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If you have an agent and they list your property without even a picture or sq footage and other information - get another agent.
More importantly for me when buying real estate I go through sites with hundreds - maybe thousands of listings. Does anyone really think I will bother with ones that don't have a picture? First I will think -this can't be a very attractive property and 2nd I will know that if I email the agent they are probably going to be too lazy to respond. Too many agents are like this -especially on commercial property.
Due to the financial crunch I have had to put some waterfront properties on the market where I live in South Texas. I include pictures and just about every piece of information I can think of. Why waste everyone's time with endless emails.
By the way I am NOT an agent- so don't ask me to list any properties lol
I just wish agents were more professional and helpful. I have a similar thread for Real estate professionals and its gotten one response from an agent who agrees.
More than a few agents have a "strategy" of not providing a picture of properties that have , uh, "attributes best explained by a professional" instead letting a picture tell the story...
Similarly lack of sq ft info can also be a strategy -- or an attempt to thwart a strategy whereby potential buyers would see that the asking price / sq ft is WAY out of line. OTOH sometimes the listing agent just does not have a accurate, verifiable sq ft. -- in situations where the observable sq ft does come close to what the assessor the SELLER may ask that neither the observable or assessor reported data be entered on the listing.
Not saying that in a perfect world these things would not happen, just that it is not just laziness.
No pictures are a pet peeve with me. That is just laziness on a Realtor's part. Sometimes even worse are pictures taken of messy bedrooms, blurry shots, toilet seats up, piles of laundry etc... Sometimes the agent has to straighten up a bit. When I see a listing on the MLS with no picture or Awful pictures, I always check to see who the listing agent is. They will not be in business in this market very long.
You'd be surprised. Honestly. Right now there are probably a few dozen listing in my neck of the wood that don't have pictures for somewhat legitimate reasons. From classic "it lives bigger than it looks" to places that could STILL either be teardown or fixer uppers, to places that are just ugly, and places where the seller ABSOLUTELY does not buyers showing up without calling the listing agent FIRST there are reasons to leave the photo off...
Some of these listing agents do $10M or more for DECADES -- what works in Chandler doesn't always work everywhere.
Chet you may mean well but if you look in Real estate professions the similar thread I started has a more honest response.
Even if you are correct because the agent is hiding something - that doesn't excuse it. The agent should also take the time to measure the sq footage and at least provide an estimate.
OK maybe I should have entitled it "Lazy and deceiving agents..."
I agree with everyone's feelings on photos and returning calls. I have found that some states don't include square footage because their MLS does not allow this.. so that could be the case for some areas. I also found that bad photos are worse than no photos. So I think that is why some agents may or may not add them.. and of course.. when you have a bank owned property.. at best you have one photo. It irritates me to no end when I pull up a property that doesn't include what floor the rooms are located, measurements of the rooms, or even directions on how to get there. I called the other day on a property to get some information from a listing agent (new home) and she said she no longer is the agent for that property site (you think she could of told me who now handles it, but no). Called their office.. they had no idea who to give me to. This is a very large firm in our area. How do these firms/agents get these listings when there is such a lack of focus? My pet peeve.
And here is another agent who agrees with you. I subscribe to web sites that allow a minimum of 12 pictures and I also like to do virtual tours. Thanks to the internet it's a new day in ways to market real estate. Most of my clients don't have the desire nor the time to shop the old fashioned way so we start shopping in front of the computer.
At least one photo is required of my MLS. Without it, the listing stays dormant and never goes live. Of course, some agents are resourceful and post a stock photo, which ultimately results in a substantial fine to the listing broker.
There are sometimes problems with synchronization and a photo won't replicate out to other sites, e.g., Realtor.com. These are handled on a case by case basis.
Ocean, I agree with you. I believe people should research their agents, look at their websites, ask not just for a CMA, but for their marketing package. There are some very good, hard working agents out there. Don't just settle for the first pretty face that comes along. Real Estate is business and you want a professional representing you.
Many Brokers are also concerned with the lack of pictures, it makes agencies look bad. So a lot of them are urging their MLS to require pictures.
On a side note, there was a Real Estate Blog about the worst MLS picture of the week. Does anybody know this site? I can't find anymore.
Ocean, I agree with you. I believe people should research their agents, look at their websites, ask not just for a CMA, but for their marketing package. There are some very good, hard working agents out there. Don't just settle for the first pretty face that comes along. Real Estate is business and you want a professional representing you.
Many Brokers are also concerned with the lack of pictures, it makes agencies look bad. So a lot of them are urging their MLS to require pictures.
On a side note, there was a Real Estate Blog about the worst MLS picture of the week. Does anybody know this site? I can't find anymore.
The blog was on ActiveRain, and I think there were a few of them.
I think it may well be an ethics violation to print someone else's photos and denigrate them in public.
Likely it is also a copyright violation to do so if the intent is not to sell the house, but to address the quality of content in a public forum.
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No pictures are a pet peeve with me. That is just laziness on a Realtor's part. Sometimes even worse are pictures taken of messy bedrooms, blurry shots, toilet seats up, piles of laundry etc... Sometimes the agent has to straighten up a bit. When I see a listing on the MLS with no picture or Awful pictures, I always check to see who the listing agent is. They will not be in business in this market very long.
