First Impression Might be the Last Impression

If a picture is worth a thousand words- a bad picture can lose a sale.

In a great article on Active Rain, Barbara Altieri, a REALTOR® in Connecticut, stresses the importance of having good quality pictures on all your listings. At a recent Open House for one of her listings, 3 visitors remarked on how well the house was presented on the internet. One couple even remarked that they had chosen to come see her listing over another because of the quality of the pictures and how "clean" everything looked.

"When I take pictures for a listing," says Altierei, "I will take well over 200 pictures and pare it down to about 35-40 good shots. Pictures SELL!"

Some internet sites limit the number of pictures you can use, so Altieri suggests making sure those pictures are high quality. "Listing agents have only ONE chance to make a good impression on buyers who are house shopping on the internet." she says.

Have your seller approve all the pictures to make sure they are happy with how the house is presented and you can make sure nothing gets published that they wouldn't want on the internet.

"I want them to be happy with how their house looks on the internet." she says. "Sometimes they might tell me ... maybe you should include the <blank> or that they really like a certain view (when I didn't) No problem. I make adjustments as necessary."

Don't let the first impression of your listing be the last impression that makes a buyer go elsewhere. Do all you can to make sure the listing looks its best! Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words and maybe a thousand (or more) dollars!

Read the full post on Active Rain

photo credit: Chad Jones