Selling a home in San Diego for maximum net to the Seller -- part 1

We are going to begin a series of posts on how to sell a home with equity for max net to the seller.
(note in a short sale you are not concerned about get the highest price, you are concerned about finding a solid buyer with an offer the lender will accept... for most people.... some sellers do have to consider the tax consequences..

We will be looking are
1. Pricing
2. Marketing
3. Negotiating
4. Timing
5. Quality of Representation

and a few other categories.

Today we are going to begin a series on photography.

We will be linking to a few articles good articles on the reasons for photography, techniques and equipment. 
(I have gotten the photography bug... in moderation) 

Please note there will be some bias in all these articles as obviously professional photographers have a reason to promote professional photography.  As I have a reason to promote having a lawyer on short short sale team so you have you best shot at preserving your assets and getting your short sale closed. 




Successful Combination of Photography and Real Estate

Point2 (point2.com) conducted a study monitoring listings over a 30-day period which clearly showed that properties which feature just one photo generated approximately five views and 1.37 leads, while listings displaying 21 or more images received over 77 views and close to 11 leads. Clearly, the listings that added 20+ photos generated nearly 10 times the number of leads and over 15 times the number of views.

Another study relating to the number of photos a listing posts compares photos to the number of Days on Market (DOM). The findings show that listings with more photos sold faster. This is the shake down on the photos to Days on Market (average) analysis.

- 1 photo = 70 DOM
- 6 photos = 40 DOM
- 16-19 photos = 36 DOM
- 20 photos max – 32 DOM

And listings with fewer photos sold for less. The Closed NET Price as a percentage of the Original Price also showed a direct correlation. (These findings are based on 2006 numbers and are again estimates.)

- 1 Photo = 91.2% of Original Price
- 6 or more = 95% of Original Price

According to these findings, a $600,000 home, sporting only one photo, could sell for as much as 3.8% LESS or a loss of over $22,000, just because there was only one photo accompanying the listing. More amazing is the fact that only 12% of agents posted the maximum 20 photos.