Looking at home listings is the dating-app version of buying a house. You blitz through dozens of profiles, mentally swiping left and right until youve got your list narrowed down to a few favorites. You read through the profiles a few times to assess the good and bad, then email a few requests to the real estate agent to set up a meet-and-greet with the Colonial youve been eyeing.
Unfortunately, that first date with your prospective home can be vastly different than what you anticipated. The strategically shot photos and frequent use of vintage in the listing end up hiding the homes glaring weaknesses – dark rooms, cracked concrete, pet stains on the carpet, a sagging roof or weird quirks you werent prepared for.
My wife and I know this process well. We found a home in a neighborhood 45 minutes away that looked promising in the listing. We and our real estate agent made the trek, only to realize the home was nothing like what we expected.
Sometimes thats a good thing but in most cases, its not. Are you doomed to find yourself driving to homes that dont live up to the listing? No, according to the real estate experts we talked with. Knowing which listing red flags to watch for can save you time, gas and, most importantly, the energy and mental acuity youll need when youre ready to make an offer on the right home.
Listing Red Flag #1: Odd camera angles and photos taken with a fish-eye lens
Bilox Wells, founder of Find Home Pro and a 30-year real estate vet, said odd-angle photos and fish-eye lenses are most likely an indication the seller is hiding certain shortcomings.
Some agents really love to use the camera to help make rooms look bigger than they are and to re-frame the exterior or a house to make its location more appealing, Wells said. If youve shopped for a home, you probably know what hes talking about. Strategic framing of a beautiful home surrounded by run-down properties is a classic strategy. Photos that dont show much of whats on the left or right side of the home are probably meant to cut out the surroundings.
The truth gets revealed rather quickly upon visiting the property, Wells said. Staging a shot is one thing; using gimmicks and tricks to make something seem really different is never good.
Listing Red Flag #2: The homes estimated value doesnt reflect the market
Home listing sites love to provide you with estimates of a homes value based on their in-house math. Unfortunately, those estimates arent always accurate.
Ray Sturm, CEO of AlphaFlow, a company that diversifies portfolios through real estate investments, says you shouldnt rely on a websites in-house estimate as the best indicator of the homes value.
In fact, Sturm went as far as to say that some sites figures could be off by more than $10,000. The typical error on some sites in the U.S. is about $14,000, which for most homes is a material difference. Whether you are buying or selling, […]
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