Bluffview neighborhood in Dallas - update

Check out the neighborhood of Bluffview!


I'm thrilled to be included in this video. What a great place to live!
[where: 75209]

Drone Photography taking Real Estate by storm

Forget the old standard house photos and boring videos that pan a room to show a property. The latest and greatest way to really showcase a home for sale is with photos and videos shot with a drone.

Check out this video of a property for sale that was shot entirely with a drone by Kwik Image in Dallas.

  A drone can capture the feel of a property like old photography can't. It can shoot from above the house, the middle of a lake, fly around a chandelier, ...  In today's world of real estate marketing, it doesn't get much cooler than this.

[where: 75230]

Funny Real Estate photos of homes for sale

I'm not saying these folks are upside down in their house, but

Ancient Greece meets modern Texas in this expensive place?

Nice photo, but what an odd combination of design.

How often do you see a motorcycle inside a $3+ million home?

[where: 75230]

Funny Friday - Bad Real Estate Photos

Looks like the pony and the newscaster are having an interesting conversation. Yea or Naaaay?

It's February. Time to update the photo without the Christmas decorations.

Welcome to the doll museum and photos of stuff you don't get with the house.

Yeah kitty, I'd walk away from that one too.

[where: 75230]

Most unusual Dallas bathroom

I'm in and out of dozens of homes every week and have seen plenty of strange or unusual bathrooms. But this one is really remarkable.
Yes, that's an aquarium surrounding the tub. This isn't a hotel or spa. It's actually the master bathroom in a private residence in Preston Hollow. The entire home is 13,000 square feet and it has been reduced to $9.95 million. I can almost hear the tunes from The Little Mermaid through the sound system.
[where: 75230]

North Texas Church Foreclosures

Here are a few distressed sales you probably don't hear about a lot - foreclosed church properties.

This former church at 1826 Pleasant Drive  in Balch Springs is listed for just $149,000. The 3,190 sq foot building includes 4 classrooms, kitchen and dining area. It also has 48 parking spaces and a playground. While not currently zoned for residential usage, seems like someone could make good use of it.

And in the next town over, Pleasant Grove, there is this sweet little building at 631 Elkhart Avenue  that was foreclosed. This former church has been reduced to $125,000. Buy it and you could host 100 of your closest friends every Sunday in 3,910 square feet with features that include a vaulted ceiling, kitchen and 5 bathrooms.

You've already missed the chance to buy a foreclosed mega-church. Victory Park Baptist Church in Rowlett sold for a bargain $850,000. This huge 8.6 acre property offers lots of potential.

And this foreclosed church in south Dallas has already found a new owner as well. Sold for $305,000,  it has lots of space but needed lots of work to return to its former glory.

Labor Day Home Inventory

The pool at this home for sale in Preston Hollow is just waiting for someone to come and enjoy.

Meanwhile, you can enjoy this summary of the Labor Day 2011 real estate market for single family homes in North Dallas (between Central Expwy and Midway, south of LBJ):

Homes actively for sale – 801
Homes under contract - 112
Homes sold in the past 6 months – 741

Of the 801 active listings for sale:

Homes with 25 photos (as allowed in our MLS): 234
Homes with only 1 photo in the MLS: 21
Homes with no pictures at all: 9

It’s so, so important to take the time and effort to pick a good real estate agent who will feature a home with all the great photos they can. Wouldn't you want to be one of the 234 homes highlighted with the maxinum number of photos?

If not, you may end up like the 613 properties that were on the market in the past 6 months that didn't sell and ended up expiring, cancelling or withdrawing from the market. [where: 75230]

Why pick on bad real estate photos?

If you follow this site, you know that I occasionally like to showcase bad real estate photos of homes for sale in Dallas. I am not usually picking on the house, but on the photography. Not every home is a show place and taking photos that flatter an ugly house can be difficult. The ones I usually show are because the photo - not the property - is awful.

 When your home is for sale you are competing with hundreds of other homes and most buyers don’t have time to view them all in person. They make instant decisions about which homes to pursue based solely on internet listings. The photos of your property must be appealing enough to make them want to see more.

Here are the 4 important tips for your home’s photos:

1. Quality: Photos that are dark or blurry feel reflect poorly on the property. Every home should have decent photos. A nice, expensive house should have nice, expensive looking photos.

2. Quantity: Our MLS allows 25 photos per listing which every property should feature. And they should show key areas of interest to buyers. Two good angles of a living room are more important than showing a 3rd bathroom. If the property is a 1 bedroom condo and you just can’t get 25 good shots, then that is the only excuse to use fewer photos.

 3. Update the photos: It's August, but the photos still show bare trees or pumpkins on the porch? That tells the buyer that the home has been listed for a long time, and plants the seed that something could be wrong.

4. Move things around: Move clutter out of the shot and show the home at its best. People and animals should never be in MLS property photos. Move cars out of the way as well as anything really distracting.

A picture is worth more than a thousand words – it’s worth a sale!

Bad Photos of Properties for Sale

Complete with Merry-Go-Round

For Sale by Engineer?

Bad Photos of Homes for Sale

I can't show you terrible photos of homes for sale in our local Multiple Listing Service. Apparently, those awful pictures are copyrighted and could really upset a few people who don't want their professional shortfalls made public.

So in an effort to poke fun at educate those folks selling their homes without an agent, I bring you:

Bad Photos of Homes for Sale that are not in our MLS 

The garage can be a handy place to store junk so that your home shows better. Just don't highlight the junky garage (or the scruffy dog and stolen drink machine).

Nice home office. Now if I could just find a place to sit .... that isn't made of porcelain.

Then there is this home. Not only plenty of seating, but a door too!

[where: 75230]

Great Changes for Dallas area MLS

On Wednesday, October 28th, the North Texas Real Estate Information Service (our local Multiple Listing Service) will publish an update that will raise the maximum photos available to view for a property from 10 to 25.

This is fantastic news for sellers because it enhances the marketing opportunities and allows their property to be showcased with better exposure. Photo details of a home can be highlighted along with multiple photos of the exterior and interior. I take loads of photographs of homes that I market and you can bet every one of my properties will include 25 pictures.

For buyers, this is even better news. The more photos, the more you can see of a property before you get in the car and go looking. "More photos" is the number one request of house hunters shopping on line. And in today's market, the huge majority of house hunters are searching on line before they ever step inside the doors of homes for sale.

Yeah for our MLS!

Virtual Pools

Before jumping in to build a pool, pause and first stick your toe in the water with a virtual pool designed to fit your space. You can see what it will look like before diving into your wallet on this big expense.

The story in today's Dallas Morning News explains some of the beauty of virtual pools. This concept is being used in marketing two great properties that I have for sale.

Both 6465 Willow Lane and 6807 Meadow Road are beautiful homes without pools. We've designed virtual pools for both properties and the homeowners are willing to have them installed for the new owners. The really wonderful part for the new owners is that they get to choose the pool they prefer for their new backyard.

Whether the buyers want a pool or not - this is a win-win for them. And we're hoping this offer makes a splash in the market.

[where: 75230]

Video Home Tours

I enjoy video homes tours and prefer them over virtual tours. Video tours use photos of the property and are often set to music. Virtual tours are taken with a special camera that spins all the way around the room giving a 360 degree view. Some people complain that they make them dizzy.

My video tours are produced by my talented 17-year-old daughter. She uses Windows Movie Maker (like some of the pros). This program comes already loaded on many computers. Take a look at how they stack up against the professional video tours.

This is a nice, typical video tour (priced around $200). Some are better than others.

This one combines a bit more of the virtual tour concept.

Some like this one, are as low as $50 a tour.

And then you have my video tours:

I'll admit that I'm biased. How do you rate most video tours?

This photo better than nun?

I constantly preach that one of the most important aspects of marketing a property for sale is to plaster several good photos of the property all over the internet. Buyers want to see photos. Lots of photos.

This lovely home just is on the market in north Dallas with a reputable brokerage. You can probably guess from the photo that it was listed around July 4th.

The listing includes 5 photos (not great but better than nothing). However, the really odd thing is the photo of the kitchen.

The caption reads: "Home has been blessed by God's servants."

The MLS rules for placing photos of properties states that photos and their descriptions may not have "any text that is not descriptive in nature and relevant to the portrayal of the listed property".

I guess the relevancy of nuns blessing a property could be a matter of opinion.

What do you think? Is this picture a blessing or a curse when it is one of 5 photos showing the property?

[where: 75230]

No More Bad Real Estate Photos

If you've gotten a chuckle out of my posts of Bad Real Estate Photos, I'm sorry to say they have come to an end.

Its not that there aren't plenty of bad photos out there. But I been told that it isn't a good idea to publish them. Even though I haven't identified the location of these properties or the agents who published these photos, apparently they could still get me into trouble.

And since I prefer to spend my time selling homes and not in a courtroom, I'll be following the good advice.

With any job, you've got to have a little amusement - so I'm looking for something else to poke fun. Suggestions? [where: 75230]

Bad Real Estate Photos for August

Despite today's digital cameras, bad real estate photos continue to represent homes for sale in Dallas. Below are this week's worst. Just to clarity - I did not take these photos. God help me if I did. These are taken from homes listed for sale in the Dallas area. The MLS system allows up to 10 photos of each property for sale and most agent like to showcase the best features of a home with good photos. Except for with these poor properties -

Wow, wood floors. Maybe the agent accidentally hit the button while the camera was around his neck

. . I'm blinded. But at least this guy hid behind his flash so we couldn't guess his identity. .

Find the light switch. PLEASE

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Easiest way to empty the tub. Just turn it on its side

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You go first.


[where: 75230]

Least & Most Expensive Homes Dallas

The least expensive home currently on the market in Dallas is this place on Anderson Street in need of TLC. It is bank owned, built in 1924, measures 784 sq feet, features 2 bedrooms/1bath and is and listed for $5,500. Nothing here a bulldozer can't fix.

On the other end of the spectrum is the most expensive home on the market in Dallas ...

Restaurateur Phil Romono's estate on Strait Lane. For $17,500,000 you get an 8 bedroom/11bath home measuring 14,748 sq feet on 4.7 acres with a lake, fountains, waterfalls, a jogging trail, tennis court and pool. It includes a study and 2 offices for all the work you'll be doing to keep it up.

Maine Real Estate

I'm enjoying the last days of a beautiful vacation on the Maine coast. With highs in the 80s each day, we're in vacation paradise - plus quaint towns with granite curbs, fresh lobster, no TV or cell service most of the time.

Haven't run into the Bush entourage. But if I hear any news of their pending move to Dallas, I'll pass it on.

Bad Real Estate Photos just keep coming

I'm trying to figure out why you would want to highlight this window with the cheap, crooked blinds and the teeny light fixture.

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A house with flooring. Now that's impressive

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Nice view of the pool from the roof - where your teens are sure to attempt a jump. This photo says "Increase you liability insurance".

Lovely home - decorated in the Early Bachelor style

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. The housing market isn't still falling - but this house could be.

Worst Real Estate photos this week

Get this house some sunscreen!

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View of your new backyard - from the neighborhood Peeping Tom's point of view.

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A couple steps to one side might have helped rid the view of that distracting pole.

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Sorry. Not my size.

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How many feature photos do we need of the porcelain throne? The lack of a toilet paper holder doesn't help this terrible photo.

[where: 75230]