How Well Does Your Home Show?

Bel Air, Md - Lanette Branch, Realtor

How well does your Bel Air, Maryland home show? Or, a better question might be - does it show at all? Of the 413 homes currently for sale in Bel Air, Maryland; 26% have only one picture showing on the MLS. A ridiculous 2% have absolutely no picture at all. Not one. Nada. Zilch.

How is it possible to effectively market a home with no photos of the home? In this day of instant everything and information overload, how exactly does one sell a home with no photos? The basic element of any marketing plan surely consists of quality photos, and lots of ‘em. Seriously, am I missing something here?

Why would a listing agent not showcase her listing with as many pictures as possible? I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that it just makes the home selling process that much longer and that much arduous for the seller. Why not qualify buyers as much as possible? Providing many quality photos with a listing gives us many advantages. We are able to qualify buyers aesthetically as well as financially. Think about it. Why would you want a buyer wasting your time and effort with a showing of your beautiful white kitchen if the buyer doesn't want white cabinets and is not inclined to re-do the kitchen after move-in? Honestly, why are we wasting everyone's time? Oh, right -- if the listing agent doesn't market a picture of the kitchen, there might be a buyer who "says" he doesn't like white cabinets yet sees your home in person and might absolutely fall in love w/your home - white cabinets and all -- and might submit an offer for full list price. O.K.,. that would be nice in La-La-Listing Agent Land, but here in the real world the chances are slim to none of this happening. Not to mention, it's a pain in the you-know-what for a seller maintain his home in show condition day after day after ridiculously long day...

So, I'll ask again. Why would a listing agent not showcase your home with as many pictures as possible?

• Perhaps your listing agent doesn't have a digital camera? Then she should buy one (that is NOT attached to a cell phone!) or pay a professional photographer to take quality photos of your home.

• Maybe your agent doesn't want to pay for a virtual tour? HUH?

• Maybe you, the sellers, don't want pictures of the house on the MLS or out there on The Net. Again, I say, HUH?

• O.K., perhaps you don't really want to sell your home? It's just your way of making sure you keep on top of housework and keep your home in "show condition"? HUH?

So, let's recap. Of the many homes currently for sale in Bel Air, Maryland; well over 1/4 have a measly one or no pictures available for all the many (many!) potential buyers searching in earnest for homes. 2% had no pictures at all. Yes, that was 2%.

BTW, among the 2% that have no pictures at all, one is listed for over a million dollars. It's been on the market for well over a year - 455 days to be exact. Hmmm....