IS YOUR REALTOR BRINGING ON A PHOTO DISASTER?
Squirrel on a listing picture? It's (Un)real estate marketing!
We’ve been working with home sellers and buyers for a long time. Yet, it still amazes me sometimes to see how agents advertise listings. I also can’t, in the right mind, understand why the home sellers list their homes with the agents offering this type of marketing.
PHOTO TAKING MISTAKES
I understand, we have to deal with many distressed properties these days and if the house looks terrible, well, you just have to show what it looks like. However, why show a nasty toilet, when you can take an extra street view shot? Why take a picture of a squirrel on the fence when you can show another back yard photo? I see these photo taking mistakes ALL THE TIME! Here’s how serious I am about pictures: if you won’t hire a professional photographer to take pictures of a listing, then go take a photography class and buy at least $500.00 worth of the photo equipment. And if you don’t do that – you shouldn’t be a Realtor in this market. Not if you are trying to market homes online and provide exceptional internet service to your clients.
What's up with Soup TV??
IT’S A REAL BUSINESS
Real Estate is a real business. As agents we pay thousands of dollars for MLS and Realtor dues, continuous education, desk fees, office supplies and rent, commission splits, etc. So the question is, if we are in a real business, why are we, as agents, not always treating Real Estate like a real business? Your clients should be paying your commissions gladly, because of the services and marketing you are providing to them. So, don’t be lazy and cheap, be hardworking, creative and proud of what you do. For example, learn from the industry experts like www.TechSavvyAgent.com. They have tons of great advice on Real Estate marketing.
Start Taking Good Pictures of Real Estate You Are Listing
BECOME CAMERA “TRIGGER HAPPY”!
Our local MLS allows 12 pictures, twelve!!, so why do I often see only one, or two, or ten but not 12!? Buyers (and home owners) will see the listing online, where pictures that were pulled from MLS will be representing the home. On each site like Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia one can create an account and add up to 25 pictures of the listing, a VIDEO tour and build an enhanced profile page. These simple things are a MUST in today’s market. Are you there?
And if you are in need to sell a home, please do your homework, research on the Internet and browse through listings before you pick your listing agent. Those who market well are usually successful and will sell your home quick and for top dollar.
Here’s another post we wrote not long ago about mistakes agent do, check it out here. And this post is about Video tours.
Feel free to contact us with questions about Real Estate marketing, Real Estate photography and Video tours.
Tampa Bay Real Estate Blog by The HOME Team of Charles Rutenberg Realty, Inc.
Yah, I don’t understand why people don’t post as many photos as possible. Show off your kitchen, backyard and any updated features. That’s what I would want to see in a listing as person shopping for a home. I also love that you video tours of homes and neighborhoods. Do you ever include video of the other homes on the block as a part of the home video tour? I would never buy a home that wasn’t in a nice looking neighborhood.
I really can’t understand why some agents don’t load more than 1 or 2 pictures into MLS… You’d assume they would if they really wanted to sell the property.
We definitely try to show a little bit of the street and working on creating a library of neighborhood video reviews. If other homes on the block are our listings, we will sure shoot videos of them too!