High-quality real estate listings provide you with the best information about a home and ensure you get the best possible experience. However, there are different ways that agents and sellers try to tweak the truth and make a home seem more appealing than normal. Most high-quality Calgary listings don’t take these steps, mind you, but those who do make it hard for many to figure out the quality of their home. As a result, it is critical to understand how to read between the lines with real estate listings.
Understanding Real Estate Slogan
One of the cleverest ways that listings try to get you to buy property is to use catchy slogans that seem to say one thing but really say another. For example, let’s say you see a home with the listing “a real fixer-upper!” For some, that term is endearing and indicates an inexpensive home that might be fun to upgrade. For a seller, it typically means “this home is a mess” and they are trying to say it without saying it. Therefore, you need to study these slogans and make sure you read them properly to avoid confusion.
Pictures Tell (and Hide) a Thousand Things
If you’re buying online using a listing service, you need to look at the photos right away to make sure that they are as accurate as possible. Your home needs pictures from every room, the exterior from every angle, and other areas around the property. If your listing does NOT have a lot of photos or misses photos from important rooms, the listing is telling you something: usually, it is telling you that those missing areas are probably damaged or not worth showing and the realtor is trying to hide them from you.
3D Walkthroughs are (or are Not) Available
The 3D walkthrough of homes has become one of the most popular ways to market homes on real estate listings because it puts you right in the house and lets you explore it in ways that make it harder to see in just photos. Make sure that your realtor or listing has this type of option and ask them why they don’t if they lack one. If their explanation seems questionable – and if they have 3D walkthroughs of other homes – they are definitely trying to hide something from you and maybe a problem for you to deal with later.
Descriptions of Neighbours
Lastly, it is important to pay attention to what any listing says about the neighbours near a home. There are many things that agents and sellers can control about a piece of property but neighbours cannot be controlled. As a result, you may find that bad neighbours are either never mentioned or casually discussed in passing. They may be called “eccentric” or “interesting,” rather than “crazy” or “difficult.” If your listing doesn’t mention neighbours, that’s not necessarily a red flag because some do not but you should make sure to investigate this fact.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
