Is your toilet the best feature of your house? A well-known Phoenix broker, Jay Thompson has written about how ridiculous it is for agents to take MLS photos of toilets. While it’s hard not to get a shot of the porcelain throne, I think his main point was don’t feature it (like this photo) and at least put the lid down. Funny, my wife tells me that all the time. Maybe they both have something!
When you list your house for sale make sure your agent takes the best pictures possible. Help them by getting your home properly prepared in advance. Yes, put the lid down! I want to follow on to Jay’s post with a few of my own agent photo pet peeves.
A description and photo that makes me cringe is, “Hurry, Won’t Last Long” with a nice photo of a snow-covered roof in the middle of August. If you have lived through a Texas summer you know snow is really out of character in August. That’s a dead giveaway that the listing is long in the tooth. Doesn’t it make you wonder why the agent hasn’t changed the photo, removed the comment or the seller demanding a change? Someone in this scenario should be awake even if there isn’t any snow. At least It’s time to remove the, “won’t last long” & update the photo.
Have you ever seen a MLS photo of land for sale with the listing photo taken from the agent’s car? Seriously, if the picture shows the side view mirror or smashed bugs on the windshield, find an agent with enough energy to get out of the car or knowledge to crop the image. 
Do you want to highlight living on a busy street? I saw a main listing photo with a fire truck going by in the living room window. It was near a fire station and it just happened to be going by as the picture was snapped. I bet that was a nice quiet place to live. It really made me want to go see it. It could be the perfect house for a fireman wanting to live close to work!
Does your MLS listing photo show Homes on Homes or Love It or List It playing on the TV in the background? How about the agent in the mirror or someone standing off to the side? I can’t tell you how many times I have seen photos of kitchen counters full of dishes. Don’t blame your agent for your home not selling if you won’t take the time to put the dishes away.
Last but not least is the listing that has been on market for days without any pictures what so ever. My motto is, “you can’t sell if it’s not spotted” so that one drives me nuts. Sometimes it might take a couple of days to get pictures posted but there is no excuse for not having listing pictures after months. There has to be something worthy of a picture, even if it’s the porcelain throne!
Call me at 469-233-1234 if you are ready to put your home or land on the market. I promise I won’t have the side view mirror in the picture, snow on the roof or the toilet seat up!
