Read Reviews and See Pictures Of Properties With No Pictures or a Virtual Tour

If you’re a home buyer looking at properties online that don’t have pictures or a virtual tour available, you’re probably a bit frustrated. Well, this may ease your pain a bit… There is a "Wiki MLS" called FranklyMLS.com that is available to anyone and everyone (not just agents). It allows for Buyer’s Agents to leave their comments/reviews and upload photos of properties they’ve visited.

Most of the properties that don’t have pictures or a virtual tour are bank-owned or relocation company owned so they’re vacant. Because they’re vacant, there is no issue with taking pictures of the interior* as well as the exterior.

*The site only allows photos of the interior to be uploaded if the property is vacant.

And the pictures are hosted on platforms such as PhotoBucket and Picassa, which allow for 30, 40, 50+ good-quality photos in thumbnail or slideshow formats. This is more than most of the big name listing sites such as Realtor.com and HomesDataBase.com that allow up to 30 pictures only even with an "enhanced listing".

The nice thing about the reviews and pictures is that they’re done by a Buyer’s Agent, not the Listing Agent who is working directly for the seller. Buyer’s Agents are not trying to embelish facts or take pictures from the "best angle" in order to market the property for sale. The site allows for more honest reviews and pictures.

The site is fairly new and the number of participating agents is low so not all the vacant properties have been reviewed yet. But it’s definitely gaining momentum, participation and visitors and is getting better as time goes on.

So if you run across properties in Loudoun County that don’t have pictures or a virtual tour available, search FranklyMLS.com for the property and any reviews and pictures. If there aren’t any pictures or a review, contact me and I can go take some for you while I’m out previewing .

***To check out a sample review and photos, check out this property listing and my review and photos at the bottom of the page. To check out other reviews I’ve done recently, click here.

-Danilo