Why Are Some Property Listings So Damn Terrible?

7 min read

Recently, Sneaky Sushii highlighted a problem that property portals have struggled with for years: terrible property listings. You know the ones: grainy images, almost no details about the unit, sometimes even wrong information. It’s almost insane to think that in the year 2021 where camera phones have reached a nearly DSLR quality level (there’s even the latest Google Pixel that can use AI to erase things from images instantly) that poor quality images can still exist. These issues have been the scourge of property listing sites as well as home buyers and tenants over the years – but it never seems to go away. Well, from the direct experience of this writer who used to work with property portals (no names though!), this is why it happens:

The long battle against bad listings

The bad listings you may see today are actually an improvement.

There was a time when anyone could put up listings and photos, which was how someone ended up exposing his genitals on a property listing (the maisonette was a pretty good deal for just $570,000 though, if you uh, strip away the issue). 

Accidental nudity, by the way, was just one of many horrors in those days. Staff tasked with filtering listing images (a job that eventually became necessary) saw everything from wastebaskets with used condoms, to bloodstains on furniture, to adult toys in the background.

These days, many property portals only allow licensed realtors to put up listings, which has really raised the standard. 

(Yes, we understand that’s not a huge accomplishment given the low bar, but it is an improvement). 

So just bear in mind that whatever terrible listing you may see today…it could have been worse. Much worse. 

That said, here’s why bad listings still happen:

• Language barriers
• Believing it’s an incentive for you to call 
• Paranoia about stolen listings
• Problems coordinating with tenants / owners
• Unit is disgusting or hideous on the inside
• The listing is a fake
• The property market is booming

1. Language barriers

There are property agents who are fantastic at face-to-face negotiations, but can’t write a good listing to save their lives. Writing a good listing, taking good photographs, are skills that need to be developed – and not all real estate agencies take the time to teach it. 

One of the issues property portals need to address is language. It would be nice if more listings could be:

1. In languages other than English, also for the sake of buyers and tenants who are more familiar with Chinese, Tamil, or Malay 
2. Have some sort of translation tool or in-house translator, for agents who aren’t as comfortable using English 

Until then, some property agents – no matter how good they may actually be at transacting – will struggle with listing descriptions. 

With some agencies, incidentally, the solution is to provide realtors with cut-and-paste templates. This is why a lot of the listing descriptions seem eerily familiar; or have the same gibberish like GRACE GRACE GRACE on them. It’s all copypasta.

In fact, with the progression of AI today there are even sites that can generate a listing description for you – and we’d daresay the results are better than what you’d see in most listings out there today.

To show you an example, we tried out this site – listings.ai and here were the results:

Just enter in some key information…

You can even select for a neutral or creative AI!

This is what came out:

A condo with all the luxuries! This 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo is 2000 sqft and features marble floors, oven, fridge, his and hers sinks, bathtub. The bedrooms are large and have queens sized beds. The balcony is a great space to enjoy your morning coffee or evening wine! The 50m lap pool is a great place to cool off on a hot summer day. This condo is a must see!

2. Believing it’s an incentive for you to call 

At some point, a property agent somewhere decided:

“If I have no pictures and no details, they will be forced to call me. Then I can use my sales script on them.”

Which is obviously nonsense. Most of the time, people just scroll past the useless listing, resulting in even fewer calls. And yet, some property agents persist in believing this nonsense – and may even teach it to new agents they mentor. 

This is why, instead of useful information, all you see is a general location followed by the agent’s phone number plastered everywhere. 

There is at least one major property portal, which set up a Q&A site where agents can answer questions (No names, we’re not pointing any fingers). You’ll notice many of the responses are just “call me” instead of being genuine answers. 

This is the same philosophy at work: property agents are drilled to “convert” online views to appointments and phone calls. Some have fallen under the impression that being vague will make that happen.

3. Paranoia about stolen listings

This is the fear that other agents will see the pictures, and then hunt down the unit, and “steal” the listing. 

We’re not sure how many agents actually spend their whole day staring at pictures, and then tracking down one out of 600+ units in a project like a CID detective. Frankly, we’d be surprised if the number was higher than zero. But it is what some property agents believe happens, so they leave out certain specifics in the listings.

That’s why they just show you the façade of the building, rather than details more specific to the unit. 

This is actually still very common in the landed listing arena, as it is obviously much easier to identify a landed home if there were proper detailed pictures.

4. Problems coordinating with tenants/owners

This is by far the most common reason for a lack of pictures.

A typical example would be an owner telling the agent to start listing the property – but then they take weeks to give the agent the keys, so pictures of the unit can’t be taken. This sometimes happens when the owners are overseas; but more often it’s because the unit is in a total mess, the owners are busy moving, etc. 

With tenanted properties, the owner has to coordinate with both the property agent and the tenant. The agent isn’t allowed to enter the unit without the tenant’s knowledge; even if they have the keys. 

Some tenants keep odd hours; and the tenants may object to having to clear out living rooms, bedrooms, etc. just so the agent can stage the unit. 

It’s also pretty common for some tenants to refuse to cooperate at all, perhaps because there is really no incentive for them to do so – but it can be more difficult than you think. Some tenants can just plainly ignore any text or calls for weeks on end, and when they finally agree to the timing, the place is just in too much of a mess to do much. And as you may well know, having good photos is key to attracting the right buyers.

In these cases, the property agent often puts up a “bare-bones” listing first, and will try to polish it up once they can take pictures.

5. Unit is disgusting or hideous on the inside

If a unit is really bad on the inside, the property agent may decide it’s better not to show the pictures. They’d rather do the explaining during the viewing, or over a call. 

It seems reasonable, but in 2021 we’re not sure what to believe anymore. Like when this agent in the US brazenly showed off the vandalized interior, and went viral. 

In some cases, the former owner was a hoarder, and it’s no simple matter to clear everything out; but in our experience, most agents will not take on such a listing, until the unit has been restored.

6. The listing is a fake

Property portals are trying to crack down on these, but it still happens.

In these situations, the listing shows an absurdly low price for a non-existent unit; like $700,000 for an Orchard Road condo. When you call the agent, they’ll make an excuse like “Oh it was just sold”, and then try to sell you on something else.

If this happens to you, you can complain to the site and they’ll usually take it down. 

Try to avoid working with agents who pull this bait-and-switch method; it usually doesn’t bode well if they’re willing to resort to such tactics. 

7. The property market is booming

The number of bad listings tends to go up as the property market does well. Conversely, in a downturn, you tend to see more quality listings. This also coincides with the number of agents.

Why? Well, here’s a hint:

Consider that in 2019, there were 29,146 registered property agents. In 2020 this rose to 30,073, and by 2021 it was up to 30,399.

During a property boom, everyone wants a slice of the pie. Property sales are seen as an easy way to make money, in a time when buyers are all desperate, and sale prices are higher (which means commissions rise as well). 

As such, an upswing often sees an influx of new and inexperienced agents, or “touch and go” agents, who are in it for a quick buck. These are the types who tend to skip over the finer points of being a realtor; like learning how to make good listings. 

There’s less incentive to create a good listing, and so other businesses such as photography/video services, or even staging companies will probably see poorer sales during a hot property market (it’s an inverse relationship). Buyers may probably not care too much too, as they are willing to wade through more nonsense just to buy a home.

On the other hand, a property downturn often means only the hardcore, experienced, “career” agents are still transacting. These agents are more likely to take proper photographs and write proper descriptions. Most veterans have also been disabused of nonsensical notions, like vague listings resulting in phone calls.

But given that 2021 – and quite likely the coming year – are boom periods for the property market, you may start seeing more bad listings. 

At Stacked, we carefully screen the agents we work with and try to team up only with long-term career types. So if you want help selling or buying, do reach out to us to avoid wasted time.

You can also check out our in-depth reviews of new and resale homes alike, which could give you details those vague listings miss out.