Heads up to Phoenix area realtors...

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by YAZ

Thanks Gretchen.

I just get butt hurt when we go through the hassle of getting the dog out and going somewhere for an hour or so while the agent is showing.

Then the next day the agent calls all excited with an offer of 20% less than the list price.

OIC . . . Actually I know of some sellers that would be envious of you. Some would just love to have some showings. And getting an offer (even if it was low) would give them hope.

I know what you mean, though, it's a pain to get everything all clean & shiny and then race out of the house with kids and/or pets in tow, and then have to be gone for who knows how long til the buyers have looked.

Oh, the good ol' days, when homes sold in a couple of weeks!

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Synergy38

For the love of god.. post pictures of inside the house AND the backyard or you won't be getting a phone call from me.

Thanks!

I agree and when you do post pictures how your clients clean up first.

You know why they don'r post pictures don't you? It's not nice inside that is your first clue.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Greatday

I understand where you are coming from but, the real estate industry is undergoing some tough legal issues right now and publishing pictures of the occupied areas of a home, without the sellers permission, is STRONGLY discouraged by those in the legal profession who have to defend the real estate community.

Now, to be sure, many sellers will give such permission - I'm not trying to say they will not. But, permission should be obtained first.

I have had clients for a few years but we always had to get permission first. You always have your difficult people that don't want pictures posted or even a lockbox on the house. Those are the houses that sit. Subborn people, I had a listing like that and it went 6 months and it was a miracle I sold it the day before it expired.

[Captain Bill]

Well, today everyone has a digital camera, but unfortunately, not everyone knows how to take good photos; and even fewer know how to take good photos of rooms, or yards. And they don't teach photography in real estate school.

Photography was a large hobby of mine at one time and I took a lot of night college courses in various types of photography. That has served me well, since it really helps to have some photographic skills in this business.

I work with a lot or buyers relocating to the Phoenix area, and the process sometimes takes a few months before they move here. We look at a lot of mls sheets, and after we get things narrowed down and it's time to start picking out that house to buy, I go and preview the homes and take my own pictures to send to my client.

These pics are not the staged ones I would use in a listing, but they show the actual condition and layout of the home so the client has a much better idea of what the house is like. I'll take from 50 to 100 pics and then edit the number to about 25 that show the home as it really is. Using that technique, we've eliminated some homes that had some pretty good pics on the listing, but when you walk in it appears that this is not the same house.

This process saves the client so much time because when they get here to look at the short list, there aren't many surprises since they already know what the house looks like inside and out.

So maybe a photography 101 class on how to photograph home interiors and exteriors would be a good one for the NAR to have as a continuing education class.

When one is looking at a short sale that is vacant, or a bank owned property, don't expect to see good pictures. For a bank owned, the yard is going to be run down, and the pool green with algae, and possibly a pretty dirty house.

When chasing a bank owned or short sale property one is looking for a bargain, and you have to see it anyway. So forget about expecting good pictures on the listing.

It's only the normal home for sale that one should expect to see good quality pictures that are representative of the actual condition of the home.

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by KK85297

My other favorite is the dirty house pictures. I feel badly for the poor realtor who obviously has the best of intentions and wants to provide good pics...but they show up and find a house with dirty towels thrown over things, a sink full of dishes, stained couches from the 80's, trash and clutter everywhere. That sucks. Bless their hearts, they tried to do the pictures- unfortunately, if whomever is occupying the home cannot be bothered to tidy up after themselves even a little bit, what more can they do?

Well, that's what Photoshop is for!!!

When I was house hunting, I visited Phoenix and saw as many houses as I could fit in one weekend, and I used my digital camera to capture the feel of each house as well as I could. I even took some video clips and did a sort of walking tour of each house, inside and out, with a running commentary to help me remember and to give my wife something to go on. Of course, I asked permission in the houses that were occupied. I uploaded everything to my (private) web server so she could see the stuff. It made a huge difference.

I would say that not only stills, but a video or at least a virtual reality tour of a house should be a requirement these days. If I were selling my home, I would probably arrange for this material to be prepared professionally and uploaded to realtor sites, in order to (1) present my house to as many people as possible and (2) cut down the unnecessary visits.