Mailbox Hut For Sale
July 4th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
I’m confused… Is the mailbox hut for sale? Where’s the house?
I just woke up from a nap, so maybe I shouldn’t be searching for Denver real estate right now. Maybe the lady walking the dog knows.
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Denver House is Snowed in!
May 5th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings, Selling Strategies
Are You Relocating to Denver?
If so, you might be discouraged if you saw this listing photo online. “They’re lying about their 300 days of sunshine,” you think to yourself. “Look, it’s May and this house has snow in front of it!”
Well, right now I’m looking out my window at tulips, flowering crabapples and daffodils. There were a few tiny flurries one day last week just to remind us that we’re in the Rockies, but trust me it’s gorgeous here.
Perhaps this listing agent just hasn’t gotten over to the house to snap a new photo. Today would be a great day to do it. Blue skies and no snow on the lawn would make a huge difference in the presentation of this property.
View the top website presentation of metro-Denver properties and you’ll quickly see the difference. It’s important to pay attention to the details when you have in excess of 25,000 properties listed in the Denver MLS.
| Discussion: 6 Comments »
Your Next Home Comes With Chef
April 27th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
The chef is in the house
Are you kidding me? This guy couldn’t step aside for one second?
I guess the pasta was al dente and had to come off the stove right that second!
| Discussion: 4 Comments »
Orange Construction Fencing as a Designer Touch
April 17th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
A Denver Home Under Construction
Keep up the great work! This one will be dynamite when it’s finished. Why, though, is the fencing the main attribute? Could the photographer have stepped across it before shooting the photo?
| Discussion: No Comments »
Is Your House This Neat?
April 8th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings, Selling Strategies
If you aren’t a good housekeeper, clean up your house before it goes on the market.
If you’re this neat ~ you can use that fact as a marketing edge.
NOT!
Stage your house, and put the exterior in the MLS. This was the front page photo - no exterior shot offered. Buyers won’t be drawn to this home. It looks like a bowling alley. It’s boring, it’s beige, it’s bland.
Here’s another thought, closer to an actual drive-by shooting:
I know, the flowers are lovely. Can you see the house?
We aren’t selling flowers! While landscaping is certainly an important aspect of a property, this front-page shot precludes a buyer from getting a feel for the architecture and the house itself.
I sell real estate. Houses that people live in. The photos must reflect more than the yard, or the garage, or the driveway.
The best real estate web sites are syndicating to other internet search avenues for buyers to find properties. Sites like Trulia and Google Base are providing a service for buyers who are beginning their home search. If your house isn’t presented in a “first impressions matter” way from the beginning photo through the entire presentation, you’ll lose potential buyers.
Check out www.gretchensdenver.com. Link to the Kentwood Listings ~ see what great marketing is all about.
| Discussion: 5 Comments »
You Thought the Last One Was Dark!
March 28th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
I got this photo in a tip from a blogging friend, Shannon, who writes a blog covering modernist architecture.
She wrote me a hilarious message!
“Now this photo made me think of your blog. But my favorite bad MLS photo I found a few years ago with the owner bent over (hiney to the camera) in the driveway. That was the main photo in the MLS until it sold. Unbelievable.”
I wish I’d seen that one. Did he have a better hiney than house? How long did it take to sell?
Real Estate is a profession, not a hobby. Hire a broker who knows how to find you the perfect house, the perfect architecture, the right neighborhood. Brokers who know how to professionally market a home and all of the features and benefits the new buyer will find there. You are at risk in this tough market if you find yourself with a blacked out photo (or a photo of your hiney to the camera).
| Discussion: No Comments »
Are You in the Dark?
March 25th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
Or Just Your House?
Yet another example of the worst photo of the day. I found this one cruising through Denver listing photos of a cute Denver Neighborhood, Cory Merrill. This is the neighborhood just south of Bonnie Brae, and has a terrific elementary school, Cory Elementary.
Anyway, another “drive by shooting.” This photo is so dark that a buyer can hardly tell what the house looks like. Is it just my aging eyes? It also looks like the photographer took the picture over his right shoulder after he passed by…
| Discussion: No Comments »
My Blog, My Opinion
March 20th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings, Random Thoughts
I was told when I started blogging that generating a bit of controversy is actually a good thing. Getting people to read your posts and keep coming back is the point. Being plain vanilla is boring and dull.
“I’ve really done it now…”
I said to my husband when he got home tonight. “I received a very pissed-off comment regarding one of my posts.” Not a comment like the others I’ve received that lay out the person’s perspective in a thoughtful manner. This was more of an attack on me, my company and this blog.
“Way to Go!” says my blogging coach.
“Who cares?” says my very thick-skinned, ex-Marine, lawyer husband, “don’t get your knickers in a twist.” He’s impervious to controversy - me, not so much.
The American Way
Here’s the thing. I have as much a right to post my opinion on my own blog as anyone else does on their blog or in their newspaper article. That’s the American way. I may not always like or agree with what’s out there, but I’ll never deny that whoever wrote it can do so in this country. I recall a recent controversy generated over at Bloodhound Blog that had lots of folks threatening to unsubscribe. I read the initial post that caused all of the uproar and thought to myself, “Hmm, that guy has a bit of an ego.” But that was it. I didn’t think, “everyone should attack him for what he said.” While I also support their right to say their piece, what I don’t think is useful are the personal attacks.
So I’m not releasing the comment from moderation. You can just fill in the blanks yourself.
What Now?
The “Drive By Shootings” category in this blog has been the most popular so far. For the few pointed comments and the one really negative one I got today, I’ve received dozens of comments via email that say, “hurrah!” “You’re funny!” or “Interesting points.”
Lend Your Opinion
Aside from the fact that it’s unlikely that these photographs are copyrighted, is this a section that should stay? I’m not mentioning any broker names, property addresses, or even areas of town where these listings reside. To the extent that any copyright laws are violated, then it isn’t up for debate. The photos can’t be reproduced without permission. Other than that, these photos are coming from a public, internet domain.
Seems to me, that what the person objected to was my opinion. If I had posted the listing in a promotional way saying, “hey guys, check out this fabulous listing!!” then I doubt that anyone would have objected to my use of the photo. I really think my opinion is what caused the rub.
The unfortunate thing in all of this, is that the other broker (who is remaining politely quiet) is someone I greatly respect. Still my opinion stands…
| Discussion: 6 Comments »
The Green Room isn’t Only for Lindsey Lohan
March 18th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
O.K. You’ve read about “drive by shootings.” Maybe this one doesn’t count, since the photographer actually had to get out of the car this time.
Why would anyone want to market a 1970’s tiny disco room as a selling point in today’s MLS? (This was the main, headline photo.) Desperately Seeking Retro Buyers?
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Your Perfect Home
March 10th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings, Selling Strategies
It Needs Absolutely No Marketing Whatsoever!
This photo was displayed with a $1,500,000 listing in Denver’s MLS. I guess real estate sales are so hot in Denver right now, that we don’t even need photos to sell houses anymore.
“Drive by Shootings” are usually exterior house photos that look like the photographer didn’t bother to slow down the car. In this case, the real estate broker didn’t even call the photographer.
| Discussion: No Comments »
