Let’s Hear It For a Matte Finish (or at least, semi-gloss) It’s certainly possible that the owner of this “For Sale” Golden Valley home just refinished their floors, using a little (a lot) too much polyurethane. Theory #2: the photographer didn’t get the lighting quite right. Either way, when a real estate photo has you reaching for...Read More
Listing Agent to Homeowner: “What Do You Like Best About Living Here?” What overlap could there possibly be between what a Realtor does before listing a home, and what a Rabbi (or other clergy) does before giving a eulogy? Each one interviews family members to elicit the subject’s best qualities. Of course, in the rabbi’s...Read More
Photo Finish It’s a high-quality problem, to be sure: listing agents who have too many flattering pictures of the home they’re selling. Take a larger (over 3,500 FSF) home that’s especially stunning or feature-rich; add 100+ digital photos, the number top-tier real estate photographers now routinely provide; and the result could easily be dozens of flattering...Read More
Is it Halloween Yet? I’m a big fan of dramatically lit homes. And with the seasonal change, we’re heading into ever-shorter Fall days. And yet, the technique doesn’t work all the time — and can even backfire: especially for smaller homes, interior lighting at night can produce an (unhelpful) “Jack-o-Lantern effect.” The (kind of) scientific...Read More
Telling Buyers Why the Owner is Selling You see it all the time on MLS: a listing agent who trumpets that a home is “only available due to Seller relocation.” Such verbiage is: A. Smart marketing, because it lets prospective Buyers know why the property is available. B. Neither a marketing plus nor minus. C. A violation of...Read More
Homes with “Great Personalities” & Other White Lies [Editor’s Note: While I do my best to avoid such euphemisms in my own capacity as a listing agent (representing Sellers), let me offer two (sort of) defenses on behalf of Realtors who are less circumspect: 1) beauty is frequently in the eye of the beholder, i.e.,...Read More
