Good luck. Not nuts about snow pictures, I would try to replace it when you can. I might try cropping it so that you see more house then snow.

If you can, send some luck our way. We have a showing tomorrow, our new house should be ready by the end of February.

I'm also not crazy about snow shots, but maybe cropping the snow out of the picture as Rose has suggested would help. In spring, replace the picture with a spring picture.

Absolutely change it out when the snow season is over... if you haven't sold by then. :-)

I think it looks way better even with the snow. The other thing with having the snow is that it doesn't look like an old listing right now. I would as other said change it out once snow season is over if you haven't sold. Lots of fairy dust to you hoping you won't have to do that.

I agree, too much snow in the picture. Here's how it looks cropped:

{{!gwi}}

Oooh, much better cropped. I don't have an issue with snow...until spring comes. Just like I don't have an issue with summer leaves, until autumn arrives. I think the only important thing is to keep the pic current and avoid the dead giveaway that a house is lingering.

I like it better cropped even more than terriks cropped it.
{{!gwi}}

We sold in January of 2007 after 6 months on the market. The right buyer can come at any time.

GOOD LUCK!!

Good luck and I'm sending lots of fairy dust to all the sellers out there ********* :)

Cropped picture is much better - show as little snow as possible. We went on the market in Tucson in early 2/07 so nothing was blooming. We had suggested to our first set of realtors in April that new outside pictures were needed once everything came back to life. I ended up taking new exterior pictures as the REAs never bothered to send the photographer to take new. Glad they didn't end up with any commission as we did not re-list with them (karma's a b*tch). Second REA got the job done in less than 2 months (we were with first set over 6 months - 2 offers but nothing panned out).

Do you have a photo of the house in spring/summer when everything is in bloom? You could have the cropped winter shot and then include a photo of what it looks like in those seasons. I know I like to see what type of plants, perennials are in the yard.

Fairygirl - boy do I miss Tucson now that I'm in Minneapolis. Last night while watching TV in bed, there was a commercial promoting Tucson as a tourist destination. *sigh* Dh and I have already decided that once we retire, we will snowbird there and spend the summers in Canada. I like the TC's, but I'm really hating the winter weather.

I checked the MLS for my neighbourhood and we were lucky we got out when we did. Our biggest competition has reduced to 10K less than what we sold for. They have similar upgrades and features. All the other smaller houses are now under $200K.

Hey sparksals - I miss the Tucson "winter" as well, but not the craziness of snow birds - yikes! DH and I have always thought we'd go back when we retire for stuff like spring training. Oops, Tucson is probably getting rid of that too (as they've already ridded themselves of the Sidewinders) and we are not fans of Phoenix.

Our next door neighbor had her house on the market at the same time as ours. Her original list price was $450k (ours was $419k). We ended up at $368k (late Oct.) and she finally sold in December for $325k. Her house was about 100 sq. ft. bigger than ours but had zero landscaping and a chain link fence (she also didn't have all the upgrades inside that we had). That's a long drop but I'm so glad we got out when we did.

Best thing for winter weather - planning your gardens for spring!

It is much better than my prior realtor's picture.

Do you have the link handy to the original? Honestly I don't remember what the original pic looked like.

Thanks all. Sent realtor feedback re: cropping.
I didn't keep a pic from the old realtor but it was from the driveway/garage side and didn't really even show the right hand side of the house.

I don't have a spring picture but am REALLY, REALLY HOPING that it sells before I have to worry about that. The hit count on the realtor's site is showing over 20 hits a day which is phenomenal compared to the initial action we had.

We are also having a realtor tour next week.

Depending on how the photos go into MLS your realtor may not be able to crop it. It might cause the MLS system to stretch it to make it be a certain size and end up looking weird. Hopefully that won't be an issue and good luck to you!

I remember now.. showed the garage, I said something about it.

Yes, the snow picture is better then the old. If you have a day where the snow is melted, try getting another shot

Sending Fairy Dust from up north! The house looks lovely, but I would prefer a shot taken from an angle on the right side of the house, instead of straight on, to decrease the emphasis on the garage.

defintely cropped is 100% better, especially when the snow is in the foreground of the huge white solid garage doors..In addition,the section of house above the garage adds to the starkness, is the siding white?

Can someone please photoshop in a palm tree or two? That should bring a buyer. LOL

Seriously, I have to agree with the majority. When my best friend in IL was selling during the winter months, she still used the pictures of the garden in bloom. People need to see the potential at it's best, even though the snow does look pretty to me with snow. When viewing the house, and there's been snow recently, buyers will already have the expectation of it being there. Show them something they won't expect in the pictures on line. ;o).

Ladies & Gentlemen of the GardenWeb - we got a full-price offer today and guess what? It is snowing again!!

Wish us luck as we work through the process. They want it on 2/22 and put down $3k earnest money so I think they are serious (what do I know, I've never done this before!).

They want nothing more than the house - no closing fees, no new car, no insane demands, etc...

Keep us in your prayers!!

HOORAY! Congratulations!!

Thank you. I screamed so loud when I got off the phone that my DH & DS's thought the house was on fire!! Tommorow is DH's birthday - what a gift!!

Congratulations!! That is great news. Wishing you smooth sailing until closing.

Ladies & Gentlemen of the GardenWeb - we got a full-price offer today and guess what? It is snowing again!!

Wish us luck as we work through the process. They want it on 2/22 and put down $3k earnest money so I think they are serious (what do I know, I've never done this before!).

They want nothing more than the house - no closing fees, no new car, no insane demands, etc...

Keep us in your prayers!!

Congrats! Can you send some of that my way now please? We really need an offer within the next few weeks.

Congratulations! Glad to know that the fairy dust works :)