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Check out these terrible, horrible, no good, very bad real estate photo websites!

1/18/2014

Ready for some shock, awe and maybe a few laughs? Here are some of my favorite sites!

-Terrible Real Estate Agent Photos
-Bad MLS Photos
-Terrible Listing Photos on AOL
-Bad Real Estate Photos on Tumblr
-SoCal Photo Hall of Shame
-Bad MLS Photos and The Lesson They Teach on AOL Real Estate

PS- If your listing photos look like they might end up on one of these sites, call me TODAY!!!

Happy Selling!

Annie

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Attract buyers with all of their senses!

1/8/2014

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When we were young, we learned about our 5 senses and how they played an important role in everyday life. Marketing companies have done their research and years ago started to use this to their advantage. When you are in the grocery store and smell the fried chicken scent they have blowing through the fans, what are you hungry for? You guessed it, fried chicken!

Same things go for selling your home! I have always been intrigued by this school of thought and feel very strongly about using this to your advantage when your home is on the market. Here is a list of my suggestions and keep an eye out for future posts that digs a little deeper into each one!

Sight- Well, this one is the most obvious and important one! Your home needs to be appealing to the eye from the outside in. A fresh cleaning, decluttering and neutral colors are a great way to get the ball rolling.

Smell- This sense is my favorite! Warning- I will talk about smells more than anyone wants to read about it! Buyers will notice scents (good or bad) right as then enter through the front door and if there is anything unpleasant, the turn off is something that can not be undone. If your home is freshly cleaned, you are already ahead of the game. If there is a foul scent that is not corrected by a good cleaning, find the source of the scent and correct it. Period.

Touch- Do you ever notice when you are shopping how you touch everything- from the firmness of fruit at the grocery store, the softness of a towel at a department store, the silkiness of a scarf at a clothing store? Buyers do that, too, when they tour a home! The normal touchable surfaces (kitchen and bathroom counters, floors and more) make sense to keep clean and free of dirt, crumbs and stickiness. Buyers very well could touch a hand towel in your kitchen, maybe a blanket you have on a sofa, so make sure those are soft and clean too!

Hearing- I always love walking into a listing that has some sort of gentle music playing, it always makes me feel welcome! Jazz, classical, something in these genres work well and keep the sound low. It is especially important if you have a surround sound system that is included in the sale, highlighting it in this fashion might be just the ticket to getting your home sold!

Taste- I know, I know- taste in a home sale? Really? Yes, taste! Homes that had some kind of treat out- cookies or candy (or even something more creative), have always stood out in buyers' mind when we show homes. One home even had chilled water bottles available on a sweltering summer day w/ a note telling buyers to help themselves to one. It's a small, but nice gesture and tells a buyer that they want you to be comfortable in their home.

Long post, but filled with some of my favorite information. With so many homes on the market at any given time, these easy tips will make your home stand out from the rest and will get you one step closer to a sold sign in your yard!

Happy Selling!

-Annie

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Can buyers visualize themselves in your home?

1/3/2014

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This post is about one thing and one thing only- depersonalizing your home of personal items while it is on the market.

Depersonalizing is a phrase that is thrown around in real estate these days. It is a pretty vague concept and can be used to describe numerous things- neutralizing paint colors and furniture, removing religious and cultural decor and taking down items specific to the seller and their family. Today I am talking about the latter, but will go over the other topics in future blog posts.

Last year I had a shoot in a semi-vacant home (owners had moved to their new home and staged the old home with some of their extra furniture) and they forgot a few things- all of their photos and were resistant to take them down. I am talking about photos on every thing that was standing still, at least 100 frames filled with all the photos that could fit. As the photographer, I was overwhelmed. I am sure when prospective buyers came, through they had the same (or worse) reaction. Even with the right price, pro photos and a great agent, the house took months to sell.

Too much personalization can be a negative in a few ways-

The most obvious issue is buyers see your face all over during their showing and could have a hard time picturing themselves in the home. Some buyers will leave the house with the feeling that this is "John and Jane's home" and not the buyer's new home.

Another factor to take into account is all of those personal items can be very distracting. We, as humans, are a very nosey bunch. When buyers are supposed to look at the ins and outs of the home, they are looking at all of the pictures and memorabilia. They are busy creating stories in their heads about all of the photos that they are looking at, rather than noticing the recently finished wood floors and designer wall colors. When they leave the home, some buyers may be able to recount where the sellers went on vacation but not have a clue about the type of appliances or flooring.

I suggest removing all but 2-3 photos from view, it will give buyers a clean slate to help them visualize your home as their next home.

Happy Selling!

-Annie

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Check out these terrible, horrible, no good, very bad real estate photo websites!

Attract buyers with all of their senses!

Can buyers visualize themselves in your home?

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