2264 Real Estate Clients In Dallas/Fort Worth Are Getting Ripped-Off

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Here are a couple of shocking statistics you should know about.  Did you know that as many as 4.2% of the houses currently listed on MLS for sale in the Dallas/Fort Worth area do not have any pictures in their MLS listing?  And 4.7% only have one picture.  Added together, that’s 8.9% out of all active real estate listings in DFW.  That’s a total of 2264 homeowners currently trying to sell their house with inadequate MLS listings?

After researching the listings, I found that there are two main reasons why there are so many inadequate listings.  The first reason was my first assumption, lazy full-service real estate agents who, in my opinion, aren’t doing their job properly, but the second reason was attributed to homeowners wanting to save money by using flat-fee listing agents.

If you’re hiring a full-service real estate agent, you should insist on no less than 25 pictures and other media in your MLS listing.  If your agent doesn’t do this, then they are not doing their job and you should fire them.  If you’re paying the full commission, then you deserve full-service.  Even if your house is in horrible condition, you should still insist on lots of MLS pictures.

If you are wanting to save money by hiring a flat-fee real estate agent then you have to realize that you don’t get what you don’t pay for.  Flat-fee real estate agents charge a set fee for every service they perform, usually grouped into packages.  In the world of flat-fee listings, pictures cost extra and lots of pictures cost even more.  The cheapest listing service doesn’t include pictures.  Remember, the name of the game with flat-fee listing agents is to get paid for performing specific services.  They’re not being paid to sell your house, that’s your job.

An agent can add up to 25 pictures to their client’s MLS listing instantly, over the Internet so I don’t understand why these agents aren’t doing it.  Flat-fee agents should offer a free submission on photos you give them if they’re serious about creating an attractive MLS listing.  There’s really no excuse for a shoddy listing.  Remember the old saying, “a picture is worth a 1000 words?”   If that’s true, then not having a picture should be worth at least 2 words:  ugly and avoidable, and those words do not entice someone to buy your house.

If you’re one of the 8.9% trying to sell your house with an inadequate MLS listing then you need to start getting serious about selling your house.  Pay out a few hundred more bucks to your flat-fee agent to upgrade to the more attractive MLS listing.  Now’s not the time to be cheap.  Sure, you can save a few hundred right now, but when the house sells for $1000’s less than you want, are you really saving money?  Of course not!  If you’re using a full-service real estate agent and your house has been on MLS for more than a week with no photos, fire them and find a top producing Realtor that knows how to work a camera that will market your house to its fullest potential.

Want to know how to take great MLS photos?