10. The listing photo is crooked: Why is the house tilted? I personally prefer my home level and my pens won't roll down the table when I set them down (it can be quite a hassel!) I feel like I am on the Titanic... Leo, where are you?
9. Taking photos without turning on lights/flashes nor opening the blinds: Everyone wants to buy a bright and airy room, very rarely someone would prefer a cave.
8. Reminding your buyers of their own clutters: clutter eats equity!
7. Forgot your yard is on sale too: Come on, it's not so difficult to put the trash can in the garage! Also just because the agent layed down the broom "neatly" doesn't mean we won't notice. It doesn't count as a plant nor splashes of color sellers should opt for.
6. Featuring an unattractive view: I found this photo on MLS as the featured photo for a property. Really? This one? There wasn't a better one? And guess what kind of property the agent was selling? A Single Family Home! Who would've guessed?
5. Losing the architecture focal point to something else overwhelming: In this particular case, all buyers can see is the oversized tree and it becomes difficult to see the fireplace. There are also too many things going on. I didn't even see the piano when I first saw it. Or the view! Did you see the windows at the first glance?
4. Forgot the exterior is on sale too: How can we sell the listing if it's hidden behind trees? Don't let the buyers play peekaboo with the house.
3. Photos not available: Why isn't it available? It's part of an agent's job to present his/her product well. In the internet buyer's age, this laziness needs to die. I see a lot of this "photo" on expired listings, which I am not too surprised.
2. You didn't stage! However if you are in an area where vacant inventory still moves fairly quickly, it's fine to not stage. In areas like mine (San Francisco Bay Area) where it is competitive, then you would need to if you have the budget. If you have financial concerns, talk to a few accredited staging professionals. I have written about how to hire a stager before, feel free to check it out. Here is an example of before & after.
See Before Staging
See After Staging
1. Instead of actual staging, the seller or agent half bakes it: Sometimes what is worse than not staging is put random things in the room and call it "staging." This still does not give buyers the correct spatial relations of the room. The next owners are not just going to have a side table, a tree and a TV in the room. It will be easier if there is a couch there to have a better sense of the space and will be easier for the buyers to imagine their belongings in the room. Just half-fake the staging like this will still make people feel like they are walking into someone else's space -- someone who forgot to finish packing.
If you have financial difficulty, talk with your accredited staging professional. A good stager knows how to work with your budget and to achieve the best results. But do have reasonable expectations. Afterall, champagne taste on a beer budget is just not going to work. Just talk openly with your agent & accredited stager to sort out your concerns. It is their job to assist you in the selling process and to ease your stress. ;)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(This is an original post written by Cindy Lin, Owner of Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns www.staged4more.com. All Rights Reserved.)
Cindy Lin, Founder + General Manager
Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns
www.staged4more.com
Direct: 650-293-7458
Office: 650-589-8875
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Proud winner of Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur Award, Make Mine A Million, CSP Green Business of the Year and finalists to Innovator of the Year, Stager of the Year Awards from Real Estate Staging Association.
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Cindy,
Thanks for the post. So true, if you cannot do it correctly why bother at all. I would hate to think these photos were taken with the intent of helping to market a property.
This is one of those 'little' things that's a big thing. Agents don't formally learn about taking pictures and use their own judgement. I know a couple of very good photographers, and they both gave me some excellent tips early in my career. Even with that, I'd be lost without my digital photo software sometimes!
Great post and I think your examples are right on the money.
Great Blog, Cindy!
I, for one, have a problem when I take pictures...for some reason and no matter how focused I am when taking them, they are always tilted! I plan to counteract that with a tripod in the future!
I take issue with online MLS listings that don't include pictures - in this day and age, how can a realtor allow such a thing?
And thanks for pointing out that rooms with random pieces of furniture are not 'staged'!
Cindy...you covered almost all of my pet peeves regarding photos on the internet. One of my biggest complaints, when viewing listings on Realtor.com, is seeing a pool table in the living room and a home gym in the dining room. That would be enough to make me skip that home entirely and move on to the next one.
Hope you have a very Happy and Successful 2007.
Val - May I suggest using a camera with a nice LCD screen so you can check photos after you take them and before leaving the property. If you can take the photo with the ceiling horizonal (parallel with the top of the LCD screen), you can adjust the walls to vertical easily with Photoshop Elements and DCE Tools (Lens Correction followed by Perspective Correction). Call me! I'll walk you through it.
Cindy, thanks so much for these! I got a big kick out of them. It makes me wonder why folks don't insist that their real estate professionals come back to retake photos. I'd be horified if some of those were used on my property....
Feel free to use my tour preparation tips to prepare your own list. Send it to homeowners before the shoot so they know what they need to do.
Cindy,
I loved your post, very clever way to make the average Realtor see the mistakes they make. I see it everyday, it is really kind of funny. Thanks.
Thanks for the post and the accompanying photos. What windows? What piano? Lol
www.Homerome.com
Baltimore,Md
Cindy, I love this post- it is all SO true. It can be surprising how different things look in a photo. Using the LCD screen to check how rooms show can make a world of difference in how to correctly prepare a space. I recently staged a room that looked beautiful in person, but in a picture I really noticed the dingy view of the neighboring house and added some sheers. In a still picture, when all other distractions are taken away, things such as clutter or lack of a focal point, etc., can really come to light.
Also, your after photo of the room you staged is truly beautiful.
Hi Cindy. It's amazing that sometimes if your lucky enough to see photos from a listing that has been SITTING for 30 days with no photos they show mediocre at best photography. My personal favorite is the Oceanfront listing as follows:
TWO LINEAR FEET OF OCEANFRONT
Spring and summer pictures with snow in them - gotta love it! Too busy? Nah. Opportunity to drop by in person to see a client? Nah. What the heck, they'll be in season again in 6 months. . . .
One suggestion- use a good quality monopod. They are considerably easier to use than a tripod, provide much needed stability for digital cameras, and take up very little room in your car. Using a monopod gives me a sense of how level my camera is and it also encourages me to try different levels and angles for shots. Any good camera store will carry a heavy duty monopod and thye are well worth the investment.
Val, you can also fix a tilted room in Photoshop by selecting the entire image then using: Edit>Free Transform...... In Photoshop Elements, I think it is Image>Transform. Move the mouse pointer down to one of the corners of the selected image, then drag it around until everything is level. "Apply" the transformation. After you've de-tilted the image, then crop it to get rid of the odd white space that will remain at the sides after the "transformation".
And everyone else: I'm a contrarian. I like the big potted tree. I like to see rooms with filled with books or interesting collectibles. I think it looks more inviting. But that's just me.
I really like your post. What a visual reminder for us. Think I might slide it under Dh's morning paper. God Bless him, he often offers to do photos for my listings but I almost always have to go back and redo them because he just doesn't get it and I don't have the heart to criticize his endeavors. I think I'm going to suggest a class in photo editing for our technology committee to schedule this year.
Hi Cindy,
This was a great post, and funny, too! I have one thing to add to the list- the blurry photos. You wonder if their hands were trembling or if the shot was taken during an earthquake...
Great post, Cindy.
An agent would be well advised to show this to a seller and explain why what they do different from other agents who never mention how important staging is.! Thanks for sharing this
Cindy,
This hits on some of my pet peeves! You left out the cell phone photo pics. These are the ones taken with a cell phone that has such poor resolution you can't tell if it's a house or vacant lot!
I had a listing that a previous agent had for a year with 1 picture. We took tons of pictures, made flyers, etc. We had an offer in less than 60 days! Amazing what happens when you actually market a listing!
Rita
I agree- my pet peeve is the "No Photo" available....What happened did your digital camera die while you were at the listing or is this house so secret that only government spies are allowed to view it?
Perhaps I am being too harsh in light of the 24 posting to the MLS rule but come are you really unable to figure out a way to get at least on photo up on the web?
Cindy, thanks for the tips, I am certain many will benefit and hopefully review their own listings.
Hi Cindy, I think I took those photos! I have a terrible time with a camera and should take a professional photographer with me. What I see through the lens is never what comes out. Fortunately Kodak Easyshar software will at least let me fiddle with them enough so they dont look like a second grader took them. Oh wait! My granddaughter is a second grader and she takes great pictures. Oh well :-)
Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!
Cindy that is the funniest things I have ever seen. Great Blog.
Ben
Good points.
Good Day!! have a cup of java and a smile on me :)
Although the article is a couple of years old, the content is timeless and especially relevant now. Good job!