Bad photos, questionable decisions and expensive mistakes I see far too often.
By Joanne Tiernan, REALTOR®
I look at homes and real estate listings every single day. After doing this for years, there are certain things I see over and over again that drive me crazy, mostly because so many of them are completely avoidable.
Some cost sellers money. Others cause buyers to overlook opportunities or make decisions they may regret later. And some simply come down to not having the right person advising you from the beginning.
So consider this an FYI from someone who spends a ridiculous amount of time looking at houses.
Sellers, Please Take Your Marketing Seriously
This is probably number one on my list because I see it constantly: terrible real estate photos and poor marketing.
I truly do not understand it.
Your home may be worth $250,000, $500,000, $700,000, $1 million or more. Why would you put an asset of that value on the market without taking the time to present it properly?
I see dark photos, crooked photos, clutter everywhere, toilet seats up, blinds half open, rooms photographed from terrible angles and pictures that don’t show the features of the home at all. Sometimes there are only a handful of photos. Sometimes the first photo, the one buyers see before they decide whether to click, isn’t even the best photo of the property.
Buyers shop online first. Before they schedule a showing, drive through the neighborhood or walk through the front door, they’re looking at your listing on a screen. Those photos are often your home’s first opportunity to get their attention.
Professional photography should not be an afterthought. Neither should the listing description, photo order or the overall way the property is presented. Good marketing doesn’t change what the house is, but it can absolutely change whether buyers stop long enough to consider it.
If you’re selling one of your largest financial assets, it deserves more effort than a few quick photos and a sign in the yard.
Don’t Spend Thousands Inside and Ignore the Front Door
Sellers will spend thousands of dollars painting, replacing flooring or updating something inside the house, then buyers arrive to weeds, dead plants, a dirty front door and an outdoor space that looks like nobody has touched it in months.
The outside matters.
And if you have pets, for the love of God, clean up after them before showings.
Do you know how many times I’ve been showing a home and the buyers have to watch every step they take in the backyard because nobody bothered to clean up after the dog? They’re supposed to be looking around, imagining their patio furniture out there, picturing their kids playing in the yard or thinking about having friends over. Instead, they’re staring at the ground trying not to step in something.
Come on. This is such an easy thing to fix.
Curb appeal and outdoor presentation don’t necessarily require a lot of money. Clean things up. Trim overgrown landscaping. Pull the weeds. Remove dead plants. Sweep the walkway. Clean the front door. Put away the garden hose and the random collection of things that accumulated next to the garage.
Then look at the backyard through a buyer’s eyes.
You don’t need to build a $50,000 outdoor kitchen. Help buyers see how the space can be used. A clean patio and a simple seating area can do more than an empty space filled with miscellaneous furniture, toys and yard equipment.
You’re trying to help someone imagine living there. Don’t make them watch where they’re stepping while they’re trying to do it.
Buyers, Your Agent Should Make This Easier, Not Harder
I understand wanting to work with a friend or family member. If that person is an experienced REALTOR® who works full time in the business, knows the market and has the time to properly represent you, wonderful.
But please don’t choose the person representing you in one of the largest financial transactions of your life simply because you’re related to them or don’t want to hurt their feelings.
Your agent’s job is not just to open doors and write whatever offer it takes to “win” the house.
A good buyer’s agent should be making this process easier for you, not harder. They should be working closely with your lender, communicating with the listing agent and watching the transaction from beginning to end. Most importantly, they should be looking for potential problems before you’ve put thousands of dollars of your own money on the line.
Before I write an offer, I want to know what we’re dealing with. What have comparable homes actually sold for? Does the price we’re considering make sense? Is there anything about the property that concerns me? Are there condition issues that could potentially create a problem with the appraisal or with the buyer’s particular type of financing?
That doesn’t mean an agent can guarantee what an appraiser will do, and we’re not home inspectors. But experience should count for something. If I see something that concerns me, I want my buyer to know about it before we move forward, not after they’ve paid for an appraisal and inspections.
Writing the highest offer just so you can say you “won” the house isn’t much of a victory if the numbers never made sense in the first place.
Imagine offering well over what the comparable sales support, paying for your inspection and appraisal, and then finding out the property doesn’t appraise at the contract price. Depending on the contract and circumstances, you may have options to renegotiate or walk away, and you may be entitled to the return of your earnest money. But the money you’ve already spent on inspections, the appraisal and other due diligence may be gone.
Those aren’t imaginary dollars. That’s your hard-earned money.
I’d rather have the difficult conversation with you before we write the offer. Maybe we still decide to move forward. Maybe there are reasons the property could support the price. Maybe we structure the offer differently. Or maybe we decide this isn’t the house to chase.
That’s what representation is supposed to be.
Your agent should help you understand the risk, work with your lender, anticipate problems where possible and protect your interests throughout the transaction. The goal isn’t simply to get you under contract. The goal is to get you successfully through closing without creating problems we could have seen coming.
Buyers, Stop Skipping the Ugly Listings
Here’s the irony.
As a listing agent, poor photography drives me absolutely crazy. As a buyer’s agent, sometimes I love it.
A listing with terrible photos can cause buyers to scroll right past a house that deserves a second look. Maybe the rooms are dark in the pictures. Maybe the furniture is dated. Maybe the paint colors are awful. Maybe nothing about the listing makes you stop and say, “I have to see that house.”
Take another look anyway.
The perfectly staged house with beautiful photography, fresh paint, updated finishes and everything looking ready for Instagram is going to get attention. That’s exactly what good marketing is supposed to accomplish. And attention can mean competition. Perfect costs money.
In a market where getting the most for your money matters, the house everybody else overlooks may be where the opportunity is.
Try to look past someone else’s furniture, paint colors and decorating choices. Look at the floor plan. Look at the lot. Look at the location. Look at the condition of the expensive things. Look at what can be changed relatively easily and what can’t.
Ugly paint can be painted.
A bad location can’t.
Don’t shop for somebody else’s decorating. Shop for the house.
Think About Resale Before You Buy
I know. You haven’t even bought the house yet and I’m already telling you to think about selling it. But you should. Maybe you plan to stay forever. Life has a funny way of changing those plans. Jobs change. Families change. Relationships change. Financial circumstances change.
When you’re considering a property, think about what the next buyer may see someday.
Maybe you’re perfectly willing to live with an unusual floor plan, very limited parking, a difficult driveway or a location that backs to something other buyers may dislike. That doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t buy the house. It means you should understand what you’re buying.
The things you overlook today don’t disappear when it becomes your turn to sell.
Sometimes a property is priced lower for a reason. Make sure you understand the reason and whether the discount you’re getting today is enough to compensate for the same issue when you eventually sell.
Look Beyond the Property Lines
When buyers fall in love with a house, it’s very easy to concentrate on what’s inside the four walls.
I want you looking farther than that.
What’s around the property? What’s behind it? What’s across the street? What is that vacant land nearby? Is there development already approved in the area? Are there roads, commercial projects or other changes planned that could affect how you feel about the location later?
Nobody can predict exactly what an area will look like ten years from now. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t investigate what’s already known today.
This is particularly important in Northern Nevada because we’re growing. Areas that looked very different a decade ago have changed considerably, and development continues throughout the region.
Buying the house without understanding the surrounding area is only doing half the homework.
Drive Your Actual Commute
A map can tell you a house is 15 miles from work. It can’t tell you how you’re going to feel about those 15 miles at 7:30 on a Tuesday morning.
Drive it.
If you’re going to commute from Spanish Springs, the North Valleys, South Reno, Fernley, Dayton or another community, experience the drive when you would actually be making it.
This is especially important for anyone commuting to TRIC or USA Parkway. Two homes that don’t look dramatically different on a map can create very different daily drives depending on where they’re located and how you access the major roads.
A beautiful kitchen loses some of its charm when you’re spending considerably more time in the car than you expected.
Your commute is part of the house. Treat it that way.
Schools Matter Even If You Don’t Have Children
Buyers without school age children sometimes completely ignore schools. I wouldn’t. You may not personally care which school serves the property, but a future buyer might. That makes schools part of the bigger resale picture.
If schools are important to you, verify the current assignment rather than relying solely on what you see in a real estate listing or on a third party website. Boundaries and assignments can change.
I’m also not going to tell you which school is “good” or “bad.” That’s something buyers should research based on what matters to their own family. Test scores are only one piece of a much larger picture.
The important thing is not to ignore it simply because it doesn’t affect you today.
Most of These Mistakes Come Down to the Same Thing
Slow down and do the homework.
Sellers, you’re competing for buyers’ attention. Presentation matters. Marketing matters. The way your home looks online matters. The way it feels when someone pulls up to the curb matters.
Buyers, don’t let beautiful photography make a decision for you, and don’t let terrible photography make one either. Look beyond the obvious. Think about the location, commute, surrounding development and eventual resale along with the house itself.
And whether you’re buying or selling, choose your representation based on who is best equipped to protect your interests and help you make a good decision.
I see too many people learn these things after the fact.
I’d much rather you know them before you make the mistake.
Buying or Selling in Northern Nevada?
If you're thinking about buying or selling a home, you don't have to figure all of this out on your own. Sometimes a quick conversation before you make a decision can save you a lot of frustration and potentially a lot of money later.
Have a question about a home you're considering, getting your property ready to sell or what's happening in your neighborhood? Call or text me at (775) 745-2185. I'm always happy to help you do the homework before you make the move.