A single picture may say a lot

It's quite obvious that when a listing agent only puts up one picture, on the outside of the house, or one tiny corner of a living room, that the entire home is probably a DUMP, and not even worth looking at if you're looking for something that you can just move right into. Listing agents that don't put up pictures of the most important parts of the home, i.e. kitchens and bathrooms are telling you, "Hey, these rooms suck, but the price is still high as if they were fabulous."

Another trick that I saw this past week was a home in Harvard saying, "TWO days only Sat/Sun new price $510,000, all offers in at 8pm on Sunday." Needless to say, a few days after, they jacked the price BACK up to 540. This home's been on the market for well over a year and hasn't sold...why? It's a dump..awful kitchen, awful rooms, awful everything...with only a few pictures of staged furniture that looks misplaced. The funny thing is, we all have the internet, and we see stale listings- what would make anyone buy the house now without a drastically reduced price? Realtors need to wake up and realize that the old tricks that used to work in a seller's market don't apply anymore..especially with savvy, well-educated, well-financed first time home buyer's who can afford to sit and wait and find THE DEAL and home of their dreams. We're waiting to find the house that's priced appropriately so we're not underwater like all the people who bought in the bubble and are trying to sell now without losing their shirts.

Don't waste your time on the one-pic wonders with whimsical buzz words written in the listing- quaint means small, period- pieces means original and old, warm ambience means dark and closed in.

Also, RE's...if you have one pic or your pictures are taken with that WIDE-ANGLE lens that you all love so much..when we go see the home, don't get offended when we, the buyer's, tell you it's a dump, and an overpriced one at that.

Also, don't bother telling us that 'it's a great time to buy, there's a lot of action on this home, and rates are low." Because, rates are volatile at best, and we're not nearly at the bottom yet..so the scare tactics and fake demand aren't going to work.

I've read that you can actually find good gems and/or deals on houses like those because people like you avoid them.

It seems like you are contradicting yourself-- saying that you weed those out but that you are also less likely to pigeonhile them. Which one is it?

I agree. Listings with one photo say to me: "This is the best thing in the house. I can't show you the rest or you'd never come see it."

I could write a book, Stacey!

No pics of the kitchen and/or bath - that means you're in for a 'vintage salmon and black tile' disaster and/or an orange and avocado monstrosity. These things are obviously changeable but if there's no pictures, they're rarely in good condition.

I saw a listing where the only pic was an exterior shot, in the snow, with what i presume to be the owner peeking out his front door (It was a foreclosure, i think the bank was doing a drive-by to take pics for the listing and he saw them and ran outside). That was probably my favorite.

I also saw another where the main pic was a shot of the front door with a wreath on it. Why would I care or want to see this? The wreath isn't coming with the house, is it? I can go to Michaels and make my own.

Also, pics of plants, or photos that were taken without any regard to the messiness of the home. Pack that stuff up and put it away! If everything's that sloppy on the surface, I can only imagine what surprises lurk beneath.

A single photo says not only, "This house is a dump," but "I expect you not to notice and pay full price."

Another funny thing is the quality of photos on many listings. I realize a realtor cannot afford to hire Richard Avedon to shoot a property. However, can we please stop with the weird angles, shots of pillows and bedding, pictures of the cat, and extreme closeups of the one tiger lilly in the back yard?

I find that most foreclosures only have one picture; I think that's because agents listing foreclosures usually have many of them, and just don't have the time, or want to bother, taking and uploading multiple pictures. I'm an agent myself, and can testify that the software for uploading pictures to the MLS is slow and dated.

But I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss one picture listings. Sometimes foreclosures are wonderful deals that just need some fresh paint, and maybe an updated kitchen and bathroom. You get to choose your own colors and fixtures, and you're still paying way less than you might for a house with multiple pictures that is overpriced.

Look for the important things: good location, good lot size, good price, and a house that can be made attractive for you.

There is either something wrong with the house or something wrong with the marketing. As a buyer's agent, I will see the house to make sure my client can take advantage if it is the latter.

LL, I can help you write that book on bad houses. But I can also tell you about the great deals to be had when the agent is lazy, incompetent with a camera, or both.

My favorite ones are the ones that advertise "MILLION DOLLAR VIEWS"

and then don't have a picture of the view.....

Interestingly enough, the house we just bought was one that photographed poorly yet showed well in person. Nearly every single person we showed online pics to had comments ranging from "well, that's.... not TOO bad I guess", to "Wow, that's gonna need some work" - but when you see it in person it's a completely different story. People can't believe it's the same house.

I had even asked the showing agent when I first saw it at an open house, "What feedback are you getting?" and the comments overwhelmingly suggested that the photos did not show well but it was great in person. The colors just did not photograph well (but I suppose we were the only ones who saw past that and knew that a bucket of paint wasn't too costly)

We take our listing pictures with a decent Nikon digital SLR and professional wide angle lens (better than cheap point-and-shoots' wide angle mode, it gives a better representation of the size of the room). We also photoshop them to adjust color, lighting and shadows. In the listings that we inherit from other brokerages, we generate more showings in the first few weeks than the other agencies did in the whole time it is listed according to our sellers.

If I were a seller I would insist on nothing less. Granted price is important, but who cares what the price is if no one wants to see it.

If an agent is technologically incapable, get a new agent. There is no reason why they should not be up-to-date in current marketing practices. After all, you are paying them to market your home.

Christina,
To clarify my comment, I don't pigeonhole the listings that don't have any photo at all. Those could be the result of someone being technically challenged or a brand new listing. It's the one-photo wonders that I avoid. This is largely because I cannot afford to buy a money pit that will require lots of renovations and repairs. Thanks for reading.

There are way too many properties on the market to waste time and gas running around viewing inappropriate listings. At $4+ per gallon, buyers want to make sure that if they are taking the time and spending the money to personally view a home, that the home is at least one for serious consideration.

They want to see it ALL. ALL. Good and bad. Internet presentation is EVERYTHING. It's the 'curb appeal' of five years ago. Buyers are ELIMINATING properties based on their web presentation. Many realtors still think that by 'teasing' with a few photos, that will prompt a buyer to call them. Wrong. It prompts them to click the 'next' button!

I provide narrated, full motion video tours of properties for sale. This is as close to 'being there' as you can actually get. You get to literally walk through the house, up and down the halls, into each room. You can see the relationship between rooms. You see EVERYTHING.

It weeds out buyers who are not serious. It doesn't waste the time of sellers preparing their homes for wasted showings.

These days, it's all about transparency. Buyers want to see everything, and make up their OWN minds. That means lots of photos and high quality video tours.

When I see listings with just one photo I am frustrated, but never suspicious. I guess maybe I should be.

I'm with Marcus on this one - esp. the single flower shots or the random details - like a door knob. These pseudo-artsy shots are extremely annoying. Listing agents should also skip the "here's a corner in a random room" shots. However, on the bright side, kudos to sellers and agents who include floor plans in the listing (assuming they are large enough to make out).

I agree that the consumer wants as much info as possible. That is why post as many photos as possible (without being repetitive). I have also used Video Tours (thanks again Fred @ NVT) as well.

Unfortunately, not all sites update their photos regularly (or sometimes not at all) so we, as agents, are not always in control. There are ways to improve the odds that all of your photos get displayed, but that is what makes some agents different than others. ;)

I agree with the first two paragraphs on #13, wholeheartedly. If the listing agent can't be bothered to take a good photograph of every room of the house, they're wasting my time.

That being said, I'm not especially fond of video tours either -- they take too long. I only bother sitting through those if the photos already have my attention.

What to do if you don't want to sell your house:

1) Single picture
2) Single picture of an interior room
3) More pictures of landscaping than the house
4) Picture of the door - yeah, I think I saw the Christmas Door too
5) No pictures at all, especially when you initially post the listing
6) Wide angle lens shots when you have small rooms.
7) All time favorite: Chintz and clutter still out and about in the pictures - get rid of the strings of fake ivy throughout kitchens and living rooms

Having looked for a property close to the commuter rail, I would also be wary of anything that says "steps to train". A google earth search usually reveals that the house is sitting on the train tracks.

LOL at #19. A listing in Boxborough's first line was "Do you love trains?." It was literally on the MBTA tracks. Why move all the way out to BOX, if you are going to live ON the commuter rail?

"Do you love trains?"

MLS #: 70719285

Has anybody ever thought that the listing broker possibly hasn't posted multiple photos in order to actually get buyers into the property?! I haven't used this tactic and agree that most brokers avoid posting pictures of crappy kitchens but there is the small chance that you might miss a very special property just because there weren't any interior photos.