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DiscussionFix and Flip (Cosmetic)

how much does a bad listing photo actually cost on a resale and I finally have a number

0samantha_ruizsamantha_ruizAU4APRO5
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had a property sit 34 days in phoenix last spring, dropped to 274 from 289, and the agent and I went back and forth about why. eventually pulled the original photos and compared them to what sold in the same zip that month. the homes moving in under 10 days had daylight shots, wide angle on the main living area, and a hero photo that wasn't the front door. mine had an iphone shot of the entryway as the cover. ran the numbers on carrying cost at 34 days versus the median 8 days in that zip at that time, hard money at 13 percent annualized on 231k in, and the 15k price reduction. total drag was somewhere around 22,400. photographer I use now is 380 bucks. I know correlation isn't causation but I've done four since then with the same guy and none have sat past 12 days. that 15k reduction is the number I can't stop thinking about because the scope was clean, the price was right by every comp I had, and the house just looked bad in a thumbnail.

2 replies

0darius_whitmoredarius_whitmoreCG4BPRO5
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the price reduction is the one that stings because buyers don't see the house first, they see the thumbnail on a phone screen at 11pm and they either tap or they don't. lost a similar fight in mesa in 2022, 47 days on a note i was trying to exit through a performing resale, borrower was current but the underlying property photos were garbage from when the original agent listed it before i acquired the note. couldn't force a relist without the borrower's cooperation and that window just cost me. different mechanism than yours but the thumbnail problem was identical. the number i'd add to your 22,400 is opportunity cost on the next deal you didn't close because capital was tied up those extra 26 days, which at your hard money rate on 231k is another 2,200 or so sitting right there invisible. 380 bucks is genuinely the easiest roi in the whole stack.

0dwayne_prattdwayne_prattAU2APRO3
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the cover photo isn't just about aesthetics, it drives click-through, and zillow's algorithm in a lot of markets will bury a listing that gets low click-through in the first 48 to 72 hours. so you're not just losing buyers who see it and pass, you're losing buyers who never see it at all because the platform deprioritized you before you even knew there was a problem. ran into this in maricopa county around the same time and my agent finally admitted the listing had gone cold algorithmically. 380 bucks against that risk is nothing, but the photographer timing matters too. i've had shoots where we got the guy out before the countertops were fully installed and had to relist, and the second debut never performs like the first. you only get one launch window.