Dear MLS Manners,
What’s the big deal with listing photos? If I don’t upload at least one photo my listing is in NPH status, whatever that is, and agents outside of my office can’t view the listing. To make matters worse, if I don’t upload a photo within 5 days I get threatened with a fine!
Isn’t this business hard enough without this picture bother? Don’t you people have better things to do?
Sincerely, Cameron Shutter
Dear Cameron,
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but in the real estate business it may be worth a commission!
Entering photos in your listing is probably one of the most important things you can do to get it sold. MLS subscribers searching for properties to show rely on pictures to help them make their selection. Individual home buyers searching web sites like www.Realtor.com will altogether ignore listings that show no pictures. As long as you have no pictures in your listing you are cheating yourself and your client out of a sale! TIP: Be prepared for success. Bring your camera with you when you go on the listing appointment. Take a picture or two of the front exterior before you ring the doorbell. You may also want to bring a tape measure to get the room dimensions while you are there!
The RMLS requires every single family residential, multi-dwelling, commercial, business and rental property listed with the Participant and entered into the RMLS database to have at least one (1) photo of the front exterior of the subject property attached to the listing within five (5) business days of the entry of the listing into the RMLS database.
Land listings do not require a photo, but we encourage you to use any photo that would help you market the property. Plat maps and or aerial photos are particularly helpful.
If you are getting close to the end of the five day grace period and still don’t have a photo, one option would be to obtain written permission from the listing agent of a previous listing. Be sure to keep a copy of the authorization to use the photo in your file. Photos in the RMLS database are not fair game. The person who took the photo and/or loaded the photo has the copyrights to the photo. This is why written permission should be obtained prior to using any photo.
Another option would be to have RMLS scan and upload the photos for you if you have actual photographs printed on photographic paper. The fee for this is $5.00 per photo.
You can also use a professional photographer to take the photos for you, but beware that you are still personally responsible for getting the photos uploaded within the 5 day period.
If your new listing is in St. Lucie or Indian River County, the county property appraiser’s web sites have pictures of properties which you may copy and use in your listing. Caution! These pictures may be rather dated.
My final suggestion regarding photos: taking high resolution photos will not be of any benefit to your listing. This is because the MLXchange program automatically resizes your pictures to 640 X 480 pixels before saving them. It is suggested that you set your camera to take pictures at 640 X 480 (1 MB or less) before you take the photos. This step will save you the trouble of having to resize the images before uploading them.
I can’t over emphasize the importance of entering quality pictures on a timely basis. Be prepared to upload photos at the time you enter the listing.
I hope that helps you Cameron.
Sincerely,
MLS Manner
To Report MLS Listing Violations:
While in the details screen in MLXChange, click on ‘Report Data Error’ on the left side. It automatically inserts the Compliance email address and the listing information; just type in your comments regarding the violation. For questions regarding listing compliance, email compliance@rmlsfl.com.
About fsarabia