Maximum word count and photo count for listings (Realtors, rooms, house)

[Piney Creek]

Anyone know what the maximum word count is for listings? Also, is there a maximum number of photos?

I see all sorts of listings, and am guessing 20 would be a good max for photos, even if one isn't given. What do the rest of you think? Sometimes I see listings with more than that but it seems like they have a lot of repetitive shots; I was guessing 20 because it seems to cover most rooms and the yard.

[Jkgourmet]

I think that the Realtor you hired is the 'expert'. Let them decide what's appropriate in your market for your house.

[Piney Creek]

I totally appreciate that opinion, but having had two bad experiences with realtors not marketing my house well, we are now interested in being much more hands on. Last time we kept mum, figuring the realtor was the expert.

After 3 months we finally asked her to make some changes in photos, etc. and surprise surprise, the house sold. She then blamed us for not telling her we wanted to highlight certain features in the first place.

So this time around we are working with a realtor who is letting us have more input right from the get go. We'll let her have the final say, but we want to be making suggestions because we wish we had done so last time. Hope things go better this time around.

[kww]

Your local MLS is going to dictate the max photos/text. For mine, it's 30 photos and 400 characters of text.

The various online sites might allow add't photos/text

[Silverfall]

Our MLS is 250 characters and 32 photos.

[FalconheadWest]

My MLS allows a max of 40 pictures.

[dblackga]

It depends on the MLS. Around here, the maximum photo count is 40 (recently changed from 25), and the maximum character count in the description is 540 characters.

However, on sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, etc., I can go in and add additional photos if I feel it is necessary, and write longer descriptions. Sometimes, though, the auto-feed from my MLS will override the edited descriptions (Realtor.com allows you to use "your" description instead of an MLS feed, but Zillow is less flexible.)

[dblackga]

Originally Posted by Piney Creek

So this time around we are working with a realtor who is letting us have more input right from the get go. We'll let her have the final say, but we want to be making suggestions because we wish we had done so last time. Hope things go better this time around.

Any good Realtor is going to listen to you and take into account what you feel to be the outstanding features of a house -- after all, you know what it was that lured you to that house in the first place, right? You know things about the neighborhood that the Realtor might not be aware of, etc. Listing a home is definitely a collaborative effort.

[MikeJaquish]

Here it is 25 photos and plenty of text. I forget the exact number.
But, as others have said, it varies by the local MLS.

Photo count is trending upwards because so many sites allow unlimited photos, and MLSs have to be competitive to drive IDX presence for their members.

[cully]

I have occasionally seen just a few pix in areas that allow 90 something.

It may be 40 pix for your area...or could have changed. It is not unusual to have an increase.

You can also try calling your W Area Association Of Realtors.