Sellers - Don't Let Poor Photos Break Your Listing!

 

By Gretchen Ast

 

February 24, 2011 - Within just a few minutes of tapping into my social media connections this morning, two articles came across my feed that reiterated the same point: Quality photos are necessary when selling a home. According to Michael Estrin's article, "Red Flags: How to Spoil a Home Description", listings that include no photos often act as a "red flag" for buyers, immediately causing them to assume that something is wrong with the home. This is a concern that many Realtors® have heard from buyers and it often starts buyers off on a slew of questions as to why there are no photos - none of which seem to give sellers the benefit of the doubt. In fact, it appears that buyers often eliminate listings with no photos, or listings that only show the exterior of the home, right off the bat.

 

Though Estrin sites some reasons as to why sellers would prefer not to have photos taken of their home, such as wanting privacy or fear of showing valuables that might make their home prey to thieves, none seem worth putting one's home at such a disadvantage. If you're worried about your valuables being stolen, you'll probably be apprehensive about having strangers view your home as it is. Why not move those items out of the home prior to listing it? Aside from providing peace of mind, this will help potential buyers focus on the features of the home rather than be distracted by valuables.

 

However, as Tara-Nicholle Nelson points out in her article, "6 Things that Turn Home Buyers Off (and What Sellers Can Do To Prevent It)!", pictures alone aren't enough. Photos that show off clutter, trash, or disorganization aren't going to get potential buyers in the door any quicker. Though some buyers have the ability to see beyond the cosmetic issues, many will be immediately turned off by it and won't consider scheduling an appointment to view the home. Even if the intention is to clean or fix-up the home before having showings, sellers are doing themselves a disservice by using photos that don't create a good first impression.  Knowing that last year “nine in ten home buyers used the Internet to search for homes” and that for more than a third of those buyers, “the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties” (according to the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2010 released by NAR), sellers want to make sure that they maximize the way their home looks on the Internet. As Nelson suggests, look up your home on the Internet so that you can see exactly what potential buyers see.  If you don’t like the way your home is appearing, fix the problems that you can, take some new photos and send them to your agent, or ask your agent to come back to take some new ones. 

 

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Sources:

• Estrin, Michael.  (2011, February 22).  Red Flags: How to Spoil a Home Description.  Yahoo! Finance. http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/112173/red-flags-how-to-spoil-a-home-description?mod=realestate-sell.

• Nelson, Tara-Nicholle.  (2011, February 23).  6 Things That Turn Home Buyers Off (and What Sellers Can Do To Prevent It)!.  Ask Tara @Trulia – Trulia Real Estate Search. http://www.trulia.com/blog/taranelson/2011/02/6_things_that_turn_home_buyers_off_and_what_sellers_can_do_to_prevent_it?
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• (2010).  Highlights: The Home Search Process.  National Association of RealtorsÒ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2010, p. 6.  Washington, DC: Realtor. 

Want to learn more about what you can do to help sell your home? Visit our Tips for Selling page for more ideas!