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Friday, April 11, 2008
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10 comments:
Hey Harriet,
Can I have a moment? Hope it isn't too salesy.
Just wanted to ask for contributors to my new WIKI MLS.
You know all those foreclosures that have 0-1 photos? What a pain right?
Well I created a new MLS that encourages Buyer Agents and buyers that visit these properties to take their camera and ADD a TON of photos.
Thus saving us all the trip. Soon enough, if everyone participates, you can save each other hours visiting these photoless places.
Now this is NOT a site for bubblers to come and trash talk each listing. If you do that, you will destroy the site.
Instead I ask you all to grab your cameras and if you tour a VACANT home, take 40-50 photos. Everything from close ups of the tile, countertops, and closets, neighborhood etc. Then share them with everyone on my site.
Also no anonymous postings. While you don't have to log in, you do have to use a valid email and verify each post.
Details here: http://blog.FranklyRealty.com
Thoughts?
Frank
Frank,
It's a good idea. I'm not sure how many will participate, only time will tell. ZipRealty has had a feature for leaving comments for a while, and I've left a few, but rarely if ever see any left by anyone. And that's disappointing.
But what's *really* disappointing is that people calling themselves real estate agents list houses without any inside pictures.
Frank,
Now I understand the "incentive" part for contributors with pictures to add, which is something Zip certainly doesn't have. People who do contribute are given visibility on the front page of Franklymls.com.
Hopefully this *will* give buyer agents a good reason to contribute. I'm not sure ordinary people will have the time or inclination, but it will help us all out in the end.
Frank-
I checked out your FAB Wiki MLS this morning & it's great. Much more acurate than Zip on DOM.
Congrats - it will help me look for homes!
The only thing I wish your MLS had was the ability to see what a property actually originally sold for (like Zip has)
Nice site Frank
Does anyone have any advice on whether to use Zip or Redfin?
Frank, love your idea. Wish you had started it a couple months ago. Would have saved me much time in looking at properties. Elsewhere here I mentioned a couple of properties that were real dogs.
Would suggest that you might try to see about a Wiki on communities as well. My last visit with my agent before putting in the contract focused in on the Glenvale and Shadowood communities.
In walking the Glenvale community my agent made the comment that it seemed neat and orderly - sort of Soviet style. It was only after looking at some properties there, that comment rang true.
Could not believe that the ceilings were concrete slabs with the seams showing! Ceiling lights required wiring "channels". Think a dorm room! Add to that the din of traffic on Reston Pkwy.
Better looking than Shadowood; but the negatives make the short comings make Shadowood a better choice,
dana, at least for me any of these sites were not much help in looking at condos. SF homes may be better
Isn't taking pictures of people stuff inside their home kind of creepy??
I could see if the home was empty...
bas_madone52, Frank did say VACANT homes....
Though I have mixed feelings on this after the time I invested in looking at multiple properties. Some vacant, some owner/renter occupied.
If there had been pics/reviews like the Wiki that Frank has going I could have saved some time for myself.
One place in the Foxcroft community was listed as a 2BR unit - but was made in to a 3BR by walling off the the dining area of an shaped LR/DR.
I understand privacy issues. Trust me. But if a home is listed for sale, then privacy issues are tossed aside whether a owner or renter IMO.
I do wish I had my camera ready for the both good and bad of the places I visited. One place on Lee Hwy in FC had some great details - but the community sucked. One banked owned property in the Foxcroft pictures alone would not tell the whole picture.
That owner was blind, so there were issues there that may have been beyond her control in the end. But the smell was so bad that I saw that the wood floors would have to be stripped after removing the carpet.
Another property was well done on Lee Hwy in FC; but the community really sucked. But for someone this could be a diamond in the rough IF there had been pictures.
As Frank will say pics sell a home. The top 3 places I was ready to put a contract in on had pics!
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