Many a year ago, there was no such thing as Virtual Tours or multiple interior and exterior photos of homes on the Internet.  Of course, many a year ago there was no such thing as the Internet.  When people wanted to buy a house, they contacted a Realtor who would help them look for homes that matched their criteria.  They would get in the Realtor’s car and go a callin’.  That’s how people decided about which home they would buy.

Fast forward to today.  Now, if a house doesn’t have multiple photos of every room in the house and lots of photos of all the angles of the exterior of the house and a few pictures of the neighborhood it might get crossed off the list.  I’ve had lots of clients tell me that if a house didn’t have photos they could look at on the Internet, they didn’t go any farther.  It wasn’t even considered.

What About Houses in Bad Shape?

There are a lot of foreclosed homes and short sales in the marketplace today.  Most of those homes do not have more than one exterior photo showing the front of the house.  Why?

• listing agents for the banks that owned the foreclosed homes don’t have the time based on the quantity of homes they list
• listing agents for sellers of short sales don’t want to be bothered
• the home may be in such disrepair that showing a photo may actually deter someone from looking at the house in person

There are even homes that are not short sales or foreclosures that simply don’t look that great.  People who have been living in a home for decades may not have made any upgrades.  Lots of people are really not that tidy.  People die and the house is just filled to the brim with collected artifacts and knick knacks.  The kids (or the Estate of the deceased owner) need to sell the house but they have no strong interest in making it look like a picture from a magazine.

The Written Description

The truth is that many Realtors will write descriptive text about a home as if you might be buying the Taj Mahal.  When you get there you wonder what planet the Realtor was on when they wrote it.  We all know the  “code”.

• Cozy = cramped.
• Lots of potential = massive fixer upper.
• Near schools = the elementary school playground is right next door.
• Golf Course view = make sure you have safety plate glass windows to deflect the flying golf balls

Yet, when some Realtors really lay it on the line and talk about the need for TLC or major rehab, people  don’t want to believe it.  That’s where some photos might come in handy.  However, I can’t help but think it would be doing a disservice to the home seller to expose a home in a state of major disrepair simply for the convenience of the Internet home shopper.

What do you think?  Pictures….or no pictures with an honest written description?