One photo does not sell a home.

By rerockstar • September 2nd, 2008

Doing the research for a listing appointment.

Recently I got a phone call from a woman who wanted to list her home. I listened to her concerns, asked her some questions, and immediately jumped onto our MLS (multiple listing service) to start my research. As I pulled up the listing (it had been previously listed with another agent), I found something that upset me: there was only one photo of the home on the MLS and it was a poorly taken photo at that. The description of the property was about as vanilla as you can get as well and didn’t even take advantage of all the space we’re given as agents to write about the home.

So I finished all my research and went over to the appointment the following day. I approached the building (it is a condominium) and saw exactly where the photo was taken from. I went inside and got the grand tour. Now here’s where I got really upset…this place was gorgeous! It was large, had tons of natural light, new flooring, and was in an excellent community (they have two pools, wonderfully landscaped grounds, and even a little herb garden for everyone’s use). None of this was expressed in that solitary photo I saw the day before.

If the local MLS lets us use more photos, we owe it to the buyers and sellers to use them all.

Our local MLS allows each agent to put up to 16 photos in their listings. Sixteen! And this listing had one. Of the front of the building. You couldn’t even tell which door was the unit being listed.

I think what frustrates me the most when I see listings like this, is that it means the agent is not doing everything they can to help this seller get the best offer on their home. We all look at homes on the internet (I do it too!) and use that as a great starting point for finding the perfect place. I know I’ve passed by on some simply based on photos (or lack thereof). We are visual creatures and thanks to the internet, video, digital cameras, etc.; we can have instant gratification while looking for houses in our pajamas. If the buyers are out there looking at photos, shouldn’t we as agents want to give them all we can? I certainly think so. Its in our best interest and more importantly its in our clients best interest.

Want to see other agents’ takes on bad MLS work? Just Google “bad mls photos.”

photo courtesy of nadbasher