With the market being so competitive for sellers, I can’t help wonder why realtors would not maximize their client’s exposure by putting photos in the MLS and marketing materials.

What shocks me is just how many homes are in the MLS without pictures! ??? Most realtors AND buyers think the house must be a dump when there aren’t any photos. My initial thought is that they have a lazy realtor.

The theory, “Less is more and not posting pictures will make them come see the house in person,” is not one I would spend time proving. With so much inventory on the market and homes with virtual tours, slide shows and video clips, you may want to rethink that thought process.

Every house, like every person, has its good and bad features. Even your worst fixer-upper has something to offer. It does not take much to go into a house and find a selling feature. Describing the true manner of the house in the MLS is the agent’s responsibility and is imperative…. and the price should reflect that. A home in need of major repairs should be priced substantially lower depending on the severity of the work needed. This lower asking price will attract the buyers and investors looking for a fixer-upper.

Get this! Not every house without photos is a home with physical handicaps. I have seen beautiful homes that failed to show their full potential. Wonderful homes that would photograph beautifully and were not given the opportunity. The real estate market is slow and sellers don’t need another obstacle preventing buyers from seeing their homes.

Sellers, at the very least, make sure you have your realtor put a couple of pictures in the MLS. If they are charging you a full service fee, they should provide full service…. and THAT includes photos! Just my humble opinion. If you are working with a discount broker . . . well, you get what you pay for.

Make sure that the photos show off your house to its full capacity. Dirty dishes in the sink or clothes on the floor will not help your cause. Would you submit a picture of yourself to a magazine or local newspaper with your eyes closed??? I doubt it. Your house deserves the same respect. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Home Selling Tip

With so much inventory on the market, it is imperative to make sure that you have prepared your home for optimum showing. Buyers,…in what has been deemed as a “buyer’s market” …are pickier than ever. They are asking to see between 30-50 homes sometimes before they make a decision!

Buyers usually know within about 10 seconds if your house will make the final cut. So, before a buyer votes you off the island or shouts “Your Fired” -you will want to impress them as soon as they pull up to the house, but especially as soon as their realtor opens the door and ushers them in.

Today’s tip has to do with your “scentmosphere”. This is often forgotten when staging the home for sale. The visual aspects are the main focus. You’ve heard it from your realtor, “Pack up the clutter and put it in storage,” “Take down all the family photos,” “Take out some of the furniture,” and “Clean out the closets!”

What does your house smell like? Your realtor would be a great advisor as this person doesn’t live there. We get immune to the scents in our own house. Does it smell like the dinner from last night or the dirty dishes, your family dog, or worse yet: dirty diapers? Sandra just told me last weekend of her horror story with her buyer clients when they walked into a gorgeous house that smelled like the dirty diaper sitting on the floor in the master bedroom! It doesn’t matter how great or perfect that house is, the smell of the dirty diaper was forever burned into the buyer’s memory…and nose!

Burn candles or get those reed diffusers that continuously give off fragrance. Good smells are kitchen spice scents, vanilla, citrus, or fresh/clean scents. Don’t get something so strong and spicey that it overwhelms visitors.

Be aware of the environment and your scentmosphere every day you leave! The day you forget to check will be the day the buyer comes to see your home…. afterall, it’s Murphy’s Law!

Kelli Grant of Platinum Premier Realty
8765 E Bell Rd. Ste 210 Scottsdale AZ 85260
602-799-5420