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Home owners willing and/or able to fix up before selling will find it interesting that making improvements on the exterior pays off more within the warm weather states.
Remodeling Magazine has released many of the results of its "Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report" and there is a lot be learned from it. Many home owners think that doing even a small remodeling or home improvement job will automatically increase the resale value. Not always the case.
The study shows only one project, which is exterior, actually brings a higher direct return upon the investment upon sale, and this is primarily within warm weather states. Only a "steel entry door replacement" shows better than a 100% recoup of cost upon sale, showing an estimated 102.1% "return" upon resale.
Exterior improvements made more of a difference in the "return" along the west coast (Washington, Oregon, California) and along the South and Southeast corridor extending north only to Virginia and West Virginia.
As with most statistics, there are a number of ways to look at the impact. Sellers who think that by spending $5,000 on a home improvement they could then raise the asking price by $7,500 or more are going to be in for a disappointment.
Among the next highest exterior remodeling projects were upsacle fiber cement siding replacement recouping approximately 80% of the cost. Upscale vinyl window replacements and a wood deck addition each showed an approximately 72% of costs recouped upon the sale of the home.
A "minor" kitchen remodel finished among interior remodeling or improvements at around 72% of cost.
In other words, this annual study again shows that an improvement or remodeling project does not automatically increase the actual value of the property. Rather, (and generally speaking) its purpose is to accelerate the sale process of the property.
If your house shows with more quality, upgrade, or improvement work done recently when compared with similar houses within your community, the chances are better that the one buyer you need will be more willing to make an offer on your home first.
Since the vast majority of buyers and sellers are not aware of this study, learning about its findings could be a nice benefit for either situation.
A buyer, when told of or noticing an interior or exterior improvement or remodeling now has the means to point out that it does not mean an automatic raise in the value of the property, and maybe shouldn't be (in effect) "charged" $10,000 more in the asking price based on a $5,000 remodeling job.
Meanwhile, a seller can use this to point out that he/she recently spent "$5,000 on this project" while not raising or having the asking price reflect this. Show potential buyers that if they do go ahead and purchase you are providing them with additional value for a feature the buyer obviously likes.
Please keep in mind that I have been using some lower than realistic figures for the sake of example. But there is a lot more at stake in upgrading a home for sale. The study shows that a full basement remodeling has an average cost of more than $64,000 and recoups approximately 70% within the sale. Going by that, the seller "loses" $19,200 on the project. Or, if the seller expects to not only have the costs covered and perhaps clear some extra, it really means their asking price could be $20,000 or more higher.
Furthermore, the study shows that improvement projects such as a sunroom addition and installation of a backup power generator recoup less than 50% of the cost at sale.
My take from this is that it shows why so many properties have an asking price above their actual value. I don't know of any seller who goes ahead with a remodel, addition, or interior or exterior improvement who then does not increase the asking price.
If I were a seller, I would point out any such work I had done and its value, and then show how it has not impacted the asking price. In addition, I would become aware of opportunities to upgrade the property to be able to point out to my buyer what he/she could do to increase the long term value of the property.
I might say something like "I learned that for $40,000 we could add another 200 square feet to a finished basement. But it's an option and by not doing that I can keep this home priced at $xxx,000 for you." If my potential buyer does not know about this study, they will probably think that they could spend that $40,000 at their convenience over the coming months and then add at least $60,000 to the resale value. Maybe or maybe not. But I would not have mislead them in any way nor promised anything. Just pointing out future potential "profit centers" they may want to explore.
For those of you currently or looking at trying to sell, this study is worth thinking about before seriously considering spending on an upgrade, addition, or remodel. On one hand, it could mean you can present a more significant value to a potential buyer without spending a penny more. On the other hand, it could be worth comparing improvements you could make and how your home would compare to other similar properties in the area. If your situation allows you to "lose" a few thousand dollars to have the work done, but would help your home to sell faster by offering more benefits, it is also worth considering.
These are the statistics you should be reviewing, instead of the home sales comparisons (which are usually negative) from past years. All you care about is buying or selling the property today.
The debate continues about the advantages of renting vs. buying a home in the current economy.
To me, the debate should be continuing within the real estate community about how realty associations and organizations continue to add sparks to the fire instead of constantly going for a positive spin.
Here is another set of media examples:
First, here is a story about a realty association reporting a "mixed bag" of news, including the statistics showing the severe drop in home sales compared with one year ago.As I keep pointing out, potential buyers at this moment don't care what happened one year ago, especially when it makes the current market look negative. If someone thinking about purchasing a home right now sees that sales are 35% less than one year ago, they might give up their idea, thinking that there are plenty of reasons not to proceed. There is no way this information is positive for local realty agents as a result.The kicker is that the facts in this media story were provided by the Association of Realtors, which includes hundreds of realty agents paying dues only to have this negative publicity distributed to the media:http://www.foxprovidence.com/dpps/news/local_news/region_3/warwick-single-family-home-sales-down-in-oct._3663498
Then, from the same day, this story about how in some cases (including this busy area of Southern California) it could cost a family MORE to rent an apartment than to own a condo. That might make some renters want to contact a local realty agent.The crushing blow is that this is a reporter's story, and not released by a realty company or realty association:http://www.the-signal.com/section/36/article/37263/ If realty agents and associations are not going to be aggressive and serious about taking steps to improve the marketplace, how is the market going to get any better? Isn't it in their best interests to do so?
It is bad enough that many, if not most, properties are not marketed properly or as well as they could be. Having created and critiqued thousands of a wide variety property descriptions and advertisements over the years, I am still amazed at how agents with many years of experience leave out important selling points and/or fail to target likely potential buyers of certain properties.
While many of these same agents point to the marketplace rather than marketing, one result is that investors are not always able to get the exact information they need in order to make the best decisions. Now, a story I heard about this week has me wondering whether or not potential investors will also need to research home improvements while exploring a purchase.
It turns out that the owners of a very old Victorian house in the Chicago suburb of Evanston IL decided to upgrade an upstairs bathroom, having an enlarged marble based bathroom put in which extended out slightly over what was a balcony area to increase the size of the bathroom. What they did not take into account was the significant weight of a marble finish, and how it soon caused the house to begin a slight slant all the way into the ground. It is not yet determined whether or not there is any additional structural damage, but this information is scary enough. I’m glad I’m not a neighbor.
This raises a ton of questions, and I have absolutely no involvement in this. I can only begin to speculate about liability. I can see the contractor saying they did the work contracted for and had no knowledge of weight being an issue while arguing non-disclosure by the home owner. While the home owner is probably pointing fingers at the contractor, or perhaps a previous owner of the house. This can’t be easy for the insurance companies involved either, especially with the house having moved, aside from the possibilities of structural damage.
If and when that marble is removed and the bathroom in question is redone, this could be a major setback come the day of wishing to put this property on the market.
Back to why this is a marketing issue. As unfortunate and devastating as this is, there is a need for this to be dealt with publicly. We need answers from everyone involved in this.
Did the homeowners have any idea that adding the weight of marble finishes while expanding the size of the interior could cause such a problem? Did the city have any idea when they would have (or should have) issued a permit? Wouldn’t a professional contractor be aware of this prior to accepting the job? Was the home insurance carrier notified (considering it changed the size of the insured interior) of this change prior to the work being done?
More importantly for all of us, how does a home owner go about learning of the risks in order to make a major improvement? Let’s face it, while the owner(s) of this Victorian may well have wanted the benefit of an enhanced bathroom, the likelihood of this increasing the home’s value come sale time had to have been a factor in the decision to do this.
I’ll easily admit that I never would have thought of something like this happening either. I don’t know that, personally, I have ever heard of anything like this before. Yet, I’m sure that this event is not the only addition or home improvement which would bring on this sort of risk, in this instance to the current as well as any future owner of this same home.
While I’m sure lawyers from all sides will be racing to place the blame for this mess on someone else, the point is that a lot of people did not have sufficient research about the Victorian. And not giving this matter more publicity prevents that from happening.
Just as many realty agents do not market and advertise their property listings as well as could and should be done, it is similar to how there needs to be more information about making changes to these properties as well. There is a similarity.
For many, the first reaction to this story is to think “That home will never sell after this happened”. Yet, it might – if marketed properly. A builder or rehabber capable of handling that type of possible structural damage (or at least capable of adjusting the level of a home) might be able to work a significant profit.
Chances are that such a buyer/investor could work a major discount for the house before it is fixed, restored, or whatever actions need to be taken. By doing the needed work themselves, this new “owner” would save money, and wind up with a full restored Victorian and proof that the work was done. That would overcome the problem of the previous owner.
However, finding the builder/developer/buyer to do that takes the right advertising campaign, as well as the research on the property and the incident being available.
A fully restored Victorian in Evanston IL would command a pretty penny on the marketplace, especially being “good as new”. In advertising and public relations, this would be a classic case of turning a negative into a positive. “Own this fully restored Victorian…..” would make for an attractive advertising campaign. The aforementioned incident of the marble bathroom and a complete restoration would provide opportunities for additional publicity leading up to the sale. I have to believe that TV crews would be interested in video of before and after, and area residents interested in seeing a home of this caliber preserved and kept under ownership.
That’s what could happen, but with the right agent. Unfortunately, there are too many agents out there who would take the “new” listing, and their advertising would start with “Rehabbed Victorian with plenty of TLC……”, not invite any media publicity, and miss the whole point.
Let’s see what happens with this opportunity to rebuild this house AND rebuild market research and advertising. The real estate community depends upon it.
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
This seller should be very disappointed with this ad from the start:
http://tashomes.vflyer.com/home/flyer/home/3476208?goback=%2Egde_845877_member_31240697
The headline reads "Real Estate Investment Deal", while the first line is "Move right in" and the copy is geared toward "your family". If the agent is targeting this as a true investment property the copy should be geared toward reasons why. (Is there a tenant? Can it be flipped? etc.) A true investor is not likely to return to this agent's listings since this is not actually presented as the investment property the headline touts.
If the agent is targeting this for family use, the headline should focus in that direction. As a result, a "family leader" is not likely to look at this ad.
Because of the lack of focus on the true target audience (and I'll add that I found this under "Real Estate Investment Opportunity"), the agent is blowing the opportunity regardless of how good or bad the photos and description copy is.
The photo spread is good overall. However, the primary photo is the poor one. Therefore, still another opportunity blown. Out of 9 photos in the spread, only 1 is an exterior shot. Normally, that is a good approach. However, the exterior photo used should not have even made the cut, let alone be the first impression. It shows part of the next home to the left and cuts off part of the featured property on the right. The big tree on the front lawn interferes with the view and becomes a distraction. We don't know what is cut off at the right side, and therefore we may not be seeing the right perspective of the home and the property.
Meanwhile, the one photo of the empty living room shows the view through the blinds looking out to the trash can. Oh my.
Topping it off is the comment under "Exterior Amenities" at the bottom of the listing page. It says, and I quote "Grass Lawn". Quick. How fast does knowing the property has a "Grass Lawn" make you pick up the phone to contact the agent? I thought so.
This is another example of why it is not always "the market" as the reason a property doesn't sell.
GRADE: D-
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
Why do the realty associations continue to cook their own goose? The members have no right to blame the "media reporting" for negative public perception about the current real estate market.
Let's use Texas as an example. The Texas Multiple Listing Services just published residential real estate statistics for the month of August, 2010. When compared with 2009, they show home sales for Dallas as "down 19%", Houston as "down 16%", and Ft. Worth as "down 14%". As for the "median price", this same period shows Dallas as ""up 5%" Houston as "down 1%", and Ft. Worth as "up 1%". One would likely conclude that fewer homes are selling even with sale prices holding steady.
Meanwhile, within 24 hours, the Houston Business Journal published a story about how Texas is expected to well regarding the appreciation of home prices over the next 12 months. It specifically refers to the Houston area as the market with the expected largest appreciation of home prices over any other city in the country. The same article includes the Dallas area with an expected rise of nearly 3%. This story compares with areas such as Florida which are expected to show continued depreciation among home prices over the next year.
Heck, here is the story:
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2010/09/27/daily6.html?surround=lfn The information in both of these reports are not that much different. However, the irony of the Texas MLS "reporting" the negative home sale comparison while a business publication with no stake in the real estate market gives the information a positive local slant.Real estate, like most commodities, is about today and the near future. What happened more than a year ago shouldn't have a bearing. Yet, like way too many of the realty associations and industry organizations, the negatives continue to be reported.Suppose the Texas MLS had simply released the story about how home prices are beginning to appreciate in many areas when compared with last year, and not paraded the sales comparison. They could have given buyers and sellers some hope. Meanwhile, the last I saw, apartment rental occupancy was way up in these same areas, especially in Ft. Worth, over the past year. At least the realty associations didn't report on that, too.
I'd be the last person to defend a big bank, but this week's news brought out one instance where I need to do that. (Sorry, but I still contend that instead of the government handing out millions to the banks that screwed up the economy, they should have only repaid as many of the defaulted loans as possible.)Again, the city of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, as if one bank had something to do with parts of Baltimore still being as dumpy and depressing as they were 25 years ago:
http://www.mortgageorb.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.6671 Instead of spending money on cleanup and development efforts, the city chooses to pay a law firm to file these lawsuits so they can be thrown out.This leads to another way to help with the banking crisis around the country. Let's ask all of the banks serving Baltimore to only lend on properties located in other cities and towns. Baltimore officials won't mind. If there are no commerical or residential loans within the city limits over the next few years, the city won't have any reason to sue any of the banks!
Upon finding out that I will have an opening for at least one new real estate related marketing client later this month, I was looking at one of the networking sites I frequent, and saw this teaser:
"Investors: Don’t Just Estimate! We have all homes for sale ranked by investment potential."
This is the type of headline which attracts my attention, and more indicative of what agents and brokers should be doing to make their listings stand out, especially in this challenging market.
However, when I clicked on the link, all I got was a web page which was for visitors to either register or login. Not one word about any such property listings or rankings.
Therefore, within a matter of seconds, this guy’s idea went from solid to junk. But it should be a lesson for people in marketing, real estate or not.
Just having an effective headline doesn’t help. In this instance, it makes it worse. We not only don’t get the information we hoped when we click, but we don’t even get a confirmation that we can get it. Just because the page says to either login or register doesn’t mean that we would get the desired information after we register. Let’s face it, people aren’t anxious to give out their e-mail address and take their chances, especially when it means showing an interest in buying real estate.
What did I expect when I clicked? Either a list of properties as promoted, or at the very least an explanation of the criteria used in “ranking” the homes for sale. I still have no idea about what part(s) of the country these properties are supposedly located in, whether they are single family homes, multi-family, or strictly for investment potential. If for investment potential, it raises the question of single family, rental, flipping, rehabbing, etc. Instead, not even a “coming soon” or anything to indicate I got to the “right” site, and this was by clicking on the link provided.
However, I’m not going to go back to that site to find out.
While I take a short break with the “Listing of the Day” advertising critique, there is definitely room for observation. Hopefully more agents are starting to realize that in this market, cookie-cutter advertising doesn’t cut it. There should be more outrage that I find the same problem areas in advertisements for million dollar homes that I do for $100,000 properties.
Each property should be treated as a unique property, even if it is in the middle of a development of 20 houses built exactly alike on the same circle drive. Heck, even in that case, one is likely to face east and thus not have the hot afternoon sun blazing into the living room and/or master bedroom. (See, there I go again!)
Even though in this age of political correctness it is increasingly difficult to write to your true target audience, there continues to be opportunities for better targeting than what I see in the majority of property advertisements.
For example, suppose you have a listing in an ethnic neighborhood and it is down the block from the elementary school. These days, you are no longer able to say “ideal for young Asian family” or whatever it may happen to be. Many agents and brokers become more concerned about staying within the guidelines, and reduce their ad for such a property to “close to schools”, and fail to realize how changing their advertising approach to something that soft in effect costs them business.
Using that example, suppose the husband in a Latin family sees this ad. He then sees the address, and realizes that the advertised home in an Asian community. He is looking for something in a Spanish community and will look at other advertisements. Chances are he will eventually contact ANOTHER agent with a property in his desired area.
How do you get around the “politically correct” restrictions? That is a tough challenge, but one that should be recognized as a challenge by agents and brokers who understand the importance of advertising for every single listing.
If this were my client faced with this situation, I would start with one important suggestion. Advertise this property, with the “close to schools” (in order to remain politically correct) in a publication and/or web site which specifically targets the Asian audience!
It is not only gearing each property advertisement toward its most likely audience. It is placing the ad(s) where it will have the best reach.
Some of you are thinking, “but I advertise all of my listings in one place all of the time”. If so, you are only reaching the same people all of the time. How are you going to sell the home in the Asian community if only a tiny percentage of Asians would happen upon the ad?
The placement of advertising is very often as important as the content. There might not be any “wrong” places to advertise, but keep in mind that the days of “just put an ad in the paper” or “it’s on Realtor.com” are no longer sufficient in order to list and sell in the current marketplace.
For as much time as I spend on behalf of clients with regard to the advertising and marketing of specific properties, I still continue to advise them that branding remains an important ingredient to success in terms of real estate sales.
I have encountered some agents with the national brand name real estate companies who haven’t found it necessary to do as much branding as they should, thinking that the institutional advertising out there would attract more potential buyers and sellers to them based solely on their farm area. Finally, the evidence that this is not a good approach is starting to appear.
http://www.deloitte.com/us/americanpantrystudy
The research found via the above link provides proof that more and more consumers are receptive to “store brands” or “house brands” for their purchases. Granted, this is often due to the current state of the economy, and is for much smaller purchases than property. Yet, the trend is there. Obviously, real estate is also a changed industry because of the same economy. I have seen the complete details of this study and it shows a distinct increase in the percentage of consumers who now look at and purchase “house brands” instead of brand names.
While this is happening, I have more and more “brand name” real estate agents and mortgage lenders telling me they don’t see the need to increase their branding and advertising in today’s market.
I’m here to tell you that those agents, brokers, and lenders who know to spread the word will benefit much more and much faster than those sitting on their hands. Your decision to decrease your advertising and marketing budget is also a decision to increase the advertising and marketing of your more aggressive competititors.
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
177 Morris Ave., Providence R I - 5 + 2 1/2 $599,000
http://projo.sawbuck.com/property/Providence_Metro/Providence/Blackstone/3389685-177-Morris-Avenue
This listing advertisement was randomly selected (as these all are) yet makes for a very interesting study. The photo spread is among the very best I have ever seen, while the description copy leaves a lot to be desired.
Although the primary photo is the only one of the exterior, it is taken from an excellent angle which makes the home show very well. However, it also clearly shows trees with no leaves. Not exactly a reflection of the July day on which I found this ad. (The largest newspaper in town's online site, on which this ad still appears as of press time, also shows that this home has been for sale 113 days as of this writing.)
On a separate note, I understand that the realty agents have little to no control over advertising sources which continue to show the number of days or period of time a property has been for sale. However, I don't understand why they, as advertisers, do not take a stand to have that information removed. Showing how many days creates a negative impression of "this house hasn't sold yet so there must be a problem with it" to a potential buyer.
Those who are impressed with the primary photo and click on the "additional photos" link get a wonderful full page with a 12 photo spread, including most of them being interior shots. Every photo in the spread features a different area of the interior. Even if some of the current colors may look a bit loud for some tastes, these photos display a wonderful feel for this home and do not duplicate. It is clearly the quality of the photos as much of the quantity. (Having 12 photos doesn't mean much if 4 of them are the same room from different angles - not the case here.)
However, after the wonderful buildup with impressive photos, the description copy quickly kills the momentum the listing agent had built up.
A family seeking a 5-bedroom home is not likely to be as concerned with the age of the home nearly as much as the features and appearance. In this instance, starting the copy with "Elegant 1927 Tudor with charming period details" is insane. Frankly, it might as well have read "This is really an old house so be aware" instead.
While the remainder of the description copy is somewhat more focused, it also ends on a lesser note than what it could be. I don't know for sure what an "Integral garage" is, and the closing "great opportunity" is what I call Realtor fluff since it tells me nothing. This copy might fit if it were a $150,000 home in a middle income area, but not for a half million dollar plus property.
What a difference it would make to update the primary photo to include the greenery and to create a realistic description copy befitting this home.
GRADE: C
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
14 Eastparke St. Jackson MS 4 + 4 1/2 $649,000
http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=0&.rand=cmhgce4qa31od
This advertisement is a classic example of "set it and forget it" that far too many realty agents do. I would think that the listing agent might want to make an effort to generate a commission on a $649,000 property.
The primary photo makes the house look impressive, but the "photo spread" is an insult to the intelligence of a potential buyer of a home in this price range. It wastes our time to click on the 2 additional pictures when they are really the same shot taken a few feet further down the street. Makes me wonder if the photographer even bothered to get out of the car. As a result, we have no idea what the inside of this home might look like, or where the residents park.
Those who continue to review the advertisement are then greeted with "New construction!" as the first words of the description copy. Normally, that isn't a bad way to start. Except that the upper left portion of the ad states that the home was "Year Built: 2007" and that it was added to this advertisement listing in March of 2009. Seems to me that 3 years is well past the "new" anything stage, but plenty of time to add more photos.
Although the description copy targets the "georgous finishes, huge bonus room, great keeping room" and more, there is nothing visually or within the description copy to support that. Or to tell us what a "keeping room" is. The final sentence of the copy reads "All the best." It certainly does not describe this advertisement.
GRADE: D+
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
48 Turquoise Way, San Francisco CA 3 + 2 $1,050,000
http://realestate.sfgate.com/homes/listing/123-2891/San-Francisco-CA-USA/2-beds/2-baths/SINGLE-FAMILY-type/1000000-3000000-price/Priority,0,,Price_Sales,0-ns/20-CH5521534--123-2975--290-371870--20-CH5522942--123-2891--20-CH5523019--20-CH5523010--193-367710--20-CH5522400--312-81000129-ls/199-t
For anyone that gets past the photospread, this is an excellent job of marketing a million dollar property. The primary exterior photo looks like a gated castle wall entrance and not the property itself, along with appearing to be very close to the curb for a mansion. A poor choice for catching the eye of an interested potential buyer. The remaining photos are mostly exterior and do not provide a scope of the size and features of the home. The last photo shows some of the interior, but appears to be to spotlight an exterior entrance to the inside.
For those who stick around long enough to read the description, it is compounded by having approximately half of the copy touting the location and the exterior features, including some Realtor fluff. The "incredible street presence" and "spacious public rooms" mentions could be turn-offs to buyers or investors of this caliber of property wishing to maintain a degree of privacy. Let alone that they have no idea of what the interior actually looks like after all of this time.
The lower 1/2 of the description, finally addressing the interior, is among the best I have ever seen in my 21 years of reviewing property advertisements. The agent's ability to walk you through with his description becomes a 'written tour' and is excellently done. He makes it seem like a million dollar property without any further Realtor fluff.
It took getting to that point to understand why the seller listed with this agent. That is before the ad reveals at the end that this property has a street address web site with more information.
However, the effective part is too late into the package. Think of a job resume where the applicant lists his/her most significant experience at the bottom, underneath the entry level positions. An employer probably isn't going to keep reading long enough to see the potential of the applicant. That's what happens here.
This problem could be easily fixed, even without adding photos of the interior (although that would certainly help). Simply reverse the order of the content, putting the interior description as prominent.
Until or unless adjustments are made:
GRADE: B-
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
3617 Bayview Rd. Miami FL 3 + 4 $1,049,000
http://www.homefinder.com/FL/Miami/50985199d_3617_Bayview_Rd
The primary photo is an attention grabber and does set the tone for the description. It is a challenge to promote an 85 year-old mansion as a million dollar property, but this agent handles it quite well. Those potential buyers who would be attracted to this type of property are going to click on it, even if not a majority. My best analogy is the employment one where "the purpose of the resume is to get the interview". Good resume.
The remainder of the photo spread cleary show why this is a million dollar property. From the prominent swimming pool to the unusual room and window designs to the views to the sparkling kitchen. Clearly well planned and thought out photos, which a 7-figure property deserves.
Although the description copy is far too short, it does pack the punch of delivering strong selling points, even if not enough. It does, however, refer to being on a "private cul-de-sac in the grove". I personally have no idea of what "the grove" is, and wonder if people looking from out of area (and this is Miami, after all!) have any idea. Including that there is a 1 bed 1 bath cottage with the property is also a strong selling point, especially for a large family looking for this type of property.
At least there is no "Realtor fluff" in this copy. However, the advertisement fails to provide information about parking (garage?), whether or not there is a basement or storage, and other possible selling points.
Yet, this is a rare instance where even without enough information, a potential buyer interested enough to click ahead for details could be enticed to contact the agent to learn more. I can see why the seller is working with this agent.
GRADE: B
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
Oak Lane, Hampton Bays NY 3 + 2 $1,500,000
http://newsday.optimumhomes.com/homes/listing/2112752-2274273/Hampton-Bays-NY-USA/2-beds/2-baths/SINGLE-FAMILY-type/1000000-1500000-price/80-H0150311--2112752-2274273--80-H44129--80-2279145--80-H0157167--80-H0147535--80-2262834--80-H0111249--80-H35324--80-2261484--80-H37338--80-H46210--80-H28332--80-2258219--80-H50633-ls/20-t/CodeFeatured,0,,Price_Sales,1-ns
My first reaction to seeing this advertisement was "What was the seller thinking?". A home listed at $1.5 million, with less than two lines of description copy?
Not only that. The photo spread also leaves a lot to be desired. I found this advertisement by seeking out the leading newspaper in the area's web site in the middle of June. Yet, the primary photo has trees with no leaves coming in to the photo from two sides. One would think that, especially for a 7-figure property, the agent would have the common sense to update the photos.
The second photo looks across a small waterway. However, there is no description copy to tell a potential buyer whether or not the house on the other side of the water is the one that is advertised, OR if this is a view from the back of the home for sale. Considering that what little description copy there is indicates there is a "private beach", this photo is probably more of a negative than a plus.
Plenty of solid interior photos help to "save" the photo spread from total disaster. However, without captions or even an adequate description, we have no idea what is upstairs or downstairs, and whether or not there is a basement, or any idea of the quality of the bathrooms.
There is no information about the size of the house, number of rooms, or parking. There is nothing about a garage, if there is one. As if this isn't embarassing enough, at the very top of the ad (above the outdated primary photo), the square footage indicates "0". Nowhere in the remainder of this ad is that even addressed.
Meanwhile, the exact street address of this home does not appear within this ad, nor does it appear on the real estate office's web site. One can't even drive by to try and get an idea of the size and scope of the home.
To top it all off, the mere almost 2 lines of description copy end with "Truly A Must See!!". Gee, thanks.
GRADE: D-
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
5183 West Pea Ridge Rd., Huntington WV, $194,000 4 + 3
http://hdhomes.trulia.com/property/1048600908-5183-W-Pea-Ridge-Rd-Huntington-WV-25705
The seller of this house should be extremely disappointed with this agent. For that matter so should other agents. No wonder this property has been on the market for more than 6 months. It must be a one-year listing and the seller is stuck.
I actually chose this one to review because the online advertisement through the Herald-Dispatch (the area's leading newspaper) listing indicated there are 28 photos. My expectations were for a motivated seller and an advertisement overloaded with information, descriptions, and photos to die for.
Not here. After a couple of exterior photos make the house look very appealing, the interior photos show us that the house is practically empty. Some are taken from poor angles. Rooms without furniture do not allow a potential buyer to envision what their furniture might look like, or get an idea of the scope and depth of a room. In addition, a couple of the photos have items left laying around. It reflects that the photographer wouldn't take 30 seconds to move a few items over for the sake of a photo. Not acceptable if I was the seller. Or the manager of that agent.
Yet, it gets worse.
The description copy, which is supposed to provide selling point after selling point, reads "Large updated home, main bedroom suite, lots of amenities". And nothing else. We don't even know what is "updated".
What we do know is that it has been on the market for a long time, is empty and countless people could have been inside to know security secrets. Nothing about the community, whether or not there is a garage or parking, or any reasons for a potential buyer to want more information.
At least six months ago somebody whipped through with a camera and took a ton of photos, and they are probably all on the spread without reviewing each. Then one sentence was typed in for the ad copy. And so it sits.
I think it will sit there until this listing expires through this agent and the seller wises up.
What hurts even more is that with using a few of the existing pictures (and taking out the bad ones) and adding even a mid-level description, this home could easily be attractive to potential buyers.
GRADE: F
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
2360 Centre St., (West Roxbury) Boston MA $249,997 3 + 1 http://realestate.boston.com/homes/listing/2205-71066925/Boston-MA-USA/2-beds/200000-250000-price/142-71072605--431-71072664--2190-71026759--2190-71026758--13699-136006--1049-71072671--2190-71026751--3195-71068710--2205-71066925--1745-71058035-ls/159-t/Price_Sales,1-ns
This one is typical of listing advertisements I like to use when meeting with a realty agent or group of agents who are potential clients. Here is an example of a home that has challenges but could be presented much better than this agent is.
The primary photo provides little more than an example of why agents need to ride herd over the photos of their listings. There is absolutely no reason for this to be such a wide shot from further back. All that does is show what a dreary weather day it was and the bare trees. (I found this ad in mid-May, so it is obviously an older photo, which is another negative.) We see a vehicle parked in the drive way on the right, and a poorly landscaped open stretch on the left. Both of those, plus some of the bare trees, would not have been in the photo had it been taken from closer in.
There is only one other exterior photo in the photo spread. While I understasd they want to show the "large yard", the photo that shows it with a clearly temporary fence not even completely upright and what looks like mud taking up much of the space. It is poorly landscaped. This photo does more harm than good, which is also the case on a couple of the interior photos shown.
Overall, the photo spread does more harm than good. Especially when it is obvious by the bare trees that it was taken weeks ago. Frankly, there is no excuse for these photos to be in a Boston Globe advertisement weeks after the fact.
Those who stick around long enough to read the copy read a careless description. It is then that we find out it is only the 2nd floor unit that is for sale. Because the primary photo is so far removed, it appears to be the entire house for sale. Nothing about this being a duplex or two-flat.
How about the copy reading "newer replacement windows"? One would think that an agent from a nationally known firm would know not to have "newer" and "replacement" together like that. Another red flag to a potential buyer. The "private driveway for 1+ parking" is not a plus when it tells us there is no garage while the exterior photos were taken on a rainy day.
At the end, the last sentence is "Walk to T, commuter rail....." and names a school. Besides "walk to" being an outdated term for Realtors in recent years, naming the school without telling a potential buyer whether it is a grammar school or high school does not help very much.
Based on a couple of the (good) interior photos, and with an exterior one taken to show this home properly, combined with description copy written by someone with expertise, this could be presented as an attractive property. This seller should be extremely disappointed in how their home is being presented.
GRADE: C-
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
277 Willow Lake Dr., Albany GA 4 + 2 (no price)
http://www.albanyherald.com/home/misc/86877137.html (page 6)
This magazine ad shown online provides plenty of information; however it does not provide a price or an agent name. As a result, a potential buyer scanning the ad before reading the copy has no idea of price, and most likely moves his/her attention to the ad immeidately to the right. The one with homes in 4 different price ranges, two of which appear more attractive (based on the photos) than our featured one.
There is only one photo, which is an exterior shot taken from a good angle. However, the garage is open and shows a car parked inside, which is considered a "no-no" for advertisements.
While the concept of featuring an Open House with directions at the top is a solid one, the failure to include the price wipes out any reasonable chance of good attendance. Even though the ad includes 3 phone numbers including a cell number, there is no agent name at all within. As if people are going to call a person whose name they don't know to ask the price of an open house?
The description copy includes notes such as "2225 Living Area". I suppose it means square feet, but the garage is attached. More confusion shown by the nameless person. There is the "Wooded Lot With Green Space In Rear (Just Completed)" line. Does this mean there was no lot in back until recently? I won't even comment on the use of a capital letter to start every word.
If I were the seller, I'd be upset at how poorly what information is there is communicated, and even more upset that no price is given.
What might have been......
GRADE: D
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
227 Rue Petit Bois, Biloxi MS 3 + 2 $249,999
http://www.homefinder.com/MS/Biloxi/60147845d_227_Rue_Petit_Bois
There is only one photo in this advertisement and it leads to a mixed reaction upon first glance. The house itself looks to be solid, well built, newer, and large, which is a positive. We can clearly see that there is an attached garage, also a positive in this warm climate environment. However, we have a car and a van in the driveway, a less-than-spectacular looking lawn, and what appears to be an empty house inside.
The description copy is also a mixed bag. Terms such as “amazing style” and “open concept living” were probably put in to add sizzle, but they fail to tell a potential buyer anything helpful. Even after personally reading thousands of property ads over the years, I’m not sure I know what “bullnose corners” are, while I have to guess that “s.s. appl’s” refers to stainless steel appliances.
The last sentence is Realtor fluff at its best, ending with “convenient w. Biloxi location too!”. We are left with no idea of what makes this property a good location. We can tell from the address of the property that it is in Biloxi, along with the fact that many potential buyers probably find this advertisement because they search by city. There are only 4 lines of description copy as it is, and wasting words wastes the selling opportunity for the listing agent. We are never told how many cars fit in the garage anywhere in this advertisement.
Worse yet, this ad still needs editing. One sentence starts with a lower case letter, it shows “s. S. Appl’s” just like that, which is not correct casing in addition to being a confusing abbreviation. Sorry, but this typesetting makes everyone look bad. If this is really how the listing agent turned in this ad, the newspaper should have made the necessary punctuation changes.
Meanwhile, the description does not enhance the photo, and vice versa. Too little thought went into the preparation. If this is a “custom home”, we have nothing in the photo to support that since it doesn’t look lived in. If this is a newly built home (which we are not told), the photo would support that, but the current description copy does not. For a quarter-million dollar property, when there are other homes in the same price range and area now available, potential buyers do not need to be seek clarification when they can easily click ahead to the next property. The seller is entitled to having the agent do more than put in a hastily snapped single photo and some fluff in the copy being the representation of this property.
GRADE: D
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional infomation about the property.
2572 Riva Rd. #7B Annapolis MD, 2 + 1 $194,000
http://www.homesinannapolis.com/homedetails.html?lid=11655
This is another example of the carelessness of realty agents and how much it adds to the challenges of today’s marketplace. The seller should be livid over this.
After the good primary photo, it is all downhill from there. The remainder of the photo spread is of the interior, which normally is a solid strategy. However, in this instance it shows that the unit is empty, which does not allow a potential buyer to get a feel for the depth and scope of a room. In addition, there are 2 photos of the bathroom, which does not appear as having been upgraded or anything spectacular.
The agent is also hurt by the headline key facts which show this 2-bedroom unit as reportedly being under 1,000 square feet. The description copy starts out reasonably well even if it only highlights exterior features such as the view and the location. It goes totally downhill from there. We learn that the “condo fee includes pool, gas heat, cooking, water……” and more, yet are not given any indication as to whether or not the fee is a large amount or not. But we need to back up. The condo fee includes “cooking”??? Not to be a wise guy, but does this mean that someone cooks your meals for you? That if the buyer doesn’t cook their own food, they are still charged?
Somehow, the copy gets even worse. I found this advertisement on April 14th. Yet, the last 2 sentences of the description refer to the tax credit, with the last line reading “Must settle by November 30, 2009 for credit!”. The photos were clearly not updated, since even this agent wouldn’t replace furnished rooms with shots of empty rooms. Therefore, this unit must have been empty for at least 7 months by now. With no indication of a price reduction (after all this time!), and zero urgency communicated anywhere in this advertisement.
It is more than just the poorly composed advertisement. How does copy outdated by nearly 5 full months continue running? Here is proof positive that this agent does not do a thorough job. This is a poor reflection on the property, her, and the (large) firm she represents.
GRADE: F
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
1323 Powis Rd. St. Augustine FL 4 + 4 $275,000
http://homes.jacksonville.com/realestate?tp=homes2.jacksonville.com&classification=mdRealEstate&temp_type=detail&listing_id=43830433
This advertisement is actually quite interesting. The potential buyer is not told this is really for a Short Sale until the very last part of the description copy, appearing at a point by which they have been well 'sold' on the appeal of this property.
It will be interesting to check the reaction of my clients as well as agents who always read these critiques about the ethics of burying the fact that this is for a Short Sale. From a marketing standpoint, I'm somewhat impressed at how the agent does her job of "selling" the property first. Well, almost first.
The primary photo is an impressive view, showing the scope of the home with the photo taken at the best possible angle to show the large driveway and 3-car attached garage. However, there are no interior photos at all on the spread, and that is a big waste of opportunity. A family (or investor) looking at a 4-bedroom home, especially one that shows as well as this one does from the exterior, is bound to be curious to see how the inside looks. In addition, the side and back exterior photos appear to be taken in different light and make the house look to be in a different color than the front. While I can understand showing a home in relation to a pond or lake, we don't know whether this photo was taken looking from the home for sale, or from across the pond looking toward it. At least two of these photos should have been interior shots.
Although the description copy highlights several prime sales points, the "Realtor fluff" that starts it out should be eliminated and it would make the copy much more effective. The "Look no further" bit explains absolutely nothing about the property.
I like how the description copy (after the first line) provides an excellent balance of interior and exterior selling points. It furthers the point about the need for interior photos to appear within the picture spread and what a tremendous reinforcement opportunity is lost.
Holding off revealing this is a Short Sale until the end could entice investors to pursue it, but might lose a family looking for a home for the immediate future. Personally, I prefer this approach, since it reflects better on the listing agent. Far too many agents listing short sales make it obvious they spent about 10 seconds on the advertisement and make an investor skeptical that the agent is capable of getting a deal done.
GRADE: B-
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
711 Meridian St., Dearborn MI 4 + 1.5 $299,900
http://www.homefinder.com/MI/Dearborn/60187617d_711_Meridan_St
This advertisement is another example of why the primary photo is so important toward attracting potential buyers on first impression. The angle is not favorable at all. The eyes are drawn to the left side of the home, which has what is either an enclosed patio or an add-on. (The description copy doesn't even clarify.) We don't get to see whether or not there is a driveway and/or garage from this photo. This is Dearborn, home to a lot of auto company executives, and yet the parking situation is not dealt with at all in the exterior photo or the description.
In addition, this advertisement is still running in April, and the only exterior photo shows snow all over the property. Put these factors together, and the initial impression is that this home has been on the market for weeks, looks smaller because of the emphasis of the add-on or patio in the photo, and may not have any form of covered parking, despite an asking price touching $300,000.
As for the remainder of the photo spread, the majority of the interior photos are well done, but with one exception. Most of the time, including a photo of a bathroom is a positive, showing a nice design, plenty of room, new or modern fixtures, and the like. The bathroom photo on this spread is nothing but a negative. This enables us to see how narrow the room is, how "basic" its contents are, and how people can see into the room from the outside. (You can see the house next door looking out through the bathroom window in this photograph.) How on earth is that a selling point?
For those that stay on this property long enough to read the description copy, we have a case of too many abbreviations. I would like to think that for a nearly $300,000 property the agent would spend a few more dollars to have enough lines in the ad to actually indicate the selling points. What likely really happened is that the agent (or whoever handles the advertising) merely took the already written copy for the MLS and stuck it in the ad. As if that isn't bad enough, the opening line of copy refers to the "$150,000 in updates". Hopefully the view of the neighbor's house from the bathroom isn't one of those updates, but it's hard to say what they are.
It's the very end of the ad copy that tells a lot, "fam rm w/heatilator f/place, and sep kitchen eating". I'll admit that I don't know what a "heatilator" fireplace is, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad. (And if I don't know after seeing thousands of property descriptions, it likely isn't good for the occasional home shopper either.) The "sep kitchen eating" (without a period to punctuate the end of the copy) makes no sense. Do people have to eat in a separate kitchen? Or did they intend to say "eat-in kitchen". Guess we'll never know.
As careless as this advertisement is, it doesn't take that much time and effort to turn it around and make it effective. A more recent exterior photo from a better angle, one less interior photo, and copy written to show the true selling points would make all the difference.
GRADE: C-
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
8156 S. Luella Ave. 3 + 2 $275,000
http://homes.searchchicago.suntimes.com/properties/search/detail.php?qBackToSearch=qTerms%3Dsell%26qSearchTab%3Dsell%26qAction%3Dsearch%26qRegion%3DChicago%252C%2BSouth%260%26qMinPrice%3D200%252C000%26qMaxPrice%3D300%252C000%26qBedrooms%3D2-%26qBathrooms%3D1-%26propertyType%255B0%255D%3DHouses%26pagesize%3D20%26view%3Ddetailed%26qtotal%3D42%26qSortBy%3DPrice%26qSortDirection%3DDESC&qAdid=mls-07480039&propertyNumber=8
A classic example of a property that could be marketed much better than it is in this advertisement.
In this instance, the choice of the primary photo is not a good one. Just because it is the only exterior photo in the spread should not make it an automatic choice. The big tree takes away from the exterior view while the wide shot serves to diminish the big size of this home, as touted within the description. In addition, the first line of the description copy indicates "Double Corner Lot", even though one cannot tell that due to the angle of this photo.
Ideally, the exterior photo should have been taken from a closer angle without the tree in the way and showing the scope of the corner lot. Furthermore, at least 2 of the interior photos in this spread would have better served to have been the primary photo and demonstrate the size and luxury of this home. For that matter, it appears that the leaves are falling off the trees, meaning this photo could well have been taken last fall (or earlier), and this ad appears at the end of March. Not exactly a "fresh" looking property based on the one exterior photo.
Most of the interior photos are the strongest selling points for this home, showing the size and lavish potential.
Not only is the description copy far too brief, but it fails to prioritize the selling points. Starting with "5 Minutes To Lake" is not an important consideration for the majority of potential buyers considering this community. Especially with a custom built home on a "double corner lot" located in Chicago. Listing an approximately 2,600 square foot home within a large city for under $300,000 is a significant headline, yet there is such little emphasis on this fact.
The picky potential buyer will also notice that the "Details" under the photo show "3 bedroom 2 bath" before the brief description copy shows "3 br, 1.5 ba", and that is a negative to, in effect, 'take away' 1/2 of a bath from a potential buyer.
In addition, the onslaught of abbreviations makes it appear that the advertiser was more concerned about saving money on the ad than presenting the selling points of the home. Even with my experience, I had to stop and think of what a "custom designed wbfp" is. I'm sure that will be another potential selling point that will go untouched by any potential buyers who stick around beyond the primary photo.
Yes, what might have been. A primary photo of one of the wide interior shots and a description about the large size and custom features for under $300,000 would make a huge difference for this seller, who should be very disappointed in the agent's efforts.
GRADE: C+
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
734 Greengate Ct. Evansville IN 4 + 3 1/2 $249,900
http://realestate.courierpress.com/for-sale/listing/344-172834/Evansville-IN-USA/2-beds/1-baths/SINGLE-FAMILY-type/150000-250000-price/364-167557--344-172834--7821-172313--7821-170382--307-171616--24-5501655--7821-172750--323-170106--323-168044--1993-171681-ls/218-t
This advertisement is a mixed bag of good and bad. The primary exterior photo is a positve, showing off a well landscaped larger home with a unique entrance way that should attract potential buyers to click in for more.
However, as much as I like multiple interior photos within an advertisement, the use of photos of empty rooms takes away more than it adds. The left column clearly states that this is a newly listed property (showing as 6 days at press time). Showing us that the home is empty when this home does not appear to be new construction (and it doesn't appear to be, but that is a guess) is a negative. It raises questions. If this is new construction or just rehabbed to be sold, there is no indication. If the seller has just moved out, it seems odd that the photos and the actual listing would have been so recently done.
With other choices in this area and same price range, a percentage of potential buyers won't stick around past the photo spread to find out.
On to the description. It starts with a line of "Realtor fluff". The "You'll be proud to give out this address...." line is laughable. In this day and age, people are not into "giving out" an address. At least not a family that would seriously consider a 4-bedroom neighborhood home. For an investor it could be a different story, but use of this line to start narrows the focus toward investors only. That is not fair to the seller to narrow down the possibilities with the first sentence.
Some of the description copy does a good job at hitting interior selling points, such as the "full bath and a whirlpool bath", "walk-in closet", "large kitchen has a nook area", and how "one of the garages has been converted to an office". Yet, we don't see anything of the supposed 2 large garages on this property in any of the photos, not even the primary exterior shot. Same with the "beautiful fenced back yard".
Furthermore, the lack of any details whatsoever about the neighborhood, schools (and this is a 4-bedroom home), or the community, fails to support the first line about "You'll be proud....". We are not given one reason why a buyer would be proud of that address, whether that copy works or not.
The creator of this advertisement failed to coordinate between the photo spread, the description copy, and the adjacent information. If the listing agent had someone create this ad, he should have made certain it flowed a lot better before letting it go public. The seller has reason for concern, especially about people so easily able to find out the home is empty. Potential buyers are not given any reasons to possibly pursue this property until well after they have been shown reasons not to. If presented right, this property could be justified at over a quarter-million dollars. Presented the way it is now, it doesn't come close.
GRADE: C
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
Fountain St., New Haven CT $216,900 3 + 2
http://homes.localhomesinct.com/sales/detail/203-N297656
Listing advertisements such as this one are the reason I first got involved with the advertising and marketing of properties more than 20 years ago. The people have a right to know.
This home was built in 1937. This advertisement comes off as if it was designed when the house was brand new. There is no address given. I even checked on the company web site and didn't find one there either. The map feature shows the arrow on Fountain Street, but that isn't confirmed. Thus, no one could possibly drive by this property.
There is no description copy either. No selling points. Not even fluff copy. Other than being told 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and the square footage, we get only one other "fact". As of press time, this so-called advertisement shows "Monthly tax: $4,961". Say what? If I read that right the owner of this property pays $59,532 per year in taxes alone. No wonder the address is a secret.
All of this "information" comes after the primary photo, which I couldn't even identify when I first clicked on the ad to review it. Turns out it is a photo looking down on top of a fireplace. Unless this is the only fireplace in a house within miles, this is hardly a big deal. In more than 20 years of looking at property ads, I have never seen a single fireplace given such priority.
Out of 8 photos in the photo spread (the only redeeming part of this "ad"), only 3 have any merit toward a potential buyer. One of the exterior shots shows 2 cars in the driveway. Besides being a security concern, it reminds us that we don't know if the garage appearing in one of the photos is for this property or not. If it is only single lane parking for 2 cars, it means that a home owner with more than 1 car has to be concerned with the order of the cars being parked and struggle getting in and out on a daily basis.
Two photos show the back yard. Normally that would be fine, except that the lawn is in poor shape. Even if due to the season, these photos do not show the property in a good light. One of the living room photos reveals a poor quality table covered with a cheap looking table cloth. Not flattering for a home asking more than $200,000.
After all this, there is no agent name listed (which is almost understanable given the presentation), and the "Contact Information" link goes to the office web site and not a specific name or anything further about this property.
How a seller would allow this as a representation of their property is beyond me. How an agent from a name brand real estate office can, in 2010, put an advertisement online with no selling points and a possible serious financial error (not sure what to think about the "tax" line) is even further beyond me. The only way this agent would get a commission is to sell others a list of anyone who would actually inquire about this home based on this advertisement.
That there are a couple of decent photos raises the grade from F- to a straight F.
GRADE: F
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
330 St. James Rd., West Chester PA 3 + 1 $297,500
http://dailylocal.localre247.com/homes/listing/223-5476160/West-Chester-PA-USA/2-beds/1-baths/SINGLE-FAMILY-HOME-type/200000-300000-price/261-2492505--223-5476160--261-5623524--326-5669536--261-5604939--261-5488494--261-5580547--223-5478740--261-5558314--261-5597694-ls/13-t/Price_Sales,1-ns
Overall this advertisement is well done. The photo spread is prominent and includes numerous interior shots to give the potential buyer a fast but thorough overview. More importantly, it gives reason to continue along to the description, which gets right into the selling points without fluff copy. All of this combines to lend credibility to the agent, who clearly worked on presenting this advertisement.
If I was a potential buyer looking at this property, I would be satisfied with this advertisement, probably enough to want to follow up. If I was the seller, I would be pleased with how the home is presented and feel as though the key selling facts are included.
Yet, I see the need for some touching up that would take this ad up another notch.
The primary exterior photo does not do all that it can and should to present this home. This photo needs to be re-shot from a side angle over the left (from our current view) and extending the shot out to the right. Even though this shot gives a good perspective on the house, my feeling is that a potential buyer over the age of 50 would not go any further.
From this angle, we do not see a sidewalk or walkway leading toward the front steps. We do not see the garage or its proximity. But we do see a huge front lawn. These are concerns for many middle-aged and seniors who prefer a single level home but are more concerned about easy access. This house may have easy access, but it doesn't show on this photo. Granted, a young family needing a 3-bedroom home is probably enticed by the big and roomy front lawn, but in this market properties need to be well presented to all age groups.
While the description copy hits upon selling point after selling point (which is a big plus), a few simple changes would take this from a good advertisement to a great one.
One of those changes, however, is to fix the typo which appears as this is being written. The term "double oven" shows as "double overn". Yes, mistakes happen, but for the agent to take the time he did to formulate this advertisement, a few minutes to check and double-check upon publication would have saved him the embarassment. (I have had several agents and consumers tell me it is a red flag when another agent leaves any type of error in a listing, especially one in the $300,000 range.)
The other part to fix is the last part of the copy, which reads "outside entrance to attached 1 car garage". The idea of having the last few words be a selling point instead of the "must see!" type of fluff is excellent. However, this choice of words sends potential buyers out on a lesser note, right at the point where he/she is deciding whether or not to contact the agent and pursue this listing.
I'm confused. Is there a SEPARATE outside entrance? Is there ONLY an outside entrance? I don't know that I could go from inside the house right into the garage or if I would need to go outside, which partially defeats the purpose of an "attached" garage.
Since there is a 1-car garage for a 3-bedroom home, there are 2 better ways to handle presenting this. If, for example, there is a driveway with room for more parking (and we don't know based on what we see here), this would be a better way to go. Better choices to present this would be "parking for 3 cars" or "attached garage".
Overall, this advertisement is a few minor changes away from excellence.
GRADE: B
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
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