Realtors, why are there only 1 & sometimes zero pictures of properties for sale (Springfield: real estate market, daycare)

[pennylove76]

Hello,

So, I am researching both the NOVA & Rockville, MD areas as a place to possibly relocate. If we move this will be the 3rd house we have bought in 4.5 years.

Anyway, as I browse through the realtor.com listings I have noticed in both the NOVA & suburban MD areas half of the listings I look at have either only 1 picture or no pictures at all.

I am completely baffled as I imagine the dc & surrounding area to be quite transient. Therefore, lots of pics would be needed as potential buyers in other states or even countries) are not able to do drive bys or go to the open houses.

Now to be fair, I must admit that there are a small portion of listings that I have found with virtual tours that show everything. I saw one listing in Derwood, MD like that and it was great as it even showed pics of the nearby metro, daycare and parks. I was able to see that the house had nice wooden floors, granite counter tops and it was on a tree lined street. Now that house is saved as one of my favorites.
There was also another house that I saw and from the initial picture of it taken on the outside it looked horrible. However, I also saved that house as one of my favorites as the additional pictures showed the inside of a beautiful house with a lovely foyer and awesome crown moldings.

However, those listing are rare. As, there are many others that I read with some interesting features, only to find there are no pictures. Or there is only 1 picture of the outside of the house & it is shot from so far away you can't really tell anything about the house. I wondered if it means that the houses must look so bad inside that the realtor does not want anyone to see it online. I also wondered if maybe the realtor did not want to spend too much money to advertise the house because they did not think the house was going to sale. Of course, this may just be a lot of speculation, but that's what happens (or at least what I assume) when there are no pics.

I would love any info from realtors regarding why this is done. I know if I was selling a house and there were no pics ...I would be livid as I would think that taking pictures and attaching them to the listing would be the very least of the marketing effort. Again, I want to give this issue the benefit of the doubt so I would love any feedback. Or, hopefully realtors will consider that my little issue may also be the issue of other potential buyers and add a few more pictures so we can see what's out there.

Thank you and my apologies in advance for the long length.

[EricD]

For the most part, real estate agents in the area are horrible. There are too many of them that started during the boom, where you didn't need to post pictures... houses sold anyways. Now that the real estate market has slowed down, many have started second jobs, meaning they have less time to upload photos, or even do spell check on their listings... Since sales have dropped, I think they are spending less time on each property, since there is less of a chance of it selling, which is the opposite of what you'd want to do.

I wish real estate agents in the area would TRY a little harder, and be more professional. That, or get out of the business, because they're making a bad name for real estate agents in general. When I was looking for a house, I was tired of talking to agents who knew less about the real estate market than I did. That, and they'd call parts of the house the wrong thing, or know nothing about the area that the house was in. I have noticed that most don't even know the different styles of house... they just label everything as 'colonial' and be done with it.

The Realtor testing needs to be made harder or something... too many idiots are making it through the cut.

That's my opinion at least.

[Fern435]

The lack of pictures on the real estate website is a very recent situation, pennylove76. We are keeping our eyes on the housing market here in Northern Virginia, and up until a few weeks ago there were plenty of pictures for homes in the West Springfield area. When I looked for a specific home for sale last week, I was surprised (as you were) to find so many listings with no picture of the outside of the house. Perhaps a technical glitch?

[Fern435]

P.S. Pennylove76--my sister-in-law lives in a nice neighborhood near Candlewood Elementary in Derwood, MD. They've been there for 3-4 years. If you have some questions, I can try to help!

[memiller]

I always include photos and virtual tours of all my listings whether they are for sale or rent. In fact, I rented a single family home in VA to a family from CA and the only thing they ever saw was the vitural tour I created for the home. If you don't see photos, there may not be much to look at. Photos and virtual tours are very powerful tools and any realtor who doesn't use them is simply foolish. The cost is minimal and, in my estimation, is an investment, not an expense. Realtor.com is a tremendous resource but probably not the best. There are additional charges to post a virtual tour on realtor.com and some agents may not even know about it. Realtor.com pulls listings from the multiple listing services and posts them on their site. Agents do have to do anything. It only puts up tours if they're paid for. If you're looking in VA/MD check out longandfoster.com. It's site is very robust and generally, listings with photos show up before those without.

EricD has obviously had a bad experience with a realtor. Generally, if you do your homework and interview some realtors, you'll find a good one to help you. Searching on the web for homes is the best place to start. 80% of prospective home buyers start their search there. A good realtor can help you navigate the homes you see and help you make your best possible decision.

[Tish Thompson]

The only reasons I know to put one or no pictures in a listing:

1) laziness
2) being cheap
3) don't really want the listing to sell

[saganista]

Originally Posted by memiller

Searching on the web for homes is the best place to start.

Glad to see an REA post that. We've recently had several around whose body of c-d advice could simply be summarized as consult a local realtor. Realtors are fine, almost everybody ends up with one. But there is a great deal of work that can and should be done before even entertaining the thought of whether it is time to pick a realtor or not. Realtors have specialized, and usually localized, expertise. As a buyer, it doesn't make much sense to seek out a realtor until you have developed a pretty good idea of what sort of specialized and localized expertise you need to help you make your move...

[pennylove76]

memiller thank you very much I will check out longandfoster.com. Actually a friend of mine who lives in the area mentioned l&f also. However, I thought I would be limited to homes that only they sale. However, if they are the only ones putting pics up then it is worth it.

[saganista]

Several other realty companies run similar sites, e.g., Weichert...

http://www.weichert.com/

A similar and often very useful resource is Trulia...

Trulia - Real Estate, Homes For Sale, Sold Properties, Real Estate Maps

There is a lot one can learn from spending as little as a few hours with such sites...

[memiller]

It's a great misnomer that real estate companies only display their listings. The information on the sites is pulled from the same sources that realtor.com pulls from. Realtor.com receives about 14 million hits a month. L&F.com receives about a million. Not bad considering realtor.com is global and L&F is regional (7 mid-atlantic states and D.C.) Thus, it's important to show all the available inventory. Now, if you go to my website, you'll only see my listings. If you go to my office's website, you'll only see my offices listings. If you go to the main site, you'll see everything that you would on realtor.com. If you're moving to D.C. area, it really doesn't matter how much a house is selling for in Iowa.

With deferrence to saganista, a good realtor can help make your search much more efficeint. My clients call me up and say, "I saw this on the net, tell me more..." It helps me get a better understanding of what they like or don't like. Then I can show them homes that they'll buy. If you see more then 15 homes, you're realtor really hasn't done a very good job figuring out what you want.

Remember, you buy and sell a house on average, every 5-7 years. A good realtor is buying or selling homes constantly. They are up to date on the trends, skilled in helping you make the best decision (offer) and from the buy side, they do it with no cost to you. If you buy a house without a realtor, you're at the whim of the seller and the sellers agent. You have no one working on your behalf and standing up for your rights. 5% of agents do 95% of the business. Find one in the 5% and you'll see a real value.