Does Professional Photography Make a Difference?

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One topic that’s been highly debated among sellers and home professionals alike is professional photography and whether or not it makes a difference when selling a home. 

So, what’s the answer?

To find out, we looked at a recent study done by real estate photography company, IMOTO. They evaluated 700 homes for sale in this study. Half of those homes (350) used their professional photography services, the other half did not. All of the homes were in the same zip code, and were also similar in size and condition.

The results they found were not surprising, to us at least. They found that the homes using their services sold 50% faster and 39% closer to their asking price than the homes that did not. This is a pretty major difference.

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It all depends on who you hire
and how you use your photos.

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Additionally, the statistics department at Latter & Blum, a New Orleans real estate company, evaluated those same houses and found that the houses that utilized the professional photography services saw 118% more traffic online than those that didn’t.

Of course, it all depends on who you hire and how you use your photos to really maximize their effectiveness. Our team has a professional photographer on staff to help your home get the most exposure possible. We’ve seen similar results to this study in our homes.

So, does it make a difference? Absolutely. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Buy and Sell at the Same Time

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

Have you or anyone you know in Temple ever thought about what goes into buying a home and selling a home at the same time? It’s not as simple as it sounds.

It’s one of the most common questions we receive. Can you look for houses first before putting your current home on the market, so you can know where you’re moving before putting your house up for sale? Is this a good strategy?

If you’re going to look for a new house first, you will typically put in a contingency offer, meaning, the offer you put in is contingent on you being able to sell your home. As a seller and a listing agent, I can tell you that most sellers aren’t very excited about getting these contingent offers, strictly for the reason that the deal might not work out. But you can make the offer more attractive.

As a buyer, you likely need to be more aggressive with your offer if you have contingencies. You probably need to make a higher offer to make the seller willing to take that house off the market for you.

Once the buyer has found the house they love, the motivation to sell their house is extremely high. As time drags on and the possibility of losing their dream home becomes more real, typically the motivation increases. This usually entails accepting a lower offer or lowering the price. 

With a contingency offer in this case, the family might be paying more for the home they want (to make their offer more attractive) and accepting a lower offer on their old home (because of increased motivation to sell). That can cost you a lot of money! Too many times you also see buyers get their hearts broken even with an aggressive offer due to contingencies. 

So what’s the best way to do it? Let’s get it on the market and get a good price first, then we can negotiate enough time for us to find a house that works great for you.

If you have any questions on this topic, please reach out to me via phone or email. I’d be happy to help!

Is Spring Really the Best Time to Sell?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

One of the most common questions I’ve received over the years is about the best time to put a home on the market. 

The easy answer is springtime. Spring is probably the busiest time of the year for real estate; there are more sales than any other time of the year, there are more home buyers in the market than any other time; people are just thinking about real estate when it comes to spring. 

As we get into the summer, you’ll actually see activity slack off a bit and spike back up right before we go into fall, due to things like parents trying to get their kids into different school districts before the school year.

Fall and winter are slow especially as we near the holidays. As you can imagine, people don’t want to be moving over Thanksgiving or Christmas! 

The answer’s not that easy though, as there are some things to consider. While spring may be the best time, you are competing with a lot more houses on the market. At the end of the year, competition will be much lower, making it worthy of consideration. 

Our team is consistently working every month of the year. Even with the market slowing, our team has a track record of selling in the slower months, so if you have any questions, please reach out to us!