At a recent conference the head of a major real estate franchise complained very publicly that it is an almost impossible task to get Realtors to add photos to listings. ‘Are you serious?’ I thought? But the comment was met with hundreds of nodding heads so perhaps I was one of the few who thought that a person would want to see photos of a home online before they go to see it in person. My opinion was based in part from personal experience. When I bought my last home the Realtor sent me daily listing emails. I never even looked at a home unless it had photos.
I spoke to a close Realtor friend about this and her diplomatic response was “Some homes really don’t lend themselves to being photographed.” I thought about this for about a second (possibly less) and asked “So let me try to understand this. If you have a home to market, and it’s a dive, a really crappy hole in the wall place that no one would ever live in, the thought is that by not putting photos online buyers won’t notice that?” The question was met with a prolonged silence and eventually answered with “Well the buyer can see the property when they get there.”
I started to get angry at this point; if I’m the seller, no matter how crappy my home is, surely 6% of the home value is worth a photo or two? In this digital age it’s not like the Realtor has to pay by the photo.
In a recent article on AmericanTowns.com Realtor Debbie Ferrara points out:
“While the MLS is still the most frequently used online resource, buyers also regularly visit real estate company web sites where photos and detailed information about the property are the most useful when searching for a home.”
She adds:
“More than 80 percent of home buyers found photos and detailed information about the property very useful when searching for a home.”
Anne Beattie
It’s hard to pick my favorite part of the video. It’s either the “special alcove for the TV” (aka a corner), the omnipresent cat or that the second bedroom looks like it is being used to create “home movies” (it just needs a pole).
“Staging” is a word that comes to mind but who needs that when you have Anne’s natural ability to make this mobile home sound like a McMansion. If you close your eyes and just listen you can’t help but imagine a residential paradise and agree with Anne that “This is the perfect place to be!”
Other property on Anne’s books include this 400 square foot property ($45,000):
And for $15,000 more this structure:
Anne has added eight photographs for the first property and nine for the second which goes to show that any home, not matter what it looks like, can be professionally marketed. So a tip of the hat to Anne Beattie of Century 21 Mirage, nice job!
