TORealtyBlog
Active Member
That is incorrect - this can be easily edited.
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- Thread starter mig174
- Start date
seanbraun
New Member
I thing first letter is most important for every real estate agent. That's why every real estate agent are listing capitalize the first letter. Thanks....
Regular
New Member
I agree. Sometimes I had hard time to understand. I think it's their only way to attract buyers rather than putting all caps.
TOphotog
New Member
People: once and for all, it is NOT to attract buyers or sellers, my skill in writing advertising is quite capable of doing that. It is ONLY because the TREB software does it and we've been asking for months to get that fixed because it makes us look like writing dolts on our listings. It is NOT editable. The wording might be editable, but it still capitalizes each and every word or abbreviation when the listing is published or republished. It will accept D/W for disherwasher, but won't accept DW which comes out as Dw.
It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... All these points made are just guesses, not based on actual fact. Confirm it with the board yourself. Talk to Han, who is in charge of MLS data input.
It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... It's the software.... All these points made are just guesses, not based on actual fact. Confirm it with the board yourself. Talk to Han, who is in charge of MLS data input.
ISYM
New Member
The very first time I encountered this was with my first listing years ago. I tried for over an hour to change the capitalization thinking it was me. Out of complete frustration I called up my mentor who explained there was nothing I could do to change it. Now I don't even notice.
What is strange to me still though is that the universal use of slang; phoenetically changed words; lack of any capitalization and the generous use of acronyms are commonplace on texting, twitter and forums but when it comes to MLS, it's expected to be the pinnacle of proper writing.
That's not to say that Stratus, the software developer who has heard the complaints, shouldn't have taken action sooner.
What is strange to me still though is that the universal use of slang; phoenetically changed words; lack of any capitalization and the generous use of acronyms are commonplace on texting, twitter and forums but when it comes to MLS, it's expected to be the pinnacle of proper writing.
That's not to say that Stratus, the software developer who has heard the complaints, shouldn't have taken action sooner.
cdr108
Senior Member
Ahsun
Active Member
My bigger beef is shitty photos & shitty video tours!!!
- Photos that don't show anything useful (ie, yes, nice toilet.. what does the rest of the washroom look like);
- Photos that are improperly cropped / resized & stretched (you're not fooling anyone into thinking that the bedroom is a billion metres wide and you can fit a triple-king-sized bed into it);
- Video tours that show the same shitty photos you can see on the photo gallery
- Video tours / online galleries with the added annoying bonus of slowly zooming out of a dining room chair to show 2/3rds of the room, just to jump to the next photo that slowly zooms out of a 40" rear projection television to show 1/2 a living room;
- Video tours with crap music (yes, you can turn it off, but why is it even on as a default? I don't want to hear cheezey smooth jazz when perusing photos)
Arrrg... realtors that do this SUCK - and yes, that really plays a key role on how I decided which homes to see to potentially purchase.
- Photos that don't show anything useful (ie, yes, nice toilet.. what does the rest of the washroom look like);
- Photos that are improperly cropped / resized & stretched (you're not fooling anyone into thinking that the bedroom is a billion metres wide and you can fit a triple-king-sized bed into it);
- Video tours that show the same shitty photos you can see on the photo gallery
- Video tours / online galleries with the added annoying bonus of slowly zooming out of a dining room chair to show 2/3rds of the room, just to jump to the next photo that slowly zooms out of a 40" rear projection television to show 1/2 a living room;
- Video tours with crap music (yes, you can turn it off, but why is it even on as a default? I don't want to hear cheezey smooth jazz when perusing photos)
Arrrg... realtors that do this SUCK - and yes, that really plays a key role on how I decided which homes to see to potentially purchase.
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philipenko
New Member
Most of the things every real estate agent capitalize every single real estate word that we call proper nouns. They are the names of specific, unique things.
cruzin4u
Senior Member
That is one of my pet peeves as well. My agent always hired a professional photographer to showcase my properties. Some agents think by taking crappy cellphone pictures and uploading them to MLS that they are doing a good job. There are many lazy realtors out there, which ultimately hurts the honest hard-working ones.
GraceCondos
Active Member
We feel your pain with regards to the way some properties are presented and we honestly shake our heads wondering why the sellers aren't calling their agents demanding better marketing. There was one loft in Bloorline that we listed after a failed attempt by someone else. Man, the before and after presentation (staging & photos) were completely night & day. There were probably buyers that didn't want to waste their time viewing the suite the way it was originally presented.
We have to disagree that the bad agents end up hurting the good ones in the long run. We had a client tell us the bad agents make the good ones stand out as professionals.
Like every business, there are the good, the bad and the ugly!
TOphotog
New Member
Ahsun, I totally agree - and I'm a realtor! LOL I can't stand waiting for some photo to zoom out, and yes, the music - if I want music playing while I work or cruise the internet, I'll put the iPod on the sound system and have the music I WANT to hear playing. LOL I agree with GraceCondos, but then again, I've heard that some sellers like the zoomy pics. Go figure!
I only post a website with professional photos (usually around 40-50), wide angle and many shots per room. As I say, when you look at my photos of a listing, that's your first viewing. You will get a full sense of the layout of the house. Once you fall in love with it enough to phone me and want to see it the next day, that's your second viewing. You're just confirming that the house is actually what was shown in the photos. Make the viewer want to see the house. Don't annoy them with bad photos, bad videos and bad music!
I just watched a video that an agent loaded on YouTube for his listing. The first two minutes were taken up by photos of all the shops and parks in the area. THOSE should go at the end, not the beginning. Show me the house and if I don't know the neighbourhood, then I'll stick around for the zooming pics of the area.
I only post a website with professional photos (usually around 40-50), wide angle and many shots per room. As I say, when you look at my photos of a listing, that's your first viewing. You will get a full sense of the layout of the house. Once you fall in love with it enough to phone me and want to see it the next day, that's your second viewing. You're just confirming that the house is actually what was shown in the photos. Make the viewer want to see the house. Don't annoy them with bad photos, bad videos and bad music!
I just watched a video that an agent loaded on YouTube for his listing. The first two minutes were taken up by photos of all the shops and parks in the area. THOSE should go at the end, not the beginning. Show me the house and if I don't know the neighbourhood, then I'll stick around for the zooming pics of the area.
cruzin4u
Senior Member
What about an agent that posts a property on MLS and doesn't include any photos at all? A property went up for sale in my area a week or so and it was posted on MLS without any photos - what's the logic in that? Also, is it standard now for some agents to do without open houses? This property was "by appointment only" and only available for pre-qualified buyers. The agent even asked for my financial documents over the phone, which I found very odd. It seems some agents are out for 'quick sales' and don't want to waste time in their hectic lives to have a 2 hour open house or be bothered to take photos. I guess it is what it is.
TOphotog
New Member
Re: no pics - if the listing is new, maybe the photography company hasn't had time to get in, take the pics, edit them up and get them back to the agent for loading on MLS. If the listing isn't new, it just might be the house doesn't look great at all on the inside. You wouldn't believe what we've seen in some! Other times, it might be on the owner's instructions, which we MUST obey. Some are extremely private people and don't want anyone knowing what the inside of their house looks like if they don't have to. I've had instructions of no bedroom photos even though there was nothing incriminating in the bedroom. There can be many reasons for no photos. There is no excuse, however, for bad cellphone pics of a house. We are paid well by the sellers - I have professional photos of all my listings. After all, I want you to like the house enough, while sitting in your PJ's on your computer late a night, to call me in the morning and be excited enough to want to see the house. I regard my photos as "the first showing".
We state "by appointment only" because some people have actually gone up to a house, knocked on the front door and expected to be let in, without having an agent, and without calling the listing agent. It does happen. As far as that condition proving you're pre-qualified, I myself don't do it, and I can see how it could upset a caller. There are other ways to find out if the person who wants an appointment is just a nosey neighbour, etc., but I would never insult someone by asking about financial documents over the phone. I do recommend that all buyers contact a mortgage broker or go online and get qualified so they're not wasting their time and the time of agents looking at houses they'll never get qualified for. We aren't there to accommodate people who go to view houses as a hobby and have no intention of buying at all. That is getting more prevalent thanks to all those real estate TV shows.
Re: Open Houses - Open Houses happen a LOT during a slow market, or with a property that just doesn't sell for any number of reasons. In a hot market, I don't have Open Houses and it has absolutely nothing to do with being lazy or not wanting to waste my time. If someone specifically makes an appointment, this means they're serious. If someone calls me, enquiring about a property and asks about an open house, I reply "no, but I'd be happy to show it to you on Saturday or Sunday at a time convenient to you". The caller gets to see the house, and I will show it to them on a one-to-one basis. It's much easier to answer their questions without kids running around the living room knocking over lamps, open house viewers who know nothing about the market barking "they want HOW MUCH for this dump?", people opening up dresser drawers, etc. You wouldn't believe what we have to contend with during a busy open house. Some people don't even like to take off their shoes or boots when they've just tromped through snow and slush in the streets.
I hope I've been able to address some of your concerns and explain from the viewpoint of a real estate agent - the opposite side of the fence.
We state "by appointment only" because some people have actually gone up to a house, knocked on the front door and expected to be let in, without having an agent, and without calling the listing agent. It does happen. As far as that condition proving you're pre-qualified, I myself don't do it, and I can see how it could upset a caller. There are other ways to find out if the person who wants an appointment is just a nosey neighbour, etc., but I would never insult someone by asking about financial documents over the phone. I do recommend that all buyers contact a mortgage broker or go online and get qualified so they're not wasting their time and the time of agents looking at houses they'll never get qualified for. We aren't there to accommodate people who go to view houses as a hobby and have no intention of buying at all. That is getting more prevalent thanks to all those real estate TV shows.
Re: Open Houses - Open Houses happen a LOT during a slow market, or with a property that just doesn't sell for any number of reasons. In a hot market, I don't have Open Houses and it has absolutely nothing to do with being lazy or not wanting to waste my time. If someone specifically makes an appointment, this means they're serious. If someone calls me, enquiring about a property and asks about an open house, I reply "no, but I'd be happy to show it to you on Saturday or Sunday at a time convenient to you". The caller gets to see the house, and I will show it to them on a one-to-one basis. It's much easier to answer their questions without kids running around the living room knocking over lamps, open house viewers who know nothing about the market barking "they want HOW MUCH for this dump?", people opening up dresser drawers, etc. You wouldn't believe what we have to contend with during a busy open house. Some people don't even like to take off their shoes or boots when they've just tromped through snow and slush in the streets.
I hope I've been able to address some of your concerns and explain from the viewpoint of a real estate agent - the opposite side of the fence.
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TOphotog
New Member
rmlivethedream: care to share the addresses so we can verify your facts before people pay any fees?
cruzin4u
Senior Member
TOphotog, thank you for your detailed response to my questions. I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions! Very insightful/helpful - much thanks!