A Picture is Worth...

Have you ever seen a picture of yourself that revealed a less-than-flattering view? We have all heard the expression “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and if you have had the misfortune of having a bad photo of yourself crop up on occasion, you will readily understand how important appearances can be!

As realtors, we would have to agree. In fact, a picture can be worth more than words, it can be worth money. How is this so?

For those who will be putting their home on the market, taking photos of the exterior and interior, and giving them a critical look, can give them an advantage. The camera doesn’t lie. Things that we live with daily can be easily overlooked when we walk through a room, or pass something on the outside of the house on a daily basis. Seeing it in a photo can reveal things we are unaware of.

Here is a simple and fun exercise--whether or not you are considering putting your home on the market. It can be useful to gauge the general appearance of your home and any wear and tear on your home, inside and out.

Using a digital camera, take photos of all sides and corners of your home. The best time to do this is in the autumn after the leaves fall, or in the spring before the trees and bushes leaf out. Take your photos from a distance and up close. Include the chimney, roof, gutters, siding or paint, the foundation, walkways and yard.  In the summer, do the same thing to see how the trees, bushes and gardens look from the road and from the places in your yard that you enjoy.

Download your photos to your computer and look at them full-size on the screen. What do you see? Do you like the view? Are there things that need some fixing, sprucing up, or modernizing? Look as if you were a buyer, without the emotion you have for your home. A photo helps take that emotion away.

Do the same for the interior. Take photos of every room from four angles. When you view them on the computer, use a discerning eye to detect things like dreary looking paint or wallpaper, chipped paint on walls and doors, the window treatments, carpets and floors. While you are at it, look also for things that no longer serve their intended use that are in your rooms. Look for cluttered spaces and think of how to remedy them.

There are things that a photo cannot detect, such as loose door knobs, leaking faucets, friable asbestos in older homes, and so forth. For those, you will need to do a room-by-room check.

For spring listings, the time to begin is now! Call us to schedule a personal tour of your home so you can be ahead of the pack when spring arrives and we put your house on the market.