A single picture may say a lot
The Internet and e-mail have made it so much easier to house hunt.
I am signed up for a couple of regular e-mail bulletins from real estate agents in areas where I am interested in purchasing a home. During the early stages of a hunt, this, I find, helps get you familiar with communities and what’s available.
But one thing I've noticed is that not every listing has multiple photos to give you an idea of what the property looks like -- never mind slide shows and video tours. So I have started to weed out properties that have only one photo of the outside of the house, or apartment complex, or worse just a picture of the condo complex’s sign.
This is because in my experience such listings wound up having some big issues inside. For instance, when I was trying to find a place on the Cape (which is not easy on a newspaper salary), I went to an open house at one townhouse-style condo in Hyannis that had only one picture of the condo’s exterior on its electronic listing. However, inside was really cramped and needed upgrading. Worst of all, both the kitchen and bathrooms had the original, 1970s-era countertops -- white Formica with gold veining -- and it covered the cabinet and drawer fronts as well as the countertops.
I didn’t want stainless steel countertops, but that was awful and I couldn’t have afforded to renovate for a long time. (There were other issues too.)
However, I’m less likely to pigeonhole a property with no photo, because I understand sellers may be technically challenged, or just not have had time to get a photo ready for the electronic listing.
What have other people found with electronic listings? Are their red flags that you use to weed out properties.
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