Why I'm Not Showing Your Home Tomorrow ...

Jonathan - You hit it on the head with this post. Amazing that any agent in this day and age of technology with a digital camera would not take additional pictures... It's mind boggling... Loving this post... Oh and your doggy looks just like my old Beagle as well.... So you got me with your profile pic as well I might add....

What a wonderful way to demonstrate the point. 

I always felt that listings that show only the exterior of the homes have really awful interiors and just lose interest very quickly. This agent should understand that most people are looking on the web, before deciding to come and take a look.

A wonderful post and thanks for sharing.

I would show it if we were in the area, or at least do a drive by. I would leave that decision up to the customer.

 Many agents take such bad photos, we can't always go by that. I'd rather see one high quality photo than 20 dark, blurry, low quality photos. This one picture would indicate to me that the house looks to be in decent shape and cared for. I would guess there is an HOA?, and the landscaping and driveway appear to be neat and clean. Nothing indicates that this house would be a dump inside, but you never know until you see it. The other night on tv I saw some show where criminals were scanning a homesite viewing virtual tours. They were checking out locations of back doors, any fences, places to hide, outdoor lights, any pet doors they could crawl through, how close were the neighbors, any street lights, best window or door to gain entry, etc, etc. They got tons of information from virtual tours, and planned their burglaries accordingly. They could also check for valubles inside the house, like jewlry boxes, statues, computers, etc, so they knew right where to go to collect valuables when they got inside the house.

Great post and couldn't agree with you more.  It is very frustrating to see a listing with one or two pictures.  I have a client that said don't even bother sending her listings that don't have several pictures of the property. 

Jonathan, you couldn't be more correct on this. Even a few more pictures can tell a whole lot more about the house. At least there wasn't garbage cans in front of the house in the picture.

This is a great article shared with humor.  So often I see a single exterior photo used in short sale listings.  To my way of thinking this is a horrible disservice to the distressed owners.  The single photo of the exterior isn't doing anything to invite buyers to look the property which the owners are so desperate to sell.

Jonathan, this is perfect.

Deb

A good set of pictures really saves the showing agent a lot of time, since we have a better idea if meets our buyers expectations. I would caution against ruling something in our out just based on pictures, since I have a client that is particular about good lighting, but some pictures do not give the full reality.

 

All the best,

 

Arpad

 

 

 

I have one on the MLS right now with only one picture.  In the property notes I make it very clear that the property is a tear down.  The area is going through a renaissance!  Build some lofts! I almost sounded chirpy.  And I get asked for more pictures.  This thing is a mess, it's priced for land only.  It's in a redevelopment area.  You don't have to see the house, I even mention the years of deferred maintenance.  Just let me know if your project will fit on a 5116 square foot lot.  I told you what to build, I told you why to build it.  You really don't want to see pictures of the owner's laundry laying around.  Or her sick mother.  Or her kid's toys, and neither does your architect. The value is in the land.

I love this post.  If this does not get the attention of sellers, I don't know what will.  It's all about visual impact and if it's not there with multiple pictures it will be overlooked.  Listing agents, take lots of pictures plus a video or virtual tour.  This will catapult your showings and viewings to potential buyers.

Very clever way of illustrating your point. I just can't imagine what a real estate agent is thinking by not taking lots of photos. Good photos go a long, long way.

Gretchen

Jonathan- Excellent post. I can't tell you how many buyers tell me 'there must be something wrong with that house' if there's only one pic or just a few exteriors only.  That's NOT the way to sell a house!

A lot of posts like this one today.... Too bad the agents doing these things are not on here to see how ridiculous they are!

This is so typical of REO and short sale agents who are too lazy or stupid to do anything beyond the minimum.  Our MLS has homes with up to 50 photos and there are many listings with 15-25.  Why anyone would bother listing with an agent like this is beyond me.

I can think of many reasons why there could be only one single picture only. . but ultimately I tell my clients that  if a house is in the perfect location at a good price. . they can make it to be their perfect home.

Obviously, I would not discourage to show homes with only one picture. . .That is the fun part of the business. ..to discover the perfect  home when everyone else is passing it.

I can say that for the most part my experience has been, one photo for a reason....not much else to photograph that could/would "showcase" well.  However.....every now and again I've run into an exception.  The hidden gem.  Did the listing agent not have a camera the day he/she took the listing, did the sellers not want photographs of their home pasted all over the internet.....why only one photo?  Don't care, glad we came to preview it anyway because it was right where my buyers wanted to be, priced right in their budget and perfect interior.  No one else came calling that day, probably because there were no photos.  Glad we did!  Buyers got their dream home with no competition.  Yes, I am often disappointed when I preview a home with only one photo.....but not always:-).

Jonathan, 

Agents who do one or less or bad photos should be asked to leave the profession.  SERIOUSLY!

All the best, Michelle

Jonathan,

Once again, another Realtor who isn't servicing his client the way they deserve to be serviced.  Keep an eye on this listing and when the agency relationship is severed and the listing expires, swoop in and pick it up.  At least you have a pretty good idea why it isn't being shown.  Good luck!

Jonathan - great reason why houses don't have any traffic. Its incredible that the client let their agent to do that.

Jonathan - nice post.  That was a good way to drive home the point.  I had a good laugh.