Will agents show your listings? A glimpse into NE Ohio's Competitive MLS

Posted by Carole Cohen on May 05, 2008

I’ll tell you why our MLS is competitive in one word: VOLUME.

Yesterday I checked the community of Euclid Ohio. There were 683 homes on the market. Rocky River has 240 homes for sale. Lakewood has 376; Cleveland Heights has 666. You get the point. There are a lot of available homes in NE Ohio.

If you are selling your home you will be asking the same question your Realtor® is asking—what can I do to make my listing stand out, and not be the house in the back of the room waving it’s chimney saying ‘pick me, pick me!’

I decided to use myself as an example. I have quite a few buyers at the moment and spend time culling the listings to set up showings.

Here is what I automatically eliminate:

1. Homes with no photos

(In fact, even if they have the primary/exterior photo, unless it’s unique, I skip it unless there are more.)

2. Homes with no room sizes and amenities listed

So it has four bedrooms. What are the sizes? Do they have wood floors, ceiling fans, carpet? If you don’t list it, I say NEXT because there will be, say, 100 others that DO list it.

3. Descriptions

Many Realtors® and brokers give descriptions on REOs and short sale properties, no matter what the listing price. That is as it should be. And in this day and age, if you don’t do that, then I can say…NEXT.

I think you get the idea!

Since almost all of my clients and close to what, 90% of all prospective home buyers are doing their home searches on the Internet, it is imperative for me to provide as much information as I can about my listings. I have had one or two listings this year with tenants…so interior photos are not respectful. At least that is the custom here. I have a multi-family unit listed now and someone is finally moving out so I will be able to get interior shots of the unit.

In general, photos make quite a difference.

I saw a $298,000 home listed on the MLS and the only one of the seven photos listed that was not dark was the primary photo. The interior shots were so dark I had no idea what rooms were being featured.

I’m seriously not trying to sound nit-picky, but with 693 homes in Euclid Ohio to choose from, why would I email ones without photos or descriptions or room sizes?

Just my humble, professional opinion.

If you are a home seller and your agent/Realtor®/broker has not sent you a link to the listing for your edification, ask for it so you can make sure it is being presented in the best possible light.

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