When Your MLS Listing Search Shows the Outside of a Property Under Snow!

December 2nd, 2015

geo2It is no secret that the real estate market booms in the spring. The sun, nice weather, flowers blooming… Unfortunately this only represents a few month of the year. As long as spring is, so too is winter. Cold, snow and slush mean naturally many will choose to wait for spring.

We can change that and make sales boom to spring levels by dangling some carrots outside of your bunny’s hole. Currently, when you plan to take a client out on the road you likely have performed a MLS listing search and have the listings and appointments you want to take your client to see. You then hit the road with your client.

Is the MLS listing search enough and can you really see a property sufficiently when it is covered in snow? Are you and your client going to slog around the sides and back of the home? Not likely. This may just be when your client decides to wait for spring!

To avoid this, you are going to need to attend your showing with more than just MLS listings after your MLS listing search. A really put together package for your client should include:

  • Information about the property’s sales history
  • Information about sales in the area
  • Information about demographics in the area
  • Comparable sales
  • Streetview imagery showing the property from the street
  • Aerial imagery showing the property from the sky
  • Pivotview imagery – pivoting around imagery to see things from different angles

A tool that generates this type of information should be able to facilitate the ability for your client to view the exterior of the property that they may not be able to see thanks to the snow. Aerial imagery can take things a step further because you are looking from the sky down – you can identify issues with adjacent structures, positive and negative things that are next to your property, etc. With Streetview imagery you can actually drop yourself on the street as though you were walking on the street.

Now, in many cases Streetview imagery will have captured a photo of the property and often this will not have been captured in the winter so you will be able to see more.

Some other tips about helping your client buy a home that includes outdoor attributes that matter to your client:

  • Pools – when was it built, what is the condition of the pump, what is their opening/closing procedure, is the pool or pump under warranty? These things matter because, in the winter, the pool will be under the snow and likely the pump disassembled. Also – ask for photos of the pool in the spring/summer.
  • Deck – when was the deck built? Is it under warranty?
  • Hot tub – the pump could be below a deck and difficult to get to in the winter even if you can get to the hot tub. Ask for maintenance records, proof of when it was purchased, and warranty information.
  • Structures ie. sheds. Is there anything in the shed? You want to know if you can’t access it. When was it built, materials used, etc.

Taking these steps helps to ensure your client doesn’t get a spring surprise and can comfortable buy a home in the winter, even if the exterior is covered in snow.

Don’t let winter blues disrupt your sales. Make use of the tools to determine what a home looks like all year round, not just when covered in snow.

GeoWarehouse has the tools – find out more at www.geowarehouse.ca.