Some Real Estate Photography Tips

It has been my pleasure recently to be doing more and more property searches for home buyers. Naturally, selecting the right property often begins with taking a look at the photos that the listing agent has shot and placed in the Multiple Listing System. Like everybody else in this highly visual age, I am swayed by appearance.

It is astonishing how bad some of these photos are.

Taking great photos today is not nearly as complex as it was in years past when you shot everything on film and had to worry about film speed, aperture settings, flash settings, shutter speeds, focus, depth of field, developing and all the other things that plagued film-based photography.

Today, with the advent of digital photography, taking good pictures is almost as easy as point-and-shoot.

Nevertheless, I'm seeing some really horrible photography in the MLS and on flyers and other kinds of advertising.

So, I thought I'd make a few suggestions that might improve the presentation of properties and help you sell them faster and perhaps for more money.

1. Use A Flash. Almost every modern digital camera today comes with a little flash built right into the camera. If you are inside a building, use it. Flash lets you overcome being backlighted when you are shooting back toward a window or other strong source of light. It also helps to eliminate shadows; eliminating shadows makes the room look larger. If you have a more powerful strobe light, aim it upward and let the light bounce off the ceiling and flood the room evenly -- that's what the pros do!

2. Avoid Silhouettes. Silhouettes happen when you have to shoot into the sun. Your camera's built-in light meter is overpowered by the sunlight and it underexposes what you want to take a picture of -- like the exterior front of the house. This is very common with properties that face north and have the sun behind them all day in the winter months. To overcome this problem, you have to move in real close to the building so that the sun does not enter your camera lense. The meter will then expose the building properly. Of course, you will only get part of the house in the photo, so take a few extra shots and insert them into the MLS so people get a good idea of what the exterior looks like. Or, wait for the sun to set and take an exciting nighttime shot of the property with all the lights on inside the house and around the swimming pool -- very artistic, and it sells!

3. Tidy Up Before Shooting. You aren't going to believe this, but lately I've seen kitchen photos in the MLS in which it is clear the seller hasn't washed the dishes in days. Or made the beds. Or cleaned the bathtub. Ugh! I'm not saying you as the agent or photographer has to do this kind of heavy lifting, but you might want to delay the photo shoot until somebody else does. Remember, you're there to try to make the place look good. And for heaven's sake, close the lid on the toilet.

4. Move The Cars And Boats. You are there to take a photo of the house, not the '93 Buick in the driveway. A car is in front of the house. That means it is in the foreground. Things in the foreground of a photo look larger than things in the background. So, if the car is in front of the house you're actually taking a photo of a great big car and a little tiny house. I'm sure that's not what you had in mind. Simple solution. Move the car and then take the photo. Same holds true with boats on trailers.

5. Don't Skimp. My final suggestion is to not skimp on photography. It amazes me how many agents take one photo and that's it -- especially if they are listing a short sale or foreclosure. You can put many photos in the MLS system, and we live in a visual age. It should not matter if you are listing a million dollar mansion or a more humble home, the seller deserves your best effort. After all, you took the listing -- and it is your professional reputation that is at stake in your marketing effort.

If you really are one of those people who just can't seem to take a good photo, call one of the real estate photography services. They'll send a professional photographer to the house, take the pictures properly, edit them, make a video for MLS and send it back to you ready to be inserted. The cost is very reasonable and you don't have to lift a finger, or press a shutter as the case may be.

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Selling A Furnished Property

Lately, it seems I've been involved in some sales of fully furnished properties. Sellers seem a little confused about how to proceed with these sales, and don't fully understand the revised rules under which today's mortgage companies operate in regard to loaning money for a furnished property.

Mortgage companies have never liked to loan money on a furnished home. Simply put, they don't like to loan money on used furniture. So for years, real estate agents have been listing furnished properties and including the phrase "furniture adds no value" in their description of the property in the MLS and in the sales contract. I guess that worked for awhile, but now things are different.

We now have new rules from mortgage companies about writing a mortgage on a furnished property. Essentially, if any furniture is included on a sales contract for property, the loan-to-value ratio of the loan will be reduced by the value of the furniture.

This means that the furniture will have to be appraised and the amount of the appraisal will be reduced from the purchase price. This might result in the buyer being forced to come to the closing with additional funds to make up the difference.

Here's a suggestion for those who want to sell a property furnished. First, make a detailed inventory of all the furniture that is going to be left with the property. Then, clearly state that the furniture will be sold in a separate bill of sale outside of the closing. That way the furniture stays at the property but should not be considered part of the real estate transaction. Sellers can charge whatever they want for the furniture, but they should keep in mind that used furniture does not usually have a very high price.

Hope this is of some help!

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Good News For Homeowners With Chinese Drywall

If your property was built with Chinese drywall, there may be some help coming your way!

The company that manufactured the drywall, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve court claims by thousands of Gulf-coast property owners. The property owners contend that the Chinese drywall has ruined their homes and caused various illnesses.

The deal with Knauf has been given preliminary approval by federal judge Eldon Fallon of the U.S. District Court who said the possible settlement seemed "fair, reasonable and adequate". Under the proposal, Knauf has agreed to create an uncapped fund to pay for repairing approximately 4,500 properties in Florida and other southeastern states where the defective drywall was sold and installed.

Sounds good to me!

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Bay Area Home Prices Predicted To Improve This Year

Any of you who read this blog regularly know that I do not like to make predictions. Usually, my crystal ball is kind of cloudy on when things are going to happen, so I just steer clear of sounding like a know-it-all.

Other people, however, have crystal balls as clear as gin and can see far into the future with perfect clarity.

Such is the case for an organization called Clear Capital. This California-based group has issued some predictions for the housing market for 2012, and I thought I would pass them along to you in case you didn't read today's Tampa Bay Times.

According to Clear Capital, the Tampa Bay area will see residential real estate prices increase 7.4% this year. That would make this area sixth best in the nation as far as price increases go.

They base this prediction on the fact that Tampa Bay suffered through some of the biggest declines in value in the last few years. So, I guess that in their opinion we have no place to go but up! Of course, the story also indicated that we are seeing a decline in housing inventory which should drive prices up, and a reduction in foreclosures as banks now prefer short sales which sell at a higher price than foreclosed property. With fewer houses on the market, prices should start to recover in this area. It's that old supply-and-demand thing from Econ 101. Remember it?

What other areas are predicted to have prices rise this year? Orlando, +11.7%. Miami, +8.8%. Jacksonville, +4.3%.

Clear Capital says some areas will still be falling. Atlanta, -14.4% (worst in the country). Los Angeles, - 10.3%. Seattle, -7.5%.

All I can say is that I hope these guys are correct about Tampa Bay. They indicated that most of the gains will come during the second half of the year, so look for rising prices after July.

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Some Good Real Estate News To Start The Year

Let's start 2012 with some good news about real estate!

In case you missed them, the newly re-named Tampa Bay Times has run two stories on back-to-back days that give everybody concerned with real estate a reason to smile.

On January 5th, there was a story about how growth is returning to Florida. The data was obtained from Atlas Van Lines. For the first time in five years, Atlas Van Lines has reported that inbound moves outnumbered outbound moves in Florida. In 2011, there were 5,636 inbound smoves and only 5,269 people moving out of the state. This may be a sign that the Florida economy is moving forward since more people from other states are moving here. That's good news for real estate since those new residents will need places to live.

The second piece of good news is that the vacancy rate for commercial/office buildings dropped 19% during 2011. Typically, when vacancy rates decline it means businesses are hiring more people. More jobs mean people have more money and have a better chance to qualify for home mortgages. This should be good news to home sellers throughout the Tampa Bay area.

These are both great trends. Let's hope they continue.

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So, How's The Real Estate Market?

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is simply this: "So, how's the real estate market?"

That's a fair question.

I have stopped doing my monthly reports because I feel like the new real estate writer at the St. Pete Times is doing a pretty good job. So, I've kinda slacked off doing those monthly reports.

Instead, what I will give you is some info that I have not seen in the paper -- and it is an answer to the above referenced question.

Comparing October of 2011 with October of 2010, there were 891 properties sold in that month in 2010 and 1,079 sold in 2011. So, volume is up by 21%.

The total value of properties sold in October 2010 was $166, 951,900. In October 2011, it was $176,313,900. An increase in total sales value of 4.3%.

The average selling price for October 2010 was $189,600. For October 2011 it was $163,400. So, average selling price dropped 13.8%.

How many properties are on the market? Well, inventory is way down. In October 2010 there were a total of 12,150 properties on the market in the MLS. For October 2011 there were only 8,256. That's a decline of 32%. There are today roughly one-third fewer properties on the market than last fall. So, buyers have less to choose from, but sellers have less competition.

So, the answer to "how's real estate" is that sales volume is up, property values appear to be still declining, and the selection of properties on the market is quite a bit less than a year ago. Is this good news or bad news? Depends on whether you are a buyer or a seller.

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How To Start The Mortgage Approval Procedure

Applying for a mortgage can, at first, seem like an overwhelming procedure for many home buyers -- especially first time buyers and those who have not purchased real estate in a long time.

Here's a list of the kind of information you'll need to have on hand when you visit your mortgage banker or broker ...

• Have the name, address and social security number of each person applying for the mortgage;


• Have the name, address, telephone number and payment history for your current landlord or mortgage company;


• Have the source(s) of funds for your down payment and closing costs;


• Have your bank name and the approximate balances of your checking and savings accounts including all the account numbers;


• Determine the market value of any stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other assets that you own;


• Determine the net worth of any business you own.

The bank will also want to know about your income. So, you'll need ...

• The gross monthly income of everyone who is going to be on the mortgage (include salary base, commission and bonuses separately);


• Employment information to include the company name, address, telephone number and your dates of employment for two years;


• List any other income, including child support or alimony, social security, retirement, dividend and interest income.

And, of course, the mortgage people will need to review your debts and liabilities, so ...

• Bring your credit card and installment loan info;


• Have information about any other properties you own, including rentals, second home and investment properties, including the amount you pay for taxes and insurance;


• If you pay any alimony or child support payments, you will need this info as well.

Use this as a handy checklist to make sure you're fully prepared for that upcoming meeting with your mortgage agent. It's the first step in qualifying for that dream home!

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