Make Me Want to Look!
Looking through the Multiple Listing Service for homes for my client recently, I came across some disheartening listing postings--terrible descriptions and worse pictures. Most are good. But many realtors still feel they can phone it in...literally with the photographs. This isn't verbatim, but here's the description for one I saw:
This home has it all...2 bed, 2 bath, upgraded and beach close. Move in ready.
I know almost nothing about this home! Maybe the realtor is illiterate and can't write. She could hire someone to create the description for her! We can write long, flowing descriptions for our listings! It's the buyer's first contact with the home. Attached to this literary masterpiece are several pictures of dubious quality. It is clear the realtor, who is selling the place for less than 2% commission, whipped out her iphone6 and snapped a few pictures. How do I know this? The same way the buyers will know when this listing lands on the popular real estate websites: They are awful. First of all, they are very dark, they aren't framed well, they pick up part of the room without giving depth. In other words, it appears the realtor could not have cared less. It might be an accurate assumption that the realtor was cheaper than others...meaning she lowered her commission below industry standards...or that she was a friend of the family doing it to get the listing. When it comes to hiring someone to showcase one of the biggest investments you will make and to sell that investment for the highest gain, cheapest or easiest might not be the best way to go. You really do get what you pay for.
Here is a good description:
Welcome to this custom built executive home in the heart of Lake Park. Lush tropical landscaping and resort quality hardscape make the exterior of this home, situated on an oversized lot, inviting even at first glance. Walk through the front door to a sweeping staircase and an open concept floor plan that gives a grand feeling to the supersized gourmet kitchen, the downstairs office, the dining area and the comfortable den. Extensive use of quartz and marble in the kitchen gives a clean modern ambiance to the super-sized island, and there is extra food prep space with an added sink. There's also the added bonus of a wine fridge! Step out through the floor-to-ceiling French doors onto the private back patio which has been created using the finest stonework. The outdoor kitchen, flat screen TV, two refrigerators and granite serving bar create an inviting area for relaxation, as does the bubbling above ground spa. The detached 3 car garage is oversized and has additional attic storage as a bonus. Up the grand staircase are four bedrooms, including the grand master suite with serene sitting area, fireplace and opulent master bath with luxurious marble counters and a soaking Jacuzzi tub. One of the upstairs bedrooms has its own bath and there is another full bath in the hallway. This home is truly unique and is waiting for you.
The realtor really wants us to feel this home before we even click on the pictures.
Further down on the MLS of the poorly presented listing are Agent Remarks meant to signal to the realtors showing the home the things you want them to know but would not reveal to the general public. This one read:
SELLER SAYS "SELL NOW!!" MOTIVATED SELLER! BRING US AN OFFER!
The home is priced competitively with those in the area, maybe even a smidgen high. But buyers might not even look at the pictures given the description. If the buyer does look, there are bare floors, no staging, and poor quality pictures. Should the buyers be interested, call the listing realtor for an appointment, they will learn there is a desperate buyer who will pretty much take anything for his home. What should the buyer expect to happen next? Very, very low offers...if any. The realtor has already set us up to believe the seller will take a low price...be grateful for it, even! And, per the presentation on the internet, description and pictures, it looks like a nominal listing. Of course, the seller will be distressed by the quality of the offers he's forced to reject, wondering what went wrong. Other homes in the area have sold quickly, for the list price or better, and his sits there waiting because, contrary to the SELL NOW! in the remarks, he doesn't want to sell now really low.
One of the most important aspects of selling a home is creating desirability. Buyers spend a great deal of time online perusing homes for sale. They've become really savvy at pinpointing quality. Pictures and descriptions online create a desire to actually see the home. Realtors who know this, spend quality time creating ambiance online so the buyers are drawn to the home before they ever pull into the driveway.
I've recently worked with a client in a purchase of a home who'd already listed his current home with another realtor. He's very frustrated now because he doesn't know why it hasn't sold. Though it's not my place to criticize his listing realtor, I have suggested that he might let the realtor know that he'd like professional pictures. The ones online now are really substandard iphone pictures that don't even show off the stunning view of the water his home has from the upstairs master bedroom. The home is vacant without even warm touches in the baths or kitchen to hint at furnishings. I didn't know before I became a realtor that most people can't imagine their furniture placed into an empty room--can't figure out where the sofa goes or the chairs and end tables. So a vacant home with bad pictures is a one-two punch. There is also no access key to the property. The realtor must be called for realtors to gain entrance to a vacant property. (But that's another issue.) Putting the seller's best foot forward is the responsibility of the realtors. If they've lowered their commission and feel they don't have to do their best as a result, then the seller has gotten what he or she paid for. Much more disconcerting is the scenario of paying full commission to someone who half-way represents a seller's property.
Bottom Line: The price of a property isn't the only factor that drives the sale. The other factors must be in place so that when a buyer decides to purchase, the price seems reasonable and the home worth it.
This home has it all...2 bed, 2 bath, upgraded and beach close. Move in ready.
I know almost nothing about this home! Maybe the realtor is illiterate and can't write. She could hire someone to create the description for her! We can write long, flowing descriptions for our listings! It's the buyer's first contact with the home. Attached to this literary masterpiece are several pictures of dubious quality. It is clear the realtor, who is selling the place for less than 2% commission, whipped out her iphone6 and snapped a few pictures. How do I know this? The same way the buyers will know when this listing lands on the popular real estate websites: They are awful. First of all, they are very dark, they aren't framed well, they pick up part of the room without giving depth. In other words, it appears the realtor could not have cared less. It might be an accurate assumption that the realtor was cheaper than others...meaning she lowered her commission below industry standards...or that she was a friend of the family doing it to get the listing. When it comes to hiring someone to showcase one of the biggest investments you will make and to sell that investment for the highest gain, cheapest or easiest might not be the best way to go. You really do get what you pay for.
Here is a good description:
Welcome to this custom built executive home in the heart of Lake Park. Lush tropical landscaping and resort quality hardscape make the exterior of this home, situated on an oversized lot, inviting even at first glance. Walk through the front door to a sweeping staircase and an open concept floor plan that gives a grand feeling to the supersized gourmet kitchen, the downstairs office, the dining area and the comfortable den. Extensive use of quartz and marble in the kitchen gives a clean modern ambiance to the super-sized island, and there is extra food prep space with an added sink. There's also the added bonus of a wine fridge! Step out through the floor-to-ceiling French doors onto the private back patio which has been created using the finest stonework. The outdoor kitchen, flat screen TV, two refrigerators and granite serving bar create an inviting area for relaxation, as does the bubbling above ground spa. The detached 3 car garage is oversized and has additional attic storage as a bonus. Up the grand staircase are four bedrooms, including the grand master suite with serene sitting area, fireplace and opulent master bath with luxurious marble counters and a soaking Jacuzzi tub. One of the upstairs bedrooms has its own bath and there is another full bath in the hallway. This home is truly unique and is waiting for you.
The realtor really wants us to feel this home before we even click on the pictures.
Further down on the MLS of the poorly presented listing are Agent Remarks meant to signal to the realtors showing the home the things you want them to know but would not reveal to the general public. This one read:
SELLER SAYS "SELL NOW!!" MOTIVATED SELLER! BRING US AN OFFER!
The home is priced competitively with those in the area, maybe even a smidgen high. But buyers might not even look at the pictures given the description. If the buyer does look, there are bare floors, no staging, and poor quality pictures. Should the buyers be interested, call the listing realtor for an appointment, they will learn there is a desperate buyer who will pretty much take anything for his home. What should the buyer expect to happen next? Very, very low offers...if any. The realtor has already set us up to believe the seller will take a low price...be grateful for it, even! And, per the presentation on the internet, description and pictures, it looks like a nominal listing. Of course, the seller will be distressed by the quality of the offers he's forced to reject, wondering what went wrong. Other homes in the area have sold quickly, for the list price or better, and his sits there waiting because, contrary to the SELL NOW! in the remarks, he doesn't want to sell now really low.
One of the most important aspects of selling a home is creating desirability. Buyers spend a great deal of time online perusing homes for sale. They've become really savvy at pinpointing quality. Pictures and descriptions online create a desire to actually see the home. Realtors who know this, spend quality time creating ambiance online so the buyers are drawn to the home before they ever pull into the driveway.
I've recently worked with a client in a purchase of a home who'd already listed his current home with another realtor. He's very frustrated now because he doesn't know why it hasn't sold. Though it's not my place to criticize his listing realtor, I have suggested that he might let the realtor know that he'd like professional pictures. The ones online now are really substandard iphone pictures that don't even show off the stunning view of the water his home has from the upstairs master bedroom. The home is vacant without even warm touches in the baths or kitchen to hint at furnishings. I didn't know before I became a realtor that most people can't imagine their furniture placed into an empty room--can't figure out where the sofa goes or the chairs and end tables. So a vacant home with bad pictures is a one-two punch. There is also no access key to the property. The realtor must be called for realtors to gain entrance to a vacant property. (But that's another issue.) Putting the seller's best foot forward is the responsibility of the realtors. If they've lowered their commission and feel they don't have to do their best as a result, then the seller has gotten what he or she paid for. Much more disconcerting is the scenario of paying full commission to someone who half-way represents a seller's property.
Bottom Line: The price of a property isn't the only factor that drives the sale. The other factors must be in place so that when a buyer decides to purchase, the price seems reasonable and the home worth it.
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