THE INTERNET, Plus Lots of Property Photos, Help Spell Success for Home Sellers!
84% OF HOMEBUYERS START THEIR SEARCH ON THE WEB, ACCORDING TO NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS - MOST WANT PHOTOS, TOURS, VIDEO!
Selling your home in or around Chicago these days? You better get tons of web coverage, and showcase lots of properly-staged interior property pictures.
That's even more critical than a few years ago, when fewer people had high-speed internet connections, and pictures took a long time to load on many computers with a standard dial-up connection to the Internet. Today, many home buyers do their initial screening based on the property photos, as well as rich data on the surrounding neighborhood, and local schools.
Says Julie Bunce, who searched for her new home in the Northern Chicago Suburb of Wauconda IL, "First I looked at pictures of a lot of houses online. Then, I drove by the ones I liked. That weeded it down to the few I saw in person." She winnowed her choices from dozens of possible homes, down to five, then, eventually, to the one she actually purchased.
Kay Wirth, President of the Illinois Association of Realtors, feels fewer home buyers "drive the neighborhood" to locate possible homes these days - they are very conscious about the high price of gasoline. Pictures, Virtual Tours, and Streaming Video can end up being the deciding factor as to whether the buyer actually views the home in person, or moves on.
We at Dean's Team Chicago know that to be true! Over the last 18 months, we have really strengthened our visual presence on the web, and emphasized the use of pictures and Visual Tours, or wide-scan panoramic views of both interior rooms and several exterior views. View Our Featured Properties via our Dean-Team.com Web Center to see how we've incorporated more photos, tours, and other detailed home and neighborhood data.
Showing photos alone is not enough, however. The home must be properly "staged" (we have three Accredited Staging Professionals on our Team), with rooms clutter-free, light and bright, and impeccably clean. Small rooms might look even smaller in a photo. Design details must be properly presented and discussed. Emphasize the details that might sway the buyer in favor of your home, over all others, and present them in the best light possible.
Premium kitchen appliances and plumbing fixtures need be featured. Hardwood floors emphasized. Sprawling rooms and yards shown using visual, panoramic shots. Potentially objectionable shots - unmade beds, untidy bathrooms, messy family rooms - can easily send potential buyers scurrying.
This "visual edge" is especially important in a buyers' market, according to Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com. "The buyer has lots and lots of houses to choose from, so the seller's pictures have to grab the buyer," he says. "You have to sell the lifestyle, not the house. Use plenty of pictures and show the buyer what makes the house special, which is not necessarily the front view."
Said Bunce, the Wauconda home owner, "If there weren't any pictures of a house, it made me wonder what the seller was hiding. Some pictures were just plain deceiving. One had what appeared to be a pond in the front yard, but it turned out to be a puddle. But we found those who had lots of good pictures of their houses tended to be the people who took care of their houses and were proud of them."
Another Chicago-area buyer, Nancy Davies who purchased in Pleasant Prairie WI, wouldn't even consider houses with simply an outside picture - she wondered what sellers were hiding on the inside. She was aghast that several of the interior pictures actually showed dirty laundry on the floors, unkempt bathrooms, and messy bedrooms.
Although nothing will ever completely replace an in-person inspection of the home you buy - no amount of pictures could expose the smell of heavy cigarette smoking, or poor maintenance, or a challenged location - photos can make or break the decision as to whether a prospective buyer will view the home at all. This is especially true in the slower, buyer-oriented market we are now facing in the Chicago Metro Area, and elsewhere.
Read Leslie Mann's article in today's Chicago Tribune Real Estate Section for more.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
