Five Questions With: Shelly D’Amico

Shelly D’Amico is a Redfin real estate agent.
Shelly D’Amico is a Redfin real estate agent.

Shelly D’Amico, Redfin real estate agent, recently responded to questions about the real estate market and seller and buyer expectations. An agent with Redfin since 2013, she represents buyers and sellers in communities including Cranston, Providence and Warwick.
PBN: I scrolled through several photos of your current listings. How important is the photography itself in securing a sale? Are you increasingly emphasizing photo galleries as a real estate agent to increase interest in homes?
D’AMICO:
My brokerage, Redfin, studied the issue and we found that homes in midtier price points with professional photography sell for substantially more than those with amateur photos, and also sell much faster. Most potential buyers first encounter a home online, so we include free professional photography with all our listings. That said, the photos must also be accurate – we want to capture the home in its best light, but also in a way that browsers online can tell if it’s something they’d truly be interested in touring in person.
PBN: How do you advise your clients to stage their homes? When should professional stagers be used, and when can a homeowner’s own furnishings do the job?
D’AMICO:
For higher-end homes, particularly if they’re empty, you need to add furniture to accentuate the home’s qualities and to give it a sense of presence. In that case, I’d recommend a professional stager. As an agent, part of my job is to help a home look its best, so often if a home’s already furnished, it will just need a little bit of a spruce-up. I keep spare furniture myself, for when those scenarios come up.
PBN: Are buyers looking for older styles of homes that are now popular again? I’m thinking of ranches and split levels in particular.
D’AMICO:
Yes, actually. Ranch-style homes are often around 1,500 square feet, which is a size a lot of first-time buyers are looking for – so there’s a great appeal there. Also, people want modern, sleek lines and open floor plans. Split levels as well as contemporary homes often offer those things, so those are hot.
PBN: How has the market in Rhode Island changed for residential sales in the past year? What has been your experience?
D’AMICO:
In this market, I’m seeing about double the number of buyers in the market as there usually are, but there simply aren’t enough homes for sale. Prices are good. Sellers are recouping plenty of value with a sale, but buyers aren’t yet in a position where they have to overpay. The hottest selling point is under $300,000, so homes priced right in that segment are seeing multiple offers rather quickly. Higher priced homes, however, are sitting on the market longer.
PBN: What is your expectation for inventories in 2016? Will more homes enter the marketplace? We keep hearing listings are decreasing.
D’AMICO:
Listings are down right now, but I’ve talked with quite a few potential sellers who are interested in listing their home in the spring of 2017. Hopefully, next year we’ll see enough homes on the market to meet demand.

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