What's New in Hot Springs, Arkansas : photos

The Kennedy Team REALLY Does Handle Every Last Real Estate Detail!

the Kennedy Crew ~ — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:05:00 GMT

As I mentioned in prior blog entries, I often peruse other agent sites to read what services he or she offers for potential buyers and sellers. Many agent sites tout that he/she will not only find the perfect home for their buyers but will handle every last detail up to the purchasing process. What does that really mean; to 'handle every last detail up to the purchasing process'? How far do these services really go?

I see that many agents offer more now in the way of resources such as the downloading of reports but that service seems to be the 'norm' and no longer the exception. What is it that you offer that sets you apart from the rest?

Now granted, I work with Paulia Kennedy of 'The Kennedy Team' also consisting of Jeff Kennedy and Debi Jones but I have worked with many agents in the past so I can honestly state here that this Team offers clients so much more value for the money than many I have met.

The Photographs

have previously blogged about the many professional photographs Paulia personally takes for every listing; no matter what the selling price is for a particular home. No one that I have ever worked with since I've been a real estate virtual assistant takes 50-100 photos of each listing, hires an aerial photographer for some listings and has me update these listing with new and fresh photos to rejuvenate the visuals. As I mentioned, Paulia keeps me busy.

Even the actual Kennedy Team member photos are also updated a few times a year in keeping with the changing seasons and backgrounds. The same holds true for sellers. If a seller paints a room, Paulia is out there with her camera taking new pictures of the updated space. She believes in keeping the listings updated at all times.

The Professional Handyman

Recently, I learned that The Kennedy Team also offers an extra-special marketing service for both buyers and sellers as the Kennedy's have a professional handyman on staff whose name is John Watson.

John is the man behind the infamous one-of-a-kind custom 'Kennedy Team signs'. As part of their comprehensive marketing package, John custom builds each sign from scratch in their workshop. He has drafted templates for each
roof, which helps him to build each sign to perfect scale.

John Watson customizes each sign matching the roof tiles with each property sign and the home itself. He has even used clay tiles on one luxury home property sign, which perfectly matched the same clay tiles on a particular Mediterranean home.

John's work does not end there. He also uses the weed-eater & repellent around their signs on vacant land and occasionally gets the chain-saw out to cut down small trees blocking those signs. His work is meticulous!

A hard-working and trusted Kennedy Team member, John often helps with preparing the luxury homes for showings. He makes a trip to the home about 30 minutes before the tour and turns on all the lights, adjusts the thermostats, sweeps the front entrance area, blows the leaves off the driveways, decks & pool areas. He also returns after the showing to double-check every lock and make sure all the lights are turned off and that the home is secure. John assists with keeping the flyer boxes filled at the homes and makes regular checks to make sure our signs are straight, clean and neat.

John is the ultimate professional handyman for small repairs for our clients. It is extremely hard to find workers for small jobs, so they always count on John to get the small items repaired ... especially when The Kennedys are 'under the gun' to meet the small repairs item list from buyers.

It is important to note that John's services are exclusive to The Kennedy Team. His custom signs are not for sale either.

The Real Estate Virtual Assistant

Primarily, I assist Paulia with her listing photographs. She advises when a listing has been signed and uploads photographs which need to be stitched and edited. I spend practically every day creating virtual tours, updating photograph files, assisting in Point 2, blogging and host of other assorted tasks. Quite frankly, I cannot see how she managed to handle all of this work in the past in addition to her regular marketing and buyer and seller support responsibilities. With the addition of a virtual assistant, Paulia spends more time personally working with buyers and sellers to expertly market their homes.

The Kennedy Team really does offer to 'handle every last detail up to the purchasing process' from contract signing to custom sign development, to photographic and high-end brochure creation. They even offer a small repair service for their clients so that the home passes final inspection on time and at no extra cost to the buyer and sellers. Oh, and if you are looking for reports, The Kennedys offer those too!

Janine Gregor
Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

So You Want To Take Your Own Listing Photos?

the Kennedy Crew ~ — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:51:00 GMT

As a real estate virtual assistant, I work with many hundreds of listing photos. Some agents hire professional photographers to shoot their listings and others take the pictures themselves. My job is to select the best and try to tell a story about the listing. Regrettably, when I am working with most amateur photographs, it can be an arduous task to portray the home in the best possible design. I have spent much time cropping and/or passing over what could have been a good listing photograph but ultimately deemed unusable. I just cannot always show the public the home at its very best.

I've come to a conclusion that very few agents can really take successful listing photographs. Some worse than others. Paulia Kennedy of the 'The Kennedy Team' is one such agent whose photographs shine above the rest and I don't say that because we work together. She simply has the 'knack'.

I've compiled a short list of Do's and Don'ts based upon my experience with agents who choose to take their own photographs. Simple, clean staging is really key.

Use a good camera with a flash. Very simply, a camera phone won't work and most indoor photographs are grainy and unusable. If you can splurge on a wide lens, by all means do so. Good, wide exterior photos are hard to come by so a wide lens can be a blessing. Otherwise, I've worked with exterior photos taken from across the street, which allows the photographer to capture the width of the home but sacrifices nice exterior details. If you don't have a wide angle lens, photograph up-close in two sections and use a photo stitching program to bring the two parts together.

When photographing the kitchen; one of the most important rooms in any listing, remove the garbage can. I cannot tell you how many times I have to 'crop out' the unsightly garbage can and this, in kitchens which feature stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. The garbage is quite a distraction from even the most beautiful of kitchens.

Let the countertops shine, which means, remove the clutter. The 'one appliance rule' seems to work best, so before taking the photograph, consider taking the time to unplug the blender, coffeemaker, microwave oven and move these items temporarily to another room. A clean countertop makes for a great photo even if the countertops are not the highlight of the kitchen.

I often view virtual tours from other agents to see what the competition is doing. I cannot tell you how many times I see the agents' binders, cell phone, flyers, business cards and car keys in the photographs, particularly on the dining room table and kitchen countertops. The same rule applies…take away the clutter, don't add to it and put these accessories in another room for the photo shoot.

I realize some rooms will never shine in any photograph; the paint might be too bold, the wall paper might be dated, the room may be small, but removing the laundry and making the bed really helps to improve the look of any bedroom.

Try not to include the family pet in the shoot. I've worked with photographs where the family pet is using the cat litter box, walking on the kitchen countertops or sleeping on the living room couch. Again, this is another distraction and some buyers might be turned off just knowing that a 75 lb Labrador shares every inch of a home they might consider purchasing. If the house is being marketed as a pet-friendly home with its own doggie door, tiled floors and fenced in yard, then adding these items to the listing description is smart marketing but do leave the family pet photos out. You want to highlight the home itself and its best features. Some buyers don't appreciate pets. Good photographs should appeal to the masses.

Bathrooms often don't photograph well because it is very difficult to get inside and position the camera at such an angle to capture the entire room. But if you are able to get a good shot of the bathroom, close the toilet seat and pull the shower curtain. The room will look much neater and a closed curtain acts as a nice background for small and under-decorated rooms. I've often suggested to my agents to carry a pleasant-looking, light shower curtain in their car if the bathroom doesn't have a nice one. It only takes a few minutes to attach but can really make a difference in an unappealing bathroom. One clean, unused bar of soap, one hand towel and a freshly folded bath towel are all that is needed to tidy up a small bathroom. I call that my 'agent bathroom staging kit'.

Finally, take many, many pictures….as many as you can; at least 50 per listing. Turn the lights off, turn them on, move the door, photograph from all angles and not just from the main doorways. A nice trick Paulia uses is to stand in front of something decorative such as a fountain and have this item in the foreground while the home is in the background. I've seen her use this technique when a tree or bush is in full bloom so the flowering portion borders the photograph and the home is photographed featured in the background all in one frame. Even the least desirable looking homes can really shine if photographed this way.

Agents who pull up their sleeves and don't mind moving household items around are the ones who get the best photographs. The difference between good and bad photographs can make or break a deal. The attention to detail (or lack of) can be a good or a bad sign to a potential buyer whether to sign with a particular agent or not.

Janine Gregor
Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy