seller

In Real Estate, Online Photos are Essential

You would think that Northern Virginia real estate agents would get it by now, but I am still seeing some really bad house photos being posted online. It is a trend that a lot of agents across the country poke fun at, and even have blogs of the worst photos seen in their MLS.

Anyone who is looking for a home to buy is starting out on the Internet while sitting at home or at work (yes, we know). Doing online research like moving to Vienna, Virginia is done easily from a living room in San Diego, California. So it seems obvious to me to get house photos right from the get-go and put as many photos of the highest quality into the MLS or a linking site like Google’s Picassa or Flickr.

The MLS site is the obvious place to start because it feeds consumer real estate sites like Trulia, Redfin and Zillow. Yup, those photos taken by me are disseminated by the almighty MRIS which is Northern Virginia’s MLS. So 30 photos definitely get popped in here for fast syndication.

The McLean and Vienna VA real estate markets are highly competitive so having quality, staged photos should be 50% of your home’s marketing strategy. (this is obvious to home buyers)

Here are my tips for better real estate photography:

• If you are unsatisfied with your photos, then hire a professional
• Use a digital camera with a wide angle lens built into the camera
• I update my camera on a regular basis, read more at my FAQs page
• Take plenty of shots (50-100) and then pick and choose on your computer
• Do not use a fish-eye lens because the photos just look too weird
• STAGE your photos by turning on lights, hiding garbage cans etc.
• If the sun isn’t out, then come back later for another cover shot
• Keep in mind that the buyer who is boarding a plane to house-hunt will only have time to see five homes in McLean, and will pick one to buy.
• Don’t be afraid to change the photos… if there was snow on the ground the first time and it is now May, take some new photos then upload them!

Having clear photos is an absolute must, #1 priority for me when I list a property. Why? Because  home buyers wanting to see Mclean or Vienna homes for sale have their iPhone or Droid real estate apps running all the time showing photos, photos and more photos.

Having poor quality real estate photos is a real no, no!

Leave a comment about any bad photos you have seen recently.

seller

8636 Dogwood Lane, Fairfax Virginia | New Listing

A nice, custom built home (2004)  overlooking a park-like setting and just minutes to the Vienna or Dunn Loring Metro Stations. New listing April 16, 2010, this five bedroom colonial sits on almost 3/4 of an acre yet backs to protected woods surrounding  Long Branch stream.

Home Bought and Sold June 2010

Gorgeous oak hardwood floors on the entire main level, a finished walk-out basement with a fifth bedroom, huge rec room, work room and plenty of storage.   The master bedroom has a sitting area, two walk-in closets, a luxury bath with a soaking tub and separate shower.

Gourmet kitchen of granite counters and maple cabinets, two gas fireplaces, side load garage, main level laundry, dual zone gas heating and central cooling…

A two level deck is perfect for entertaining and overlooks the yard and woods. Yes, there is a full size hot tub on the lower deck!

See more photos right now on Google Picasa. Use the slide show option.

The home is on lockbox for REALTORS, or you can call Doug Francis, REALTOR, for a private showing @ 703-304-6827 Listed @ $875,000 and Sold @ $875,000!

seller

Vienna, VA Home Sales Stats | Hyper Local March 2010

March came roaring in like a lion in the real estate market as buyers literally surged in once the snow melted and the sun started to shine making our world green again, so next month’s numbers will be impressive.

The driving part of the surge was buyers at the lower end buying homes that allowed people to move up to larger homes in these zip codes. The $8,000 first time buyer credit pushed the move-up buyer who could get a credit up to $6,500 when they entered into a contract by April 30th and settle by the end of June.

But please know that this information is reported from MRIS which is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate but should be considered pretty darn close.

Keep in mind, mortgage rates were still super low (around 5%).

Home sales numbers for 22182 in March 2010:

Spring did arrive early in March this year!.

Home sale numbers for the Town of Vienna, 22180, March 2010

seller

Selling a Home before the Bank Forecloses

As the closing date approached on one of my recent listings in Fairfax, VA, my clients who had moved due to a job-loss informed me that they had not made mortgage payments for the past few months. Now, when I am filling in my listing paperwork there is a section where I have to ask, “Are you current on your payments?”

The truthful answer last November was, “yes”.

But moving and renting a new place out of the area takes money, and it is easy to picture the financial strain on any family’s budget.

So, there we were approaching an early March settlement and the truth finally surfaced requiring me to recalculate the Seller’s net proceeds. Proceeds? Well, like many folks, this client was upside-down which means they owed more than the property was worth and they knew that they would have to bring cash to the table to sell the home.

But now it was “x” + 5 months of mortgage payments!

Home Sellers bring money to the table to close the sale

Are you thinking that they should have done a short sale? If you have read my posts on the subject you may know why I’m not a fan of pushing sellers into that mine-field of possible deficiency judgments. I do have to warn you of these things! Here is another opinion.

The new numbers were still do-able thanks to some help from their family, and we were headed to settlement as planned until… the buyer’s agent called to say there was a glitch in the sale of his client’s place. Yes, we understood it was contingent on that sale but things had looked firm until the 11th hour.

And, at that 11th hour we got the notice withdrawing from the contract. We were back at square-one now with a looming foreclosure situation.

But then, within a week, the same agent called back to say, “their financing has been approved and we are closing today, is your place still available because my client wants to buy it?”

Obviously the answer was yes! Are you still following this roller coaster?

The Homer Seller’s emotional roller coaster…

Since the old financing had expired and the buyer had to “re-lock” his rate, the new RESPA rules require a “cooling-off period” of seven days before a loan can be closed.

So there we were, on hold with everything teetering in the balance… and then the F-bomb dropped.

Phone rings: “This is Doug,” I said in my upbeat, breezy, yet professional way.

Client: “Hey, I just got a letter from my mortgage company’s law firm saying they are going to FORECLOSE if I don’t get my account up to date, paying $17k-something before April 1, 2010.”

Doug: “Wow, that’s right when you are gonna close. You are really going to need a Virginia real estate attorney to check this out, so why don’t you give John a call at …”

To make a long story short, the attorney advised him to pay the amount to catch up and then sell the place as planned at the end of March. My client took this advice and Fed-Ex’ed a certified check to the mortgage company’s law firm in Maryland.

“Received” they told him the next day and that they would notify his big city mortgage company he was “reinstated” and in good graces.

But, that law firm never sent the check to the big city mortgage company, and my client’s account continued to be flagged “FORECLOSURE”.

So, there we were on March 31st and all set to close, buyer was ready, seller was ready, but the existing mortgage company said “no” because the account was still flagged as a “FORECLOSURE”.

Folks, this is one example how everything can fall apart at the last minute. When you read about the government relaxing rules to make the process easier whether it be a short sale or a foreclosure, please keep in mind that these are unique, often complex situations where human error can cause the whole situation to go beyond the point of return.

If you are interested, I will write another post telling the story of how this situation ended. Anyone?

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