Selling? Compete with Foreclosures, Win with Photos



The Associated Press recently reported that foreclosures made up roughly one-third of all home sales nationally this past spring 2011, which raises an interesting question.  How are individual property owners competing with foreclosure transactions in the successful sale of their properties?  This series of posts works to address that question with owners of Lawrenceville homes who are looking for more insight into the steps available to position their properties for a successful, non-foreclosure sale.

Photography

The National Association of REALTORS® 2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reported that 85% of the home buyers (among 8,449 respondents) who used the internet to search for a property found that photos were very useful.  All too often, however, the photography provided in the listings of foreclosed properties includes images of

• Poor quality / limited quantity (for instance, what is deliberately NOT being shown?)
• Vacant with few reference points (for instance, will their furniture fit in appropriate spaces?)
• Unflattering property features (for instance, is the property move-in ready?)

Clearly, photography presents a tremendous selling window of opportunity within the promotional component of the marketing mix for individual owners of Lawrenceville homes faced with competitive pressure from area foreclosures.  While the other, equally important elements (property condition, competitive pricing and neighborhood quality) must also be a part of any successful campaign, home owners looking to sell should exploit their advantage over many foreclosure properties by providing several high-quality images of their property and include a virtual tour that will combine to create an impression favorable enough to lead prospects toward the next step, ideally an actual property tour. 

Ideas include taking photos of …

• Lawrenceville homes now while the trees and shrubbery are in bloom, again as leaves turn golden over the next few weeks, again during a snowy days and perhaps during the holidays
• The property during the morning and then again in the evening with the interior lights illuminating brightly through windows
• The neighborhood (with appropriate permissions, of course) at varying hours of the day

Many GA residential agents are now able to upload as many as 25 images of a given property into the MLS database while others can offer an unlimited number and then syndicate them out to multiple high-traffic websites and even the property’s own site for increased exposure.  Contact a local agent for other ways of gaining the competitive edge over Gwinnett County foreclosures.

Solomon Greene is a real estate agent and REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners.  He can be reached at (678) 775-2677 or visit him on the web at http://www.SellMyGwinnettCountyProperty.com