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Sellers, Are Your Listing Photos Ho Hum?

By
Real Estate Agent with eXp Realty of California, Inc. CA DRE #01490977

Sellers, Are Your Listing Photos Ho Hum?

 

I was looking at the photos of several MLS listings that one of my sets of buyers is interested in and found myself saying “ho hum.”

 

this kitchen photo is not ho humThey really were uninteresting (yawn suppressed), and while they weren’t poor quality they just did not create a very positive impression of homes priced at $800,000.

 

Quite frankly they were sooo booorrriiing.

 

It didn’t appear that whoever took them put much thought into what they were photographing, or how the photos looked on-line.

 

They were clearly not professionally done, which is fine (or if they were they overpaid royally), and perhaps might be considered average, but my impression was they were pretty lackluster, both in terms of quality and what they presented about these homes.

 

It’s hard to believe there wasn’t something more interesting to photograph in these houses, and that the quality could not be improved.

 

And I have to wonder if the sellers were to see them would they say “Is that really my house?!” And not in a nice way.

 

The photo here is not of the ho hum variety, do you think?

 

Sellers, you deserve better than ho hum lackluster photos on line.

 

And you ought to care about how your homes show in the MLS and elsewhere on the Internet, and take notice, because visual appearance is what grabs most buyers’ attention these days. Sure, some will look past poor photos, or those listings where no, or few, photos exist, but ho hum photos don’t create a good first impression, which may be hard to overcome, especially if buyers just “walk on by.”

 

Especially if the pricing doesn’t make buyers say “what a great opportunity.”

 

If your house really ISN’T ho hum, shouldn’t your photos convey that message?

 

Do you want to risk that your ho hum house photos will chase away buyers?

 

Are you holding your listing agent accountable for the photos they share on-line, whether taken themselves or by someone else?

 

You should.

 

Do you see professionalism? Or amateurism?

 

Is this a ho hum photo?

Posted by

Jeff Dowler, CRS
Certified Residential Specialist / Realtor®


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Fernando Herboso - Associate Broker MD, & VA
Maxus Realty Group of Samson Properties - Clarksburg, MD
301-246-0001 Serving Maryland, DC and Northern VA

People do what they do for a reason and purpose. .

You can't please everyone . .

Results counts more than photos in my opinion. .

How many SOLDS?

 

 

 

Nov 21, 2012 12:02 AM
Wallace S. Gibson, CPM
Gibson Management Group, Ltd. - Charlottesville, VA
LandlordWhisperer

Photos are SO VERY IMPORTANT and I find that I am taking better ones of my rental properties to use in my NEXT marketing efforts!

Nov 21, 2012 12:02 AM
Nancy Frimann
Eagle Ridge Realty/Signature Homes & Estates - Gilroy, CA

Jeff, I couldn't agree more.  Pictures really are the "first point of contact" with buyers to generate interest, and there are plenty of people surfing the net looking at homes.  My trick is to take about 100 pictures and use the best 25 pictures out of those.

Nov 21, 2012 12:12 AM
Hannah Williams
HomeStarr Realty - Philadelphia, PA
Expertise NE Philadelphia & Bucks 215-820-3376

Jeff I pride myself in the pictures I take and the time I take to edit them so they look special . There have been homes I have not shown because the pictures were horrid or shall we say so~ so . This so~so photo was a friend of mines listings so I showed it anyway . It was a gorgeous home nothing like the pictures and I sold it . No thanks to the pictures .

Helpfulhannah

Nov 21, 2012 12:33 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Jeff- I often wonder if sellers ever look at their MLS photos because I've seen some that would have to make me wonder. 

Nov 21, 2012 12:42 AM
John G. Johnston
John G. Johnston & Associates, LLC - Westcliffe, CO
An Exclusive Buyer's Agent ~ Westcliffe, CO

Jeff  Great point and I only wish local Realtors used more pics.  We have one Realtor that DOES NOT like to take or publish more than one pic.  Their thinking, which I think is very old school, is they want the buyer to contact them for more.  That might work if they had more than ONE pic.  In this day and age I think it is important to provide as much as possible...if it creates interest.  (We do have some Realtors that are very good with pics.)

Nov 21, 2012 12:55 AM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Jeff, I do not think the photos in your blog post are ho hum.  Photos in higher end homes should be professional, in my opinion.  It could be the seller opted for "less" by paying less ... we never really know why we see bad photos. In most cases it is simply a matter of lazy or uncaring agent.  That should never be the case ... but we know it happens.

Nov 21, 2012 01:09 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Jeff, I have seen MLS pictures that were truly outstanding, but unfortunately they are the exception rather than the norm.  It is hard to understand why someone would work hard to get a listing, and do a bad job in promoting it.

Nov 21, 2012 06:21 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Jeff, you are so spot on --- photos can make or break a listing!     You want that house to look "over the top" while buyers are browsing the Internet and have that home on their list!

Nov 21, 2012 07:00 AM
Jim Crawford
Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA
Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Jeff, I hope you and your family have a great and very Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 21, 2012 10:35 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Fernando - an excellent point, of course. And perhaps in a busy sellers market the photos may be less important, but it is still doing a disservice to our seller clients.

Wallace - makes perfect sense. And in a competitive market a must IMO

Nancy - I do the same, and I update during the listing as needed.

Jeff

Nov 21, 2012 02:47 PM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Jeff, you're right about this one.  Sometimes I wonder if the sellers have even bothered to look at their listing photos online. 

Oh, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Nov 22, 2012 09:12 AM
Jane Peters
Home Jane Realty - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles real estate concierge services

You wonder sometimes what agents are thinking(or rather not thinking) when they put some of those pictures up.  And the ones that don't add any..... Pictures can make or break a listing.

Nov 23, 2012 06:17 AM
Melissa Zavala
Broadpoint Properties - Escondido, CA
Broker, Escondido Real Estate, San Diego County
In addition to helping to see the properties (I think I was told that 8 or more photos means 360% more views on the Internet), I think photos really show something about you for those that may want to hire you in the future--the quality and time spent on detail reflect who you are and the detail you spend on your clients' listings.
Nov 23, 2012 10:57 AM
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

I enjoy good pictures.

I think, agents do need invest some affords ( not necessary money).

It is great if you do a lot of sales( regardless quality of pictures~ usually a case with short sales and reo), yet quantity is not the same as quality( =reputation, some self respect and respect to your clients? maybe?)

Nov 24, 2012 03:55 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Thanks, Pat. Some sure are pretty awful. And perhaps some sellers simply do not realize how important they could be, but may feel that in a very hot market it just does not make that much difference

Jane - and you would think that more sellers would ask about photos - they certainly spend time on the Internet themselves and can see what's out there.

Melissa - an excellent point. After all, isn't one of the things we brag about to prospective sellers is our marketing?

Inna - I would rather have good quality and fewer photos, but the number does make a difference with certain search engines.

Jeff

Nov 25, 2012 12:29 AM