Marketing 101 in the Western Suburbs
I was recently talking to another agent in the office about listings that only offer a picture of the front of the house... We agreed that we always think: " it may be a bad agent... or it may be a bad house... I'm not really sure"
You see, in the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois (MLSNI) we can add a total of seven pictures.. as well as a virtual tour to the listing. Not everybody likes virtual tours... but pictures are something that everyone wants (buyers and agents included) It costs nothing to use this feature and it can be done at the same time as the actual listing. I was wondering what other people thought about this and posed the question to a national group of real estate agents in one of my networking groups.
These real estate agents all said that if the MLS allows 7 (or more) pictures and the listing doesn't include that many, they assume that something is wrong with the property. This is a real problem for those sellers in a slower market and it's one that they are generally not aware of.
One agent from Florida said that if they talk about the pool in the remarks but don't show a picture they assume that something is not right with the pool.
Another top agent said they definitely make assumptions based on the amount or lack of pictures. Like if the agent only uses interior pictures (or exterior only)
Of the 17 responses to my question 17 (100%) of the agents responded that they assume the worst when photos are not used properly......
One other thought is that these pictures automatically propogate throughout the system, showing up on real estate related sites all over the Internet (assuming that the agent elects to do that...that will be another marketing blog topic!) including Realtor.com if the agent pays a little extra for the expanded listings.
Sometimes it's what you don't say (or show) that influences people..
Posted by Angus at 7:45 AM
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Going on Vacation?
If you live in Naperville you may want to take advantage of the "Vacation Watch" service by the Naperville Police Department.
You let them know at least 7 days prior to your departure and they will provide extra patrols of your home.. leaving them a way to contact you in an emergency
You can download the form here
"Vacation Watch"The Department also offers these vacation safety tips (From the
Naperville site)
Vacation Safety Tips
Your vacation should be a pleasant experience for you and your family. Take a few simple steps to reduce the possibility of becoming a victim of a burglary or other criminal acts against your home. The time spent preparing your home for vacation could save you money later. Before you leave for your trip:
Notify local police of the departure and return dates of your trip and provide the name and telephone number of a neighbor or relative to notify in the event of an emergency.
Place a “vacation hold” on newspaper subscriptions, mail delivery and include the start and ending dates.
Ask a neighbor to pick up newspapers and mail if the “vacation hold” was not followed. Ask them to remove throwaway papers and circulars from the doorway and mailbox.
Place interior lights and a radio on timers to give the appearance that the home is occupied.
Have front exterior lights on photocells that activate in the evening and shut off at daybreak.
Notify neighbors of your absence and encourage them to contact the police regarding any suspicious activity at your home.
Arrange to have the grass cut and watered, leaves raked and the sidewalk and driveway shoveled during the winter.
Remove all tools, lawn implements, garbage cans and yard furniture to the garage, basement or shed.
Unplug all non-essential electrical appliances such as computers, fans, televisions, irons, washer and dryers to avoid damage from electrical storms.
Be sure the sump pump is functioning properly and free from debris to avoid basement flooding.
Set the home thermostat at a reasonable temperture-85 degrees in the summer and 50 degrees in the winter.
Make sure all entry points into the home are secure.
Close the fireplace flue to prevent birds and animals from entering.
If you have an alarm system, leave a current list of contacts with the alarm company in case of system activations. False alarms may be fined.
Disconnect the electric garage door opener and lock the garage door.
Be sure all vehicles left at home are locked and remove all valuables.
Posted by Angus at 11:16 AM
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Cingular turns me on!
In 2005 when Cingular announced that it was deploying it's new 3g service (UMTS) in the Chicago area, I was very excited... until I discovered that they were including everything except the western suburbs!
To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement! Here I am, a guy that revels in tech toys... and I've been excluded from this great service! (Can you say geek?) I use Cingular because it is the only service that works everywhere that I need it to... I've tried all of them over the years. Being a geek, I purchased a 3g modem on eBay for the few times that I would be in an area where I could make use of the service. The modem tells you by color what system you've locked into... red is bad (not working) green is standard service (EDGE in this area) blue when you are in a 3G area.
Cingular said that they hoped to have other areas turned on by the end of 2006, but weren't making any announcements. the City of Naperville is contracting for free WIFI and I was starting to focus that.... and suffering (with dignity) the slow EDGE modem speeds (at the same price as the fast connections elsewhere..I might add)
Sitting in the local Starbucks on 75th street while enjoying a vente coffee and chocolate chip cookie (exercising great restraint by only eating one) expecting the normal, pokey EDGE speeds... when my light turned blue. Working to calm myself (maybe the modem was confused)... I nervously fired up a speedtest... YES! Almost 1mb per second... WooHoo! Broadband at last!
I checked the Cingular site, but the map hadn't changed...hmm... maybe they just turned it on for a test...then I thought that maybe it was working at the Starbucks because there is a Cingular store two doors down. (OK, so maybe I'm a little "overboard" about this stuff)
I drove to the Edard Health and Fitness Center (remember that cookie?) and tried again in their parking lot (it worked!) While I was sharing this reveation in the locker room I was shocked to discover that not all people share my enthusiasm.... imagine that! The great thing is that I still get to look forward to them turning on the even faster HSDPA next year!
Well... to lengthen and already long story, I've happily been using the service ever since. However, a new issue has cropped up... the EDGE speed of my Treo 650 accessing e-mail and the web is driving me crazy and I may have to purchase new phone... but, that's another story.
Posted by Angus at 10:53 AM
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