represented. They told me I never would have been called out to be interviewed to list their house if they did not like my pictures. Agents don't realize that how we present via pictures our
listings might mean weather that house gets an offer and if we get list calls.
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