Atlanta Homes, Buckhead Homes and Real Estate » Sell My House

Make Your Atlanta Home For Sale Standout from the Crowd.

admin — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:51:37 +0000

I’ve written quite a bit on how I make houses for sale in Atlanta stand-out on the internet. With 90% of homebuyers rapidly paging through homes on the internet, the real estate photographs become extremely important. Donna Johnston, who specializes in Charlotte Homes for Sale has written a great article on getting a home to stand out from the crowd.

In the article she discusses the importance of real estate photography in the age of the internet:

90% of today’s buyers rely on the internet to find Charlotte homes for sale. More often than not, they are looking at three inch pictures and spend an average of seven seconds viewing each listing. That means that pictures of your house must not only grab the buyer’s attention, but must also tell the complete story of your house in just a few seconds.

A comparison of two sets of photos for the same Buckhead home

admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:24:31 +0000

Which Buckhead Real Estate Photos are Better?

I’m still amazed at how many real estate agents and homeowners treat their marketing photos for the house as an afterthought. If you’re thinking about the sale of your home, consider the fact a typical buyer will probably look for houses in Atlanta Georgia on the internet. Buyers will be paging through hundreds of houses for sale in Atlanta GA. They will be making split second decisions as to whether to review your home further or skip it. Needless to say, the internet pictures are important, perhaps the most important aspect of your home’s marketing plan. I’ve previously written on the importance of real estate photography, and the various techniques for great Atlanta house photos, such as HDR real estate photography.

Yesterday, I was reviewing all of the new Buckhead homes for sale on the market, as I do every evening, and found a house in Buckhead that was relisted by another agent. The furniture was the same, so the two sets of marketing photos provided a great opportunity to compare real estate photography styles and techniques. The pictures from the first listing were very average. The second set of pictures were obviously taken by an experienced real estate photographer. It’s very informative to compare the pictures – click on the photos for larger views. Which pictures do you think are more likely to inspire a buyer into requesting a showing appointment?

Front of the Home

Straight Shot Without Details

HDR With Details

The front of the house is almost always the first picture a potential buyer reviews. The buyer is scanning through hundreds of home photos, making quick and tired decisions to review a home further, or send it to the trash. It can be the house’s first and only impression. Your home’s picture needs to instantly pique the buyer’s curiosity and invite her to look further.

The picture on the left is dead-on front, without HDR technology. It’s a very average photo and minimizes the Buckhead home’s unique architectural details and accents. For instance, the brick foundation is barely noticeable in the first photograph. I don’t want to be too critical, as the “straight-on, capture as much of the house as possible” picture is the default style of most REALTORs. There are two things I like about the second picture. First, it was taken with HDR, which is a professional technique that merges multiple photos for even exposure, utilized in the majority of my marketing photos. It captures a much higher range of light than a typical photo, which means more details from the landscaping, brick and transition from wood to brick. Second, the photo is shot from an inviting angle. It minimized the huge span of Juniper bushes on the front, and the angle accentuates the architectural detail from wood siding to brick.

Kitchen

Basic Kitchen Photo

HDR Kitchen Photo

The first photo is a very basic shot with a standard lens. The window over the sink has the blown-out look from not balancing the interior and exterior lighting. The area above the cabinetry is very cold. The second photo was shot with HDR and a wide-angle lens. The wide-angle allows the viewer to see more of the kitchen, but the photographer does not make the amateur mistake of “fisheye” curved corners and windows. Perhaps the professional photographer corrected some of the “fisheye” with photo editing software. The second picture was also shot with HDR, making the lighting outside the windows balanced with the interior lighting. The details of the floor’s wood grain are apparent in the second shot. The stainless steel appliances have a brilliant sparkle. Even the bar chairs have more details than the first kitchen photograph.

Dining Room

Dark Dining Room

Brilliant Dining Room

The first picture is an average dining room shot with no balancing of light. The chandelier is very bland. The butler’s pantry is dark and hardly noticeable. The second picture was shot with the HDR, light-balancing technique. The chandelier is now a brilliant showpiece, with all the individual crystals sparkling. The lights act as fireworks showering the ceiling and walls. The details of the table’s woodwork and the grain from the floor are beautiful. The other background rooms have perfectly balanced lighting, without the dark, dingy look. The spotlight on the artwork is more noticeable than the first picture.

Basement

Average Basement Photo

HDR Basement Photo

As you can see in the first photo, the windows have the overexposed, blown-out look, while the background hallway is dark and unappealing. The carpeting seems to be a bland beige. The artwork in the first photo, with a blast of overexposed light, is indecipherable. It’s not a particularly appealing photo. The second picture, shot in HDR, provides even lighting in all areas. The design pattern of the carpeting stands-out. The woodgrain in the pool table is evident. The lighting on the artwork and pool table becomes a soft highlighting effect. The artwork in the second picture is clearly golf related. The area in the back, by the TV, has adequate lighting, without the dark, dingy effect of a typical, single-exposure picture. The second picture was taken with a wide-angle lens, so the potential home buyer is able to see more of the features of the basement.

Wine Cellar

Wine Cellar with Heavy Flash

Wine Cellar with HDR

Many luxury homes in Buckhead GA have wine cellars. The wine room in the first photo was taken with a flash attached to the camera. I can tell this because the table is overexposed, while the background seems very dark. It’s difficult to appreciate the wood crates displayed on the table, due to the overexposure. On-camera flashes should be avoided for real estate photography. The single blast of light, on one area, produces a synthetic, institutional look. There was an attempt to make the room more inviting, by staging it with the table, cloth cover, bottles and boxes, but it still seems cold and dark with this photo.

The HDR photograph produces a look similar to what the human eye captures. The table’s display pieces are exposed with lighting balanced with the entire room. The details of the wine rack really pop in this photo, where they are completely lost in the first photo. What was a cold and dark basement room in the first picture, now becomes a warm and inviting wine cellar with the details of HDR photography.

Conclusion

Most home sellers and buyers don’t care about the technical details of converging vertical lines (the fisheye look) or unbalanced lighting (blown-out, overexposed windows with dark interior crevices), nor should they, but, they instinctively understand the difference between a mediocre photo and a great one. That’s why it’s important your REALTOR has a minimum level of expertise in marketing photography and has the resources to ensure your home is distinguished on the internet.

If you have any questions about photographic techniques to get your Atlanta house positively noticed on the internet, or would like to discuss other marketing ideas, please feel free to contact me.

Google your Atlanta or Buckhead REALTOR

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 22:47:13 +0000

The amount of potential buyers using the internet for their home searches is around 90%. My guess is in the upscale markets of Buckhead, Virginia Highland, Vinings, Sandy Springs and Dunwood that the percentage is even higher. In short, a professional presence on the internet is extremely important in getting your home sold for the most money. When evaluating agents, look up their website, Google search terms like “Buckhead homes” to see if the agent is ranked on the first two or three pages. You also need to make sure the agent understands the value of enticing home pictures that will cause a buyer to take interest your home. I’m always amazed at the $1 million + Buckhead homes with FMLS pictures taken on a pocket camera as an afterthought.

I read a blog on Miami Beach real estate and she makes great points as to why it’s important your REALTOR understands internet marketing.

Empathy For Home Sellers

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:48:31 +0000

Often I read other real estate blogs, to keep abreast about what is going in our industry and to see if other agents are doing something creative. Charles Turner’s Portland Real Estate blog is one that I read. I found his recent article on empathizing with home sellers to be insightful and amusing.

A fellow Realtor friend says that part of every Realtors license renewal should be that they move every five years so that they don’t forget the feeling of having their home on the market (it’s been six years for us so it is time).

Just for the record, I moved two years ago and remember vividly what it’s like to sell a home with a young child and three dogs. You clean your house, make arrangements for the dogs and leave with your child (sometimes aimlessly driving around), only to find out later the buying agent didn’t even have the decency to call and cancel the appointment. It’s enough to make you want to smash your head through the wall.

The Accuracy of the Zillow Zestimate

admin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:57:28 +0000

On a home-specific basis, I would not use the “Zestimate” for determining the value of a property. But, if you can’t resist the urge, the “Zestimate” is more accurate in mid-range neighborhoods, with similar homes, than upscale areas like Buckhead, Morningside, Sandy Springs, etc… Keep in mind, Zillow’s median error for Atlanta is 21.4%.

Zillow clearly states that it’s “a starting point in determining a home’s value.” I’m not sure if it’s even a proper starting point on a micro basis. Their disclaimer says that anyone trying to determine the value of homes should get a CMA done by a Realtor and/or have an appraisal done by a professional appraiser.

The Zestimate uses a proprietary algorithm, with undisclosed factors, to determine a home’s value. Obviously, the main factor is recent sales prices for the area, and I’m sure the formula takes into account square footage, rooms, age, etc… But, the formula doesn’t take the condition of the home into account, or any other characteristics specific to a particular home. The house specific factors, many of which are intangible, that cannot be objectively inputed to an algorithm, have been coined “unzillowables.”

My guess is if your home is average for the neighborhood, meaning renovations and upgrages are in-line with the area, then the Zestimate has a decent chance of being accurate. The Wall Street Journal did and an analysis of “Zestimates,” compared to actual sales prices, and had this to say:

But just how accurate is it? A Wall Street Journal analysis of 1,000 recent home sales shows that Zillow’s “Zestimates” often are very good, frequently within a few percentage points of the actual price paid. But when Zillow is bad, it can be terrible — off the mark by more than 25% on one in 10 homes. In one case it was off by $2 million.

That being said, I think Zillow has some amazing tools when it comes to identifying Atlanta market trends and snapshots for particular areas. Since Zillow’s formulas are based on average selling prices for particular areas, it’s great for determining values and trends by neighborhood, zip code or town. The charts and data inputs are more extensive and intuitive than many of the subscription based real estate data services. Increasingly, I find myself analyzing the Atlanta housing market with Zillow.

No related posts.

July 2010 Buckhead Home Inventory

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:35:40 +0000

I thought this was an interesting chart of the months of inventory trend, for Buckhead (FMLS Area 21), over the last 5 years. 17 months of inventory is still fairly high, compared to 2005 and 2006, but it’s down significantly from the highs of the market crash in late 2008 and early 2009. Overall, it looks like a decent trend.

As I’ve defined in previous posts, “months of home inventory” analysis can be a useful tool in understanding the state of the market. It incorporates actual inventory levels and the sales absorption rate.

Sold with Home Staging

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:15:29 +0000

I recently sold a home on Habersham Rd. in Buckhead. The home sold in just under 6 months, which was under the Buckhead average of “days on the market” for that price range. The homeowners had already moved across the country and were getting sick of the hassle of being an absentee owner.

After a few months of marketing the vacant home, I discussed with them the idea of having a home staging company place a home manger in the property. I’ve mentioned the benefits of home staging on this blog before, so I was already an advocate. Once the homeowners agreed to a home manager, the home went under contract within 3 weeks and was sold in another 3 weeks.

The home had a large, “wide open” great room and master suite. I believe the staging helped potential buyers, who previously may have been overwhelmed by large blank slates, envision how the rooms could be set-up.

I don’t think a homeowner should expect their home to go under contract within 3 weeks every time a “stager” is utilized, but under the right circumstances, a home stager can change the whole image of a home. A vacant home, perhaps due to all the empty foreclosures on the market, can sometimes seem desperate. A tastefully decorated home projects an image of confidence.

HDR Photography for Real Estate

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:22:44 +0000

HDR is an acronym for High Dynamic Range. HDR photography allows for a greater dynamic range of light within a picture. In many photos, you might have one area with a lot of light and another area that is in the shade. In a traditional photograph, you would have to pick one of the areas for proper exposure, causing the other area to be “blown out” with light or extremely dark. Instead of trying to describe this problem, it will be easier to just show a couple of examples.

Here are some photos of a dining room. The first one is exposed for the interior, so the outside window is overexposed. The second is exposed for the outside window, so the interior is underexposed.

Here is another example of an outside deck. The first shot is exposed for the shaded deck, making the outside “blown out” and the second shot is exposed for the outside, making the interior of the deck too dark.

In the past, to avoid these exposure problems, professional real estate photographers would set a up a series of remote control flash units to try and balance the exposure. This could be very time consuming and tricky. Lighting is one of the keys to great photography. If you’re not careful, a flash can make a room look very cold and institutional.

HDR is the perfect solution for real estate photography. You blend a series of photos together to get the best of both worlds. There is correct exposure throughout the photograph. I typically use three different exposures, of the same shot, to get my desired result. Best of all, you can take the pictures using natural light, eliminating the harsh “flashy” look. Since the shots have to line up perfectly, it’s important to use a tripod and a remote control. Any camera shake will ruin the process.

Upload the pictures to a computer, blend them using some HDR software, do some more editing with Photoshop and you’ll end up with some naturally lit, beautifully exposed photos. The HDR photos will be more representative of the lighting that the human eye can actually process.

Here are some of examples of the previous shots, blended with HDR software and edited with Photoshop; feel free to click on them for a larger view:

For more information on HDR photography for Real Estate, Blayne Beacham has written a great article, with software and examples, on her website: this photographers life. Spencer Barron has also written a great article on using HDR photography to get homes sold more quickly.

I constantly see ridiculous real estate photos on the FMLS. The agent will pull her pocket camera out and the exposure will adjust for whatever the camera happens to have in the middle of the shot. If there is a window in the middle of the picture, then the rest of the room will be dark. Then, she’ll actually upload the garbage to the internet in a sort of clueless bliss. The following photo is interesting to me, because this beach condo unit has a bedroom, that opens to a deck with a great ocean view. Since the agent was exposure ignorant, this condo, and it’s $1.8 million view, is not given justice in potential buyers’ internet searches.

Here is a shot from another Rosemary Beach condo. Was the goal to promote a dark and dreary image for this $1.4 million beach condo? It’s sad that these owners will eventually pay a fairly large commission for the sale of these condos, and yet the agents cannot even put a minimal amount of thought into the marketing plans.

I’ve written about the importance of real estate photography before, so I won’t go too far into it. In short, 90% of potential home buyers are now using the internet for their initial searches. Obviously, real estate photography represents the most important aspect of internet marketing. So why do so many agents treat one of the most important aspects of selling your home as if it were a quick family snapshot at the park?

If you’re considering an agent to sell your home, look at her website. If she doesn’t understand what makes a decent photograph, tell her to hire a professional photographer, or market your home with a different agent.

If you would like to learn more about HDR photography, or other home marketing ideas, please feel free to call me.

The Extreme Importance of Real Estate Photography

admin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:09:43 +0000

I’m going to go out on a limb and state there is nothing more important to your home’s marketing plan than its internet photos. In a 2007 NAR survey, 84% of respondents stated they used the internet for their home search. In sophisticated, upscale markets like Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody; I’m confident the percentage is even higher.

That little, internet thumbnail picture will be your home’s first impression to the real estate market. It’s absolutely imperative you put your best foot forward.

Buyers moving to the Atlanta area can be a little overwhelmed by the choices of homes on the market. They can be presented with dozens and perhaps hundreds of home pictures to sort through. Subconsciously the buyers aren’t choosing homes, they are rapidly eliminating homes, trying to narrow their list for appointments. You have to pique their interest with the photos, or your home will be tossed aside like a get-rich-quick flier stuck under a windshield wiper at the mall parking lot.

If the agent thinks taking photos of your home is a 10-minute exercise with a pocket camera, I would seriously consider using a different real estate agent. I take internet marketing photography very seriously. I’ve made a substantial investment in camera equipment. I also spend quite a bit of time reading real estate photography websites to ensure your house looks inviting to potential buyers.

Here are a few of the worst examples I’ve seen of actual photos taken from the MLS:

Now the previous examples of a messy kitchen with a clothesline, an agent who was too lazy to get out of his car and a bathroom with no toilet paper are a bit extreme; it’s still very common to find agents who take pictures with poor lighting and lopsided vertical lines.

On the right is a recent FMLS picture of a Buckhead home, with poor lighting and slanted vertical lines that make you feel like you’re looking at an interior shot of a boat. It’s hard for me to believe the agent couldn’t take 10 seconds to make sure her camera was level.

If you have any questions about real estate photography, please feel free to contact me.

How to Refinish an Exterior Door

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:40:26 +0000

There are other posts on this blog about the foreclosure we bought in Buckhead. Our lives seem to be focused on different renovation projects each weekend. This weekend I decided to refinish the stained front door.

Living under Atlanta’s hot, summer sun, with a front door that faces west, is about the worst case scenario for a stained front door. After quite a bit of research, I learned there is no perfect solution for staining and finishing a front door that gets baked by the Atlanta summer sun. If you want a stained front door, be prepared to add a new coating of finish every year or two, and probably a total refinish, complete with sanding down to the bare wood, every five or six years. If you don’t maintain the coating, with regular topcoats, you’ll be re-staining more quickly.

So the first question, when facing a stained door with washed-out pigment and peeling finish, is do you go through the effort, and upkeep, of staining or add a relatively easy coat of paint. If you want low maintance and easy upkeep, then paint is your best option. Since I’ve never been one to take the easy route, I decided to refinish the door with stain. If things went wrong with the project, or I don’t like the future upkeep, the paint is waiting as an easy backup.

I removed the door and put it on two saw horses, with towels wrapped around the top of them to protect the underside of the door. I cut out a piece of plywood, the size of the door opening, to protect the entrance from the elements and provide a minimum amount of security. Ultimately, I took 3 days to refinish the door, but it should have taken at least 5 days (I didn’t allow the stain to dry long enough), so you’ll need something covering the opening with a little permanence. You don’t want to cover the door with a simple tarp.

The first step is sanding. I spent about 12 hours sanding the door, because you want to get down to the raw wood, so the stain is applied uniformly. While I bought a bunch of different tools, the three I found most effective were the random orbit sander, for the large flat surfaces; a scraper, for some of the smaller areas; and good old fashion sand paper for the corners. Everything was relatively easy, except for the corners and the tight trim areas. It takes a lot of elbow grease.

The hardest part is getting into the corners. I thought I did a good job of sanding the corners, but I could have done better. After applying the stain, there were a few areas that are lighter, where the new stain didn’t absorb as well.

Then you apply the stain. I applied a “Java” gel stain made by General Finishes. It was literally like hair gel. I used some rags, made from old t-shirts, to apply the stain and wipe it off. I bought the stain from Highland Woodworking.

After letting the stain dry, you appply the coating. One of the mistakes I think I made was not giving the stain enough dry-time. I let it dry for 8 hours and it was bone dry to the touch, but I read later that it should have dried for 48 to 72 hours before the coating application. When I applied the coating it seemed to liquify the stain, so there are some slight brush strokes in the stain.

In researching the coatings, I didn’t want the door to have the plastic look with a polyurethane coating. Although polyurethane is probably the best coating to withstand the harsh UV rays. I did a lot of research on the internet and settled on two choices: marine spar varnish and tung oil. The advantage to the marine varnish is that it’s supposed to last a little longer, but the tung oil looks a little more natural and the upkeep is fairly simple; just periodically pour some on a rag and wipe the door. I decided to get some advice from Highland Woodworking, located in the Virginia Highlands section of Atlanta.

I wanted the door to be a masterpiece, so I needed counsel from expert woodworkers, not whatever random employee at the big box store happened to be working in the coatings section. The guys at Highland Woodworking are awesome. They really took the time to ask about the door, what direction it faced, what sort of overhang it had, etc… It’s a really neat store and if you’re not careful you’ll walk out of there with a new hobby.

The salesman thought the door would dry-out too quickly with a tung oil finish, so he recommended a marine spar varnish from Waterlox. It’s technically a pre-finish, but I was told that it’s the same thing as the sealer, only cut with thinner. The salesman told me if I bought the “Original” coating, you’d want to mix it with half thinner, because it would help the first coat to soak into the wood. I liked the thinner version, because it is easier to apply and the smudges tend to level out. The disadvantge is that it requires more coats to give the same level of protection as the “Original” version. It said on the label it was unecessary to sand between finishes, so sometimes I sanded and other times I did not. All together, I applied 5 coats of finish.

I bought a gallon, which was way too much for a door. The quart size would have been more than enough for 5 coats.

I was happy with the appearance of the finished door. The two things I would have done differently is sand the corners even better and let the stain dry longer. This DIY project saved me a lot of money and it’s nice know what’s involved in a top door finish. I had some quotes as low as $500, but at that price I don’t see how they would been thorough as me. Unfortunately, nothing holds up to the sun forever. If I’m lucky I’ll get 2 years out of the coating.

For more information, I found this article on This Old House, this article on a house painting website and the employees at Highland Woodworking, in Atlanta, to be very helpful.