Seattle's Urban Villages

Magnolia View home...Meeting the homeowners today.

Today I met with a couple who have a wonderful home in Magnolia with views of Puget Sound, Elliott Bay, The Space Needle , Downtown Seattle and Mt Rainier... this is their view.....

Unfortunately, the online photos of the views were of gray, overcast skies, not the sun drenched, bright, open concept rooms and their stunning views.  Their home had been listed on the market for awhile earlier this year with another real estate agent and had not sold, even with price reductions.  This house is ideal for a couple who are downsizing from a larger home, and want to live a more urban Seattle experience, but want more privacy, parking and square footage than they would find living in a high rise Seattle condo. 

Last spring I sent the listing to a couple who live out of state who were thinking of retiring and moving to Seattle where they moor their 40 foot boat.  I previewed the house and strongly encouraged my clients to see the house next time they were in town, because the view really needed to be experienced in person, and the online photos did not do it justice.  Unfortunately my clients plans have changed and are putting off moving for awhile.   

Later, when the house was no longer listed on the market, I called and left a message with the homeowners saying that I had some ideas about improving the marketing for their home.  Last week I received a call from the owners that resulted in our meeting this afternoon.  We talked for quite awhile after I toured their home.   They had questions, and we talked about my ideas for marketing their home if they decide to hire me as their real estate agent to list and market their Magnolia home next spring.

Now that we are in the slower, fall market I feel waiting until next spring will be a better time to list and present their home to potential buyers, because the views are shown off to their best advantage in the spring and summer.  Wouldn't you love to enjoy views like this?

Open Houses; a great way to "interview" agents when you are thinking about selling your home

A great way to find a good Seattle real estate agent when you are thinking about selling your Seattle home is by attending open houses in your neighborhood. 

You get to see an agent "in action" at an open house!  While you are there you can gauge their professionalism by the way they greet you, engage you in conversation and talk about the house they are hosting the open house at.  Ask questions about the neighborhood, the Seattle real estate market both in general and specifically homes in the neighborhood and comparable homes.  While talking to the agent, do you find them knowledgeable, and a good "fit" to work with you?

Check out the agents' marketing materials (flyer's etc.) are they informative and interesting to look at?   Ask the agent what they did to help their client get the house "market ready" and their philosophy for marketing and selling homes.  Later when you get home, look the house up online to see the quality of the online photos, and the marketing remarks for that house, do you find them to present the home well?

A good agent will be happy to answer all your questions, but be careful not to monopolize their time after-all, they are working to sell their clients home!  The agent is there to show their clients' house to potential buyers so they will need to greet and talk with other visitors at the open house too.

Sometimes the agent hosting the open house is not the listing agent, so that is something to find out while talking to the agent.  The hosting agent is still a good potential agent for you even if they are not the listing agent.  Sometimes a listing agent is not available to host that week's open house for one of several reasons, and another agent is hosting it.  Even if the agent you meet and talk to is not the listing agent, that hosting agent may be a good fit for you if they impress you with their professionalism, knowledge and marketing savvy.

Be sure to get the agents' business card and a flyer too so that you can follow up and call them later to talk about what they can do for you to market and sell your home.  A little time and effort spent doing this will help you to find the best Seattle agent for you when the time comes to sell your home.

Psst...Wanna buy a U.S. Embassy?

Reading the Seattle Times last Sunday I ran across an interesting article in the News section:  "Not your typical U.S. surplus: posh embassies", written by Associated Press writer Matthew Lee and found the article on-line to share with you at the Boston Globe .  The real estate locations sounded far away and exotic...like an adventure movie location...places like Kathmandu, Bangkok, and Jakarta...places you would expect to find James Bond or some other cloak and dagger movie spy.  Very different from the Seattle Real Estate market!

Of course some of the properties are fixers having been the scene of riots or are run down and cannot be made secure for the level of terror that stalks the world today.  The most expensive property "for sale" is actually a lease for 939 years remaining (of a 999 year lease) for a property in London.   However, I looked at the State Department website to check out some of the properties my self and was very disappointed.  I am afraid the Real Estate Marketing for the properties is nonexistent, no on-line photos, no marketing remarks...no nothing to spark an interest! Hmmm...I'd love to write the marketing for these properties! 

Tip for Sellers - Make sure your agent posts great photos of your home on line.

Last Saturday, I was across the hall in another Seattle Real Estate Agent's office chatting about Seattle real estate (what else!) and I noticed on the screen of her laptop an article on MSN.  The article was on the ethics of using PhotoShop to "touch up" online photos used in marketing homes for sale.  This was a very interesting and engaging article, I really enjoyed it.  Ethically challenged people sure make life more interesting and complicated!

Well...of course then I wanted to air (okay...vent!) my opinion on BAD real estate photos.  Most Seattle real estate agents do a credible to fabulous job with the marketing photos as Listing Agents...then there are the ones who's cameras should be taken away!  It riles me up so much when I see a listing with poor photos, all I can think is poor, poor sellers. 

You have probably seen them online:  crooked photos (yikes an inebriated photographer!) dark photos (scary, who would want to live there?) photos of unlovely rooms (no photos of the "cooks kitchen" but one of the semi-finished basement?) poor choices of angle (nice ceiling, but what does the room look like?) and the real money loser, amazing Sound (Lake, City etc.) view and no photos or good ones to draw a buyers interest!

The home a friend of mine was leasing recently has been listed for sale.  On Lake Washington, it has wonderful views of the lake from almost all the rooms, so you can imagine the list price.  Well, at that price I would have thought the Seattle Listing Agent, (Marketing Agent) would have engaged the services of a professional photographer to capture the value of this house, but instead, the photos online barely show the views.  I wish I could share some examples with you, but unfortunately I would have to have the permission of the Seattle Listing Agent, and it's not likely they'd give it for a post like this. 

So next time you are on line looking at houses and condos, look at the photos, do they show an appealing home?  Does the written marketing celebrate a home's virtues but the photos tell a different story?   

So a Tip for Sellers, make sure you ask to see examples of your Seattle Listing Agent's Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) Listing or Marketing Photos, and ask to see the listings for similar types of homes and compare them.  Make sure your Seattle Realtor will truly market your home properly so that it appeals to as many potential buyers as possible.  You don't want to miss the opportunity to capture the eye of the buyer who is willing to pay the highest price for your home by having less than great photos posted on line.