$$$ Listings but no photos? No excuse

We have an agreement within our trade association that listings must hit the computer system within 24 hours of signing. That often means that there's a one-week, or even two-week, lag time between the listing being signed and getting the apartment shot -- it can certainly be two weeks if there is a tenant in place exercising his/her rights to a reasonably quiet occupancy.

That's the most common circumstance. The second most common is when the apartment needs renovation, and the owner would rather limit showings to people who are going to take less-than-pristine condition in exchange for a discount.

This just happened to me with a rental in Midtown West: we went cheapie and had the leases signed before I even had time to get a photog in.

So I would suggest calling the listing broker. I know that when I don't have photos up, I make myself extra-available to callers to describe the condition of the apartment, quality of light, etc.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

your name looks like sweaty capital

hey sweaty who says it's our job to provide photos? i'd rather get a phone call saying "where are the photos?" than no phone call at all because some idiot doesn't like the fact that an apartment has an ugly area rug.

Ali: thank you for explaining that. The "photo coming soon" thing will no longer irritate me.

How interesting would a search to find out how many times Jim Hones uses the word "idiot". We could all guess and the closest gets a prize, like in those "how many jellybeans" things!

Jim is an idiot. Sothebys, Corcoran, Halstead, Pru, Core, and basically every single high-end realty company uses pictures and floorplans on their websites for virtually all their listings, including almost always for $10MM+ sales listings and $10k per month + rental listings.

Yet he claims that this is somehow declasse. He truly reminds me of "Vida" from "Mildred Pierce." Glendale breeding, pretensions of old Pasadena.

Notice that 99% of these listings have pictures and 90% have flooplans. All $10MM or more.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sales/manhattan/status:open|price:10000000-

All manhattan rentals for $10k per month or more. Most with pictures and floorplans, again.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rentals/manhattan/rental_type:frbo,brokernofee,brokerfee|price:10000-

As long as there is a floor plan I don't really care. Pictures are a plus but not always a necessity. If the floor plan, building and location appeal, I'll probably want to see the place in person.

I'm sorry, but to not have photos or a floor plan the second a listing goes live is inexcusable. While what Ali is saying has some truth to it, as an owner you would be a fool to not tell your broker to take photos and get a floor plan prior to listing it. Date the exclusive for a week later if necessary.

To put it bluntly, if you are selling your apartment and photos don't hit the web at the same time the listing pops up, you should fire your broker. Same goes for if they don't have a professional photographer take the photos (or at least have professional equipment with a wide angle lens).

There are entire metro markets in the US where floorplans are simply never available (except maybe for new construction, and maybe not even then). I think floorplan-reading is one of those highly evolved skills that many Americans haven't mastered.

alanhart, you pay a broker to do things for you, one of those things is have someone come and draft a floor plan. A lack of a floor plan is a sign of a bad/stupid broker. Same goes for floor plans that appear as if they were done in MS Paint, or one that lacks proper measurements.

I also agree with you that reading a floor plan is sometimes more important than looking at photos. But still, you need photos and a floor plan. There is simply no excuse to not have them.

As I said, there are whole markets where people pay a broker, and no floor plans are ever posted, available, drafted, nothing. Ever.

And a professional license from the state is, similarly, a sign of a bad/stupid broker, so I don't know what your point is. [No offense to those few brokers, countable on one hand, who are not bad/stupid.]

I agree with bramstar.

full address' with easy showing access trumps photography any day of the week. especially when the product is well priced and well located.

I always recommend checking out places before the photos are up. As Ali explained, there is often a lag between the listing going live and photos/floor plans being posted. (I know that some of the bigger agencies have to approve pics before they'll let an agent put them on the web.) During that interval is sometimes the best opportunity for a motivated buyer to get a good deal - while everybody else is waiting for more details.

I agree, it's a loser move to let a listing sit on the market without pics and floor plans. I am, occasionally, just that sort of loser. I have a few listings with no floor plans because we haven't even seen all of the units in a building (reluctant tenants are a real issue). I have sold plenty of places without floor plans, too. On the other hand, I have a buyer client who doesn't want to see anything unless there are full-screen photos.

There's no real excuse for limiting your buyer pool. I just can't throw stones in this case.

Tina Fallon
Realty Collective, LLC

missing photos and floor plans is mostly a pain to the re junkies who prowl the sight looking for a fix.
Nothing worse than opening up that tiny package and finding it empty or worse...full of something fake.

Ali hit the nail on the head. Falco drove it flush.
The best rentals rent based off of true value and not stock photos. If you are serious about a place then the price, location, quality and layout are what is most important. With the amount of turnover each year, you could be looking at a picture of a dated massive loft one bedroom from last year that is now a three bedroom that has all shiny appliances. While the internet has made things somewhat easier in one respect, it's not mail order bride shopping. You still have to "get up, get out and get something" and actually go see the places.
Not sitting around trolling comment boxes because there are no pretty pictures.

Ronnie Shumake
Gotham Realty Service