SethMathers.com

Recently I had the opportunity to represent my wife and myself in the sale of our home.  I know what you’re thinking isn’t that just a For Sale By Owner?  Yes, technically I was one of the owners but I also happen to be a real estate agent with an active license.  With that comes an intimate knowledge of the real estate market, especially where I live.  I also did have the perks of an awesome brokerage and a great real estate agent to help sell my home.  If that makes me sound like a jerk that is not my intent.

Preparing a home for sale takes a great deal of time and planning, even if you are a real estate agent.  This is especially the case when both sellers are working full time, there are young children in the home, and it’s Christmas time.  This whole process reinforced my decision to hire a kick ass real estate agent (like myself) if I was ever not an active agent.

Once the decision to sell our home was made we started to declutter and pack away items that were not going to be needed for the next few months.  My wife likes the ideas by Marie Kondo in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organzing.  Go snag it at Amazon.  Relax, I don’t get money sending you there.

A list was also created that included items that needed to be repaired or completed prior to our home being listed. As we continued to pack, we rented a storage unit nearby and were making weekly trips to remove our belongings from our home. #protiprentastorageunit

While it doesn’t sound like a lot, it did take a few months for us to get our home ready.  We put in a lot of hard work, especially my wife.  As a real estate agent, it is easy to forget the hard work and the amount of time it takes to get a home ready.  I have an even greater appreciation for my clients as they get their homes ready to put on the market.  It isn’t easy!

Photography is one of the most important parts in marketing a home.  I view pictures of homes every day. Some great, some good, some bad, and some that are simply horrific.  We all know the horrific ones.  Out of focus, the family dog is licking itself in the background all while the agent can be seen in the mirror off to the left holding up their iPhone.  I know what I do and real estate photography is not one of them.  I decided to leave that to the professionals.

For most people, their home is their biggest financial asset they will ever own.  You want to make sure you make your home’s first impression the best it can be!  Hiring one of the Lazy Agents I talked about before, isn’t going to do that.  Making your home look like something from Million Dollar listing is going do to that!  Making it look like a burger from Chedda Burger will do that.  If you haven’t tired Chedda Burger in Salt Lake City you really need to get on that.  I highly recommend The Dealer.

Before I show you pictures I would like to point out something that is just as important as having professional photos.  Staging your home! We’ll call it Home Staging: The #3.5 Best Marketing Strategy for your Home. Blog post to come later.  Home staging and professional photography go together like lamb and tuna fish, okay more like spaghetti and meatballs, but I’m sure you get the point.  Below you will see three photos taken from close to the same angle and will specify one of the following: A, iPhone 6, B Nikon D40, or C Professional Photographer.  Keep in mind I am the one taking the photos in A and B.  Full disclosure, I am NOT a professional real estate photographer.
Kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master Bedroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures taken by the Professional Photographer are by far better than the pictures taken by the Professional Real Estate Agent.  Which pictures do you want buyers to see in the marketing of your home?  If your agent takes pictures with an iPhone you need to fire your agent.