I was recently perusing one of the popular hotel websites. The exercise served as just another reminder of the importance of photography in marketing anything in our digital world. Selling real estate, as we are all well aware, is certainly no exception. I don’t believe any more needs to be written about the importance of stellar photography when selling a home.
The Down Side
As with most everything in life (please let me know if you have an example to the contrary), there is a downside to the upside. It appears that many agents that we work with are allowing the Internet to “handcuff” them and to minimize their impact on the home buying process. When we field a call from an agent to schedule a showing of an Al Filippone Associates’ listing, we often allude to additional offerings that we have with similar criteria and pricing, and we ask if the agent plans on showng any of them. The number of Realtors who reply, “Those aren’t on the list of houses that my buyer chose to see,” is astounding.
What You See Is Not Always What You Get
As compelling and beneficial as photographs are, there is nothing like seeing a home with your own eyes. There are some elements of a home, both interior and exterior, that are very difficult to gauge from photographs or online floor plans, yet are very important to buyers:
- The actual “flow” and design of the floor plan.
- The way in which the home is sited on the property.
- The surrounding homes.
- The ceiling heights and actual feeling of space in each room.
- The contours and expansiveness of the property, landscaping and the way in which they all assimilate with the property’s shape.
- The commanding nature of the location or lack thereof.
- The overall feeling of the home once you enter it.
Buyers Are Not Liars
Buyers are not liars, they simply often have a difficult time articulating what they want in a home. It’s not much different than choosing a partner. You feel the connection when you see the person and when you personally engage in conversation with them. Also, buyers are not usually thinking compromise and thus don’t always know where they are willing to do so until they make a choice on a home that “speaks to them.” I suppose that is similar to choosing a partner also.
Added Value
Matching buyers with the inventory and understanding the mindset, needs and “hot buttons” of a buyer are skills that all talented Realtors possess. It’s the added value that we bring to each relationship, and not to utilize those skills by simply showing a buyer homes that they choose to see is an abdication of our responsibility.
What other aspects of a home are difficult to determine simply from photography?
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