I recently read a question from a seller on one of the popular real estate internet bulletin boards. This seller was lamenting the fact that her home had been on the market for almost 6 months with only a few showings. She was asking how she could find a good Realtor to sell her home.

When I pulled up her listing on the MLS it was pretty obvious that one of her biggest problems was the horrible picture of her home. It was dark and uninviting and certainly wasn’t calling out to me to sell it, let alone to a buyer to buy it.

In today’s market with over 55,000 homes on the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (last count), you had better hope your home leaps off the page and says “BUY ME” as buyers flip through 100’s of homes in every single price range.

Great photos are probably the first thing a buyer notices…pricing is the next. I will tell you a beautifully photographed overpriced home is likely to have more showings than a poorly photographed “deal”.

When you’re looking for a Realtor to market your home in today’s market, the first place you should start is the internet. Who comes up on the first 3 pages when you do a search for “your city name” homes for sale? Or “your city name” real estate. Now I’m not talking about those listings that are paid for at the top of the page…anybody can pay to have their name on a page. What you are looking for is an agent who is high on the search pages naturally due to the content of their website.

Why is this important? Over 80% of buyers are starting their home searches on the internet and that number is growing everyday. If you don’t have an agent who is internet saavy, who is going to post your listing all over the web…well, you’re getting left in the dust. The good ol’ days of open houses and newspaper ads are gone. The internet is where it’s happenin’!

Now, start clicking on the webpages of the agents at the top of the search engine rankings. Do you like their marketing style? Look at their listings. Do the photos of their listings make you want to see those homes? If not…move on.

Here are a few examples of how NOT to sell a house.  This home that was listed but did not sell.  Why?  Could be several reasons, but the first most obvious is the photo used to market the home.  Check this out…

I listed this same house and took the photo below

Which house would you buy? Exact same house just better photography.

Here’s another.  Would you want to run out and buy this house…..?

or this house….?

Again, I listed this home the day after it expired.  Exact same house…just better photography.

Now…drum roll please….. 

The Winner of this week’s Ugly Photo contest is………….. 

 
Why would anyone think this would be a good marketing photo? I’m thinking the big box with “no photo available” would have had better success in drawing a buyer.

Check out some of the recent winners in the Ugle Home Marketing Photo contest.  These photos have been or are actually being used by some of my colleagues to "market" their listings.  I just don't understand.