Are you really trying to sell that house?

That’s the question I tend to ask when I come across a listing with no photos and/or no public remarks/description.

Now, right from the outset let me say that I see a large amount of listings each and every day. I do this as a part of my real estate business. Besides completing CMA’s for prospective customers/clients, search out homes for my buyers, prepare potential properties for my expired listing marketing campaign, I also complete 5-7 BPO’s for lenders each day. For all of those I have to research acceptable comps and therefore I need to view the listings in the general vicinity of the subject properties. With that said, I have lost count of the number of listings I have seen that have been on the market for over 90 days and have no photos of the property at all. Also, in some cases there has been no description, at any level, of the home. How are you trying to market the property? I can see that there may not be any photos after 6-8 days after getting the listing. You intend to go back and take photos during better weather or give the home owners a opportunity to properly stage the home. But after 90 days, you should at least have a photo of the exterior of the property. What is the listing agent thinking? That buyers will be interested in seeing the property just out of curiosity? I doubt it. Buyers feel if there are no photos showing any aspect of the home that it probably isn’t worth even viewing. Leave out interior photos and they will presume that the interior is in such bad shape that the listing agent didn’t want to scare off the buyers. So, they move onto other listings.

As for the lack of property descriptions, I just don’t understand this. The listing agent has been in the home. They had to be in there to make their presentation as to the market price and their marketing plan, so why not just pit down some basic information about the home…a verbal narrative of what the buyer can expect to see when they view it, highlights of the key areas of the house. I don’t know which is worse, have a blank and empty public remarks/description section or stating “Property description to follow” still showing after over 90 days on the market.

As a professional marketer and businessman, it sets my teeth on edge whenever I see such listings. The listing agent took the time to make their presentation to the home owner, establish an agreed to marketing price, and then had the home owner to sign a listing agreement. For what? To have the home owner’s home wallow on the market with no activity and a very slim chance to sell? These agents are my colleagues, my competitors, and I wish they’d find another line of work. They are tainting the market for the rest of us. We have to follow behind them and apologize for their lack of skills, knowledge, and professionalism.

Now I start wondering if the property listing has no photos and/or description then how does the listing agent expect to market and sell the home? I’m left with one conclusion. Price. If you price something low enough you will definitely get lots of interest regardless of the property condition. But the days of overpaying on homes is over. Under pricing a home just to generate interest is not doing your home owner any favors. Buyers still remember what happened during the last real estate “boom” when people over-paid on homes, made offers over the asking price. They remember the end results of people who have a home that is now valued at less then what they owe. So, why would buyers want to pay over the asking price, even if it is considerably less then where it should be? The listing agents aren’t home marketers because they aren’t properly representing the home owners or giving a true picture of the home being sold. In the last year the actual sold price vs. asking price has been less then 95%:

1. Camden County - avg. actual sold price was 89% of the avg. asking price
2. Burlington County - avg. actual sold price was 90% of the avg. asking price.
3. Gloucester County - avg. actual sold price was 90% of the avg. asking price.
4. Cumberland County - avg. actual sold price was 91% of the avg. asking price.

Real professionals look out for their client’s best interest and make a point of knowing the market area and what it takes to insure that the property is sold at the optimal price. As important as price is, proper presentation and promotion is just as important.