Over the weekend, I showed a sweet little house. I was familiar with the block of row houses and had thought it would be too small for my clients. But the photos, combined with the fact that it was a corner house influenced our decision to take a look.
So yes, we did get in the front door. But no, it was not any bigger than the property a few doors down that I'd recently looked at.
The photographer used a very wide angle lens, then did a lot of work editing the photos, making the house look about twice it's actual size, something common for most of the listings this company has on our local multiple listing service.
I thought of this when I was thumbing through some Georgetown listings tonight. There is a row of little wee houses where Willie the Labradoodle couldn't wag his tail without hitting both walls. It would be like living on a smallish sailboat. And in the photos the two that were for sale looked at least three times bigger than their 300-ish square feet per floor!
Now, these places are quite adorable. Many have been renovated to use the space brilliantly - tiny but exquisite kitchens, like on a luxury smallish yacht. But if you're looking for a real house, and if the photos make the place look like a real house, this kind of marketing is going to waste everyone's time.
The listing agents for these places might think their job is to get people inside the house. Once there, after all, the buyers' agents might be able to overcome objections about the miniscule size because the place is so darned adorable. But that's not the way it works!
While I use the photos on MRIS to help me figure out what to show, I find myself doing a lot of previewing. Is this a productive use of my time? I think it is. I like to know what I'm going to be walking into, and when the photos don't give a good idea of the size and look of the actual property, it's good to at least be able to lower my buyers' expectations.
The listing photos may over-promise and under-deliver. But I can't afford to do that.
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