Gary Dwyer's Real Estate Blog

As an exclusive buyer agent working at an exclusive buyer agency real estate firm (this means that neither myself nor my firm work for home sellers), home buyers hire me to help them find and evaluate homes that meet their criteria.

In today's real estate market, technology plays a huge role in a buyer and a buyer agent finding and evaluating potential property to view.  The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a powerful tool that most agents and buyers use - but as with all tools - it can be detrimental if not used properly.

The biggest complaint that I hear from home buyers is that the quality of the information, particularly the quality and number of the photos in MLS, does not allow them to get a good feel for what the property is and if it will meet their needs.

Take for example photos - the MLS system allows a seller to have many photos of their property in the system.  Buyers are looking for more than 1 or 2 photos taken on a poor-quality camera phone. 

The feedback from my buyers is that they looking for a minimum of one photo of each room (larger rooms should have a several pictures taken from differnt angles), photos of the yard, street, back / side yards, and basement area.  For condos, a picture of the parkings space / area, storage area, laundry room and common area / hallways are also helpful. Approximate room dimensions are also helpful information.

Also, clients recognize that there is a bit of "salesmanship" in the remarks section of the MLS listing, however, it should be fresh and accurate.  A recent listing I saw stated that "This property won't last long on the market - act now", but it had been on for over 240 days.

Providing less infomation seems to backfires on sellers more often than not.  Many buyers find that limited pictures and information on MLS means that there is something wrong with the property and they don't want to take 30 minutes out of their life to find out.

Soooooo sellers - do you want to sell?  Take a look at your property information in MLS and ask if you would want to buy the house?  Does it give you the info as a buyer you would want to take the next step and schedule a showing?