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About those MLS photos - or lack thereof...

By
Home Stager with Staged 2 Sell New York & Long Island

I have been going through listings online that are more than 60 days old and felt compelled to blog about something that is blowing my mind!  Out of the 13 listings that I have gone over, 5 of them have absolutely NO photos posted - not even the outside of the house! 

Below is an example of one of the listings (I removed the some of the information in order to protect the privacy of the Realtor and the Real Estate office).  I apologize that it has definitely lost something in the 'translation' from downloaded file to being posted here - but I am not very good at all this technical stuff and I basically just wanted to let you see what I saw.

The first thing that comes to mind, for me at least, is WHY are there NO photos?  Does the house really look that bad?  Why would a Realtor take a listing and not market the house to the fullest extent - and wouldn't that include ONLINE photos that capture the interest of potential buyers?

As a Real Estate Stager, some of the things that I see on MLS drive me insane; I want to get right over to those houses that aren't showing well and do everything in my power to 'right every wrong'!  I see photos of rooms that are vacant and you can only guess what the room is that you are looking at.  Then I see photos of rooms that do not show the full potential or purpose of the space.

A Real Estate Stager can help in all the instances above.  We will come to the house and either instruct the seller on what needs to be addressed in order for the property to show at its best, or do the work ourselves.  We have access to furniture and accessories for those empty rooms that will not only help to show the purpose, but will make potential buyers want to move right into them!  We take wonderful 'before and after' pictures that can go right onto MLS, which takes some of the burden off the Realtors.

A Staged home will show better, both in person and online.  Maybe it's time to call a Stager to help sell your listing!

empty room

mls photo

example of multiple listing

Val Allocco, a certified (HSE), professional Home Stager, is the founder & owner of Staged 2 Sell NY which was established in early 2006 and serves all of Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk Counties) as well as the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.  She is also the Metro New York Chapter President of ASHSR (American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners).

Val has taught Adult Education courses on "Staging Your Home To Sell" and has also been a featured speaker at numerous Home Selling Seminars on, and around, Long Island.  She is available for seminars and other real estate related presentations and can be reached at 516-982-2671.

Please visit www.staged2sellny.com for more information and examples of our work.

Comments (7)

Kathleen Garvey
HomeSmart Cherry Creek - Denver - Denver, CO
Denver's Neighborhood Expert - Listings & Sales

Hi Val- If I were a seller, I would be ballistic with the way homes are shown on the Internet/listing. Yesterday,  I had a client call me fretting that his REA had not posted a photo of the front of his beautiful home. The staged photos look awesome...but none from the outside. I told him to send the REA an email 'telling her what you expect and want'.  Poor photos, no photos or simply messy room photos are unprofessional. Call a stager already!  : )  Regards-Kathleen G

Jan 13, 2009 03:59 AM
Pangaea Interior Design Kitchen & Bath Design, Remodeling
Portland Oregon - Portland, OR

It is a shame that there are listings with no photos. They so severely cut their chances of being seen. Maybe these are the cut price brokerages charging super low fees?

As we know many people are doing now, 84% of buyers are looking online before visiting. When I was looking for our home in Portland, I went online in California. I did not bother looking at any property that didn't have at least 6 photos. The only exception was vacant land. But for houses, I skipped right past anything not showing both interior and exterior photos. I knew I would have limited time to look & couldn't afford to waste time driving to properties that - in my mind - must not have looked good enough to show more photos. I do understand that Realtor.com is hitting the brokers some hefty fees for more than one photo here and in many other states. I hope some pretty strong pressure will be put on RMLS to change this in view of the pervasiveness of online shopping. Oh, and I bought one of the 12 properties we visited in one day. Viva la internet!!

Jan 13, 2009 01:28 PM
Susan Peters
Dove Realty Inc. - Seattle, WA
The Better it Looks the Better it Sells

Hi Val,

The sad thing is you find this lack of marketing in every price range from every brokerage. It's totally up to the agent.

The good thing is finding an incredible deal for your buyer. These properties always sell for less.

                                                                 Way less!

Jan 13, 2009 02:20 PM
Gary Barnett
Home Matters - Indianapolis, IN
Home Matters Property Stylist Group, Indianapolis

Obviously the purging of clueless and inept agents is not yet complete.  Why in this, the technological age, an agents would think that poor photos or no photos at all is acceptable is just beyond me.  Like Kathleen said above, as a seller I would go ballistic if my MLS photos were not top shelf. 

Jan 13, 2009 03:43 PM
Cindy Bryant
Redesign Etc. Home Staging - Houston, TX
"Houston Home Staging Pros"

I hate when I see this, I just click to the next one.  I came across this yesterday while looking for my parents.

Jan 13, 2009 03:57 PM
Denise Gray
Realty World Alliance - Wichita, KS
Realtor SRES, Wichita Kansas Homes

I try to give them a chance. If it's not there by the 3rd day I just move on.

Jan 21, 2009 01:17 PM
Terry Miller
Miller Homes Group - Tyler, TX
Miller Homes Group and Tyler Apartment Locator

No pictures equals no service to the seller. It is just lazy and not good for the business.

Feb 25, 2009 04:35 PM