Would you want to buy this chandelier...
...or take a chance and buy the home. With over 7000 available homes for sale in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market, if you are looking to buy a home you have to select the most likely candidates to view from the many listings available.
I've written about bad real estate photos from time to time but I just saw one that easily takes over first place. How about a brand new listing and the only picture being made available for your consideration is a very nice pineapple chandelier. I think you'll agree it is a very nice chandelier, and a pineapple is the universal symbol of hospitality and all, but why should you have to wonder what the house might look like.
Since a new listing has one chance to make a good first impression, why waste it with a meaningless picture or possibly none at all.
Of course, many Charleston real estate agents (and I'm sure others around the country) start marketing their listings the critical first day on the market with this little gem at the right. Many real estate consumers have signed up for listing notifications of all new properties that meet their criteria and most get an email with anywhere from one or two listings to a lot of listings just about every day of the week. Today's real estate consumers want pictures, not excuses. I get a number of inquiries from people searching for a home in Charleston requesting I provide additional pictures of properties that interest them.
The Charleston MLS recently increased the number of pictures real estate agents can include in their listings from 9 to 24. While every home may not have 24 excellent marketable photos, it is reasonable to at least expect one picture of the front of the house on the day the property goes on the market. Better yet would be as many good marketable shots that tell a story about the house included with the listing on the day that it comes on the market.
Real estate consumers want to buy houses, not chandeliers.