How do you look at me with those lumps of coal for eyes and tell me you’re sitting in front of the hottest most desirable property on the market? It’s obviously not hot enough to melt the snow on your front lawn! No, indeed it is now June and pictures of snow laden properties with enough snow to build an extended snow family still adorn the MLS and other private sites.
Much debate has circulated on vacant properties and spec homes but what about the snow homes? How many are there? Now I must admit that the Real Estate weekly is pretty up to date, but some catalogues are continuing to grow in size, loaded with pictures of properties that don’t sell and looking more like a sun ‘n fun vacations booklet with pictures of wonderful ski resorts. Are they hiding something under the snow?
Nothing says we’ve been on the market forever and are desparate to sell more than you main house photo covered in snow in the middle of June.
The best snowjob of all might be if someone actually buys it. Come people it’s June – show us your green!
Funny you would run this article, today, Sheldon.
Just a few days ago, I decided to give a Realtor a piece of my mind. On his website, he touted his innovative marketing approach and the many ways he can help sell a property faster (i.e decorating, gardening, staging).
All the while, he is listing a property that still has the snow picture, poor interior pictures, and no furniture whatsoever.
He got back to me and promised to switch back to the Summer picture immediately (bad choice, since that was taken on a rainy day and makes the house look very drab), but I still see snow today…..
On the market since August, price reduced by 25%, now listed 26% below the latest property tax assessment, located in a very nice neighborhood, this house should have had a chance to sell by now.
But the sad snow picture and the now very dated description (“just” received $$$ in upgrades) make it absolutely clear that this house has been sitting on the market for a long time. If I were a prospective buyer, I would wonder what’s wrong with that house and probably not look at it.
Sheldon/Sara,
Quite ironic that you posted this, as just yesterday I couldn’t help but notice that the loft you were trying to sell displayed a picture with snow on the patio.
Sheldon,
Quite ironic, as you guys may want to check your last post – the loft condo – patio picture
***aw schucks. No credit for the incredible unique photography of the building compared to other units. Including the front of building shot of which we had to tell several agents to remove. In truth we spend a great deal making sure the fronts of properties are seasonally correct. We average over 30 photo’s per listing and can’t possibly replace them all.
Just to clarify though this unit has been pending in one way or another since listing and therefore the priority was not given the interior shots.
However I never said we were perfect. Just striving for perfection.
Sheldon
I’ve been looking at properties for some time now and since I’ve started reading this blog I’ve really noticed the horrible pictures people post. Seriously, people need to clean up their places before they have pictures taken! There’s one condo listing where the people took pictures of the building and common areas but no pictures of the suite??? Also, I’m still amazed by people who don’t show pictures of their property on MLS. I just go right by those properties. If someone is not willing to post photos it’s not worth my time to consider their property.
Glad to se you are still online the bubbleclowns are claiming you site is down. I hope you dont close as your site is very informative. I would deal with you if you dealt with investors
*** I have no idea what “bubble clowns” have been saying. We received this message from Typepad’s CEO apologizing for their blogs being down.
Dear TypePad member,
This morning you may have experienced some downtime on TypePad. We know you rely on us to provide superior service and performance, and this morning we let you down. Downtime on your blog is obviously frustrating, both for you and for us, and we are very sorry. I’m writing to assure you that this is unacceptable to us and explain some of the background for the disruption.
Good to hear I was scared until I loged on and found you still online. Thanks for your informative site. Unrealated is there another site for comercial than icx?
Too funny Sheldon. I made this very observation (too myself) when I was surfing mls in a couple neighborhoods on the weekend. In particular I was struck by the following re-occuring images and themes:
- Houses for sale with pics taken with snow or lovely dead leaves on the ground
- The number of homes for sale with “Investment” in the write-up
- The sheer quantity of homes that were vacant with some looking like they’d never been lived in
- The number of homes which have been rather pathetically staged with spare furniture from lord knows where
I’m still bearish and I’ll believe the market is back to normal when all these observations decline to a level where they’re no longer noticable.
I’m seeing on a lot of listings that they’ll subsidise condo fees for a year or so. Why arn’t these people just dropping their price? Are they concerned about list price in some way? or are there tax/equity implications?
Sheldon, for the record, I just noticed this when looking at your last listing because you have stated previously how much you hated it. That being said, your pictures and listing still far exceeds any other listings I see in this city!
There going to have a nice family and then make some green.