North Shore Views

How Photos Can Prevent Your Home from Selling

By now most of us are aware that home buyers start their search online. According to the National Association of Realtors that number is currently 87% and growing. And 80% of people using the Internet rate photographs as the most important feature of their online search. In fact, these days, with large supply of homes available, most people see online photos as the easiest way to filter all the listings down to a manageable number. Here’s how it works:

If I like the pictures, the house stays on my list.

If I don’t like them, I click away, never to return.

Common sense, right?

So…it baffles me why home sellers and their agents (who should know better!) continue to commit the three deadly sins of real estate photography:

1. No photos when a listing goes onto the MLS

Here’s a common scenario: an agent gets a listing and immediately puts it into the MLS, even before taking photos of the property, figuring that the pictures can be added later. Or, the sellers pressure the agent to get their property into the system as soon as possible, thinking that the sooner it’s in the MLS, the sooner they’ll have an offer.

Here’s why that’s a mistake: most people beginning  the home-buying process set up online searches with automatic daily alerts for any new listings that hit the system. So, in the case of the aforementioned new listing, they get the alert but, since there’s no picture, they immediately eliminate it from consideration. Later, when the photos are added, they don’t get another alert, so those buyers never see that property again. Yes, agents will show the home to their clients if it meets their search criteria, but the sellers have inadvertently cut their buyer pool in half. The sad thing is, they don’t even realize it.

Give your home its best shot at finding the perfect buyer. Make sure you have your photos, floor plan and virtual tour ready before your listing goes in the MLS.

2. Not enough photos

In the old days, each real estate listing had one photo of the front of the house. But then again, in the old days people relied on their agent to show them all the homes that met their search criteria. Now, since home buyers are ” touring” homes online first, they want to see as many pictures as possible. At a minimum they expect to see the main rooms: kitchen, family room, living room, master bedroom. So, if they notice that some of these rooms are missing, guess what?  They assume that the seller is hiding something…that there must be something wrong with those rooms… and poof! The house is eliminated from consideration.

Make sure your house gets on the “must see” list of every target buyer by including great photos of all the key rooms of the house.  Try to include at least 9. You can also include some photos of your garden, neighborhood or nearby parks, beaches and other local features. Remember, you are not just selling a house, but a lifestyle, so use the photos that can accomplish this.

3. Bad photos

Bad photos come in two flavors: photos that are  bad because they’re dark or blurry and photos that are bad because the rooms are not staged or properly prepped for photography. Heck, some people don’t even bother to straighten the room they’re photographing. I’ve even seen one MLS photo where there’s a dog in the foreground licking himself.

I am always amazed at some of the pictures that people will include, thinking that these will help sell their home.

Do yourself a favor. Make sure your agent hires a professional photographer to shoot your listing photos. Believe me, it is worth every penny. A professional photographer has both the equipment and the expertise to show a home off to its best advantage.  A good agent will often include the photography as part of his or her marketing package.

The bottom line: think of the Internet as your first “showing”.  Just as you’d make your house shine for an open house or a showing, make sure your photos shine for that first virtual showing.

Tags: home selling tips, preparing your home to sell, real estate photography

Why You Shouldn't Wait 'til Spring to List Your Home

Typically the real estate market is pretty dead between Thanksgiving and February, so people planning to sell in the new year usually wait until after Super Bowl Sunday to put their houses on the market. But this year will likely be different. Here’s why you should get your property listed as early as you can:

1. The extension of the first time buyer tax credit and the expansion of the tax credit to existing homeowners until April 30 means that there will be a continued influx of buyers into the market during the first quarter of 2010. Buyers who want to take advantage of the tax credit will begin looking for a new home earlier, to make sure they can find a home, arrange financing and close before the June 30 deadline. Here’s a good chart outlining the rules of the tax credit.
2. Interest rates are at or near 40 year lows right now, further stimulating buyer demand. But these rates are not likely to hold for long. While there probably won’t be a big increase in rates this year, they will start to   drift upward somewhat in the next 3-6 months.
3. Because many people will follow traditional wisdom and wait to list until later in the spring, you will have less competition if you can get a jump on them. People who are willing to brave single digit temps to look at houses are SERIOUS buyers.

If you’re thinking and hoping that prices might improve  if you wait a little longer, forget it. There’s a good chance that prices still have a little bit farther to fall before stabilizing.  And, even if prices are at or near the bottom, it is unlikely that we will see any upward movement in prices until later in the year. Real estate prices don’t tend to rebound in a “V” shape but rather in a  “U” shape with a wide trough before slowly starting to climb again.

Tags: home buyer tax credit, home selling tips, when to list your home for sale

5 Reasons to Keep Your Home Listed During the Holidays

You’re busy, you’re stressed, you’re way behind on your holiday shopping. Keeping the house neat 24/7  is taking its toll. The last thing you want to be bothered with is keeping the house show-ready for potential buyers when you’re trying to cook, clean,  decorate, entertain, shop and wrap for the holidays.

“Can’t we just take a break for a couple of weeks?” clients always ask me. “Surely no one is actually looking at real estate in December. Do I really need to keep my home on the market over the holidays?”

The answer I always give is: “How badly do you want to sell?” Because here’s the thing. It’s true there are fewer buyers at this time of year. No one in their right mind wants to look for real estate during the holidays. Unless, that is, they HAVE to buy, and buy SOON. So that brings me to reason #1 for keeping your house on the market:

1. If people are looking at real estate in December, they are SERIOUS  buyers and not the lookie-loos who have been traipsing through your house for the last few months. If you can gut it out for the next few weeks you might actually get an offer when you least expect it. Wouldn’t that be a nice Christmas present?
2. The corollary to reason #1 is that many sellers do go ahead and take their homes off the market over the holidays, which means there is less inventory on the market. Which means you have less competition for those few SERIOUS BUYERS.
3. Although it’s stressful for you to keep the house tidy with so much else going on, the fact is that your house will probably show better now, with holiday decorations up, than it will during the bleak months of January, February and March. Plus, all the warmth and cheer evoked by (appropriate) holiday decorating can strike an emotional chord with your buyer, subliminally conveying the wonderful lifestyle they will enjoy in this home. Just make sure you decorate the right way to evoke those positive emotions.
4. Think about this: if you are able to sell your home now and plan to buy another, you’ll be able to take your pick of the vast inventory of homes that will hit the MLS in the spring. In all likelihood, interest rates will still be low early in the year so you’ll win on the financing end too.
5. If the first four reasons didn’t convince you, just remember:  It won’t sell if it’s not on.

Tags: home selling tips, Real estate, selling my home over the holidays

Selling Your Home This Holiday Season? Decorating Dos and Don'ts

To decorate or not to decorate…it can be a real dilemma for home sellers.

Your real estate agent has probably told you to make your house as neutral as possible so it will appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers. On the other hand, you want to make your home feel warm and inviting so that buyers can picture themselves living there. With those two things in mind, here are some dos and don’ts for keeping your house show-ready during the holidays:

Do decorate, but think seasonal vs. holiday. Seasonal wreaths, garlands and greenery will make your house feel festive and inviting, without being too reflective of your personal taste. Red poinsettias in baskets also add a nice punch of color and can liven up a room during dreary winter months. Just make sure to throw them out when they start to get leggy and lose their leaves. Dying plants are a big no-no.

Don’t display religious items like nativity scenes, menorahs, etc. These can be a turn off to buyers who do not share your family’s faith traditions.

Do keep pots or planters outside the front entry updated with seasonal plants: mums in fall, evergreens in winter, and pansies in early spring. Don’t leave them empty and forgotten just because it’s cold out. They may be the only bright spot in an otherwise bleak landscape.

Don’t go crazy with outdoor decorations. Give your rooftop Santa and reindeer a year off and settle for some simple white lights (non-blinking, please!) on the bushes or a tree. Leave the icicle lights in storage.

Do have a Christmas tree if your family celebrates Christmas and you have children in the house. But you may want to lighten up on Sally and Tommy’s handmade decorations this year and stick with more generic ornaments. Take the tree down the day after Christmas.

Don’t put presents under the tree as that will make the space look smaller and feel cluttered.

Do put several indoor lights on timers to go on as soon as it gets dark (especially in the front rooms of the house). The house will give off a warm glow and provide added curb appeal to buyers who drive by in the evening. And make sure the porch or entry lights are working and turned on when the sun goes down.

Don’t have your marketing photos taken when holiday decorations are up. If your house lingers on the market into the spring, you don’t want to have to take new photos.

Tags: holiday decorating, home selling tips, preparing your home to sell, Real estate

Top ROI Home Improvements for Sellers

HomeGain just released the results from the annual survey of Realtors on which home improvements yield the highest return on investment for sellers.

According to the survey, the top ten low cost (<$5,000) home improvements that real estate agents recommend to their clients to get their homes sold faster and for higher prices are:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering
2. Home staging
3. Lightening and brightening
4. Landscaping
5. Repairing plumbing
6. Updating electrical
7. Replacing or cleaning carpeting
8. Painting interior walls
9. Repairing damaged floors
10. Painting the exterior

Click on the icon to the right and find out the likely cost of each improvement and its projected return on investment in your specific area by entering your zipcode. Answer “no” to all questions.

A word of caution: if you are selling, you want to make your home show better than the competition, but be careful not to over-improve.  Some expenditures may not pay out in the short term, like a big  bathroom or kitchen remodel. Often a handful of smaller and less expensive changes and improvements can have a major impact. Ask your Realtor to recommend a good home stager. They are trained to get the maximum impact with minimum cost.

Tags: home selling tips, preparing your home to sell