Including photos in the listing should be a no-brainer, but sellers routinely list properties without pictures, and they do so to their detriment, says Don Tepper, a Realtor with Long & Foster in Burke, Va.

"One red flag in many buyers' eyes is the lack of photos for a listing," Tepper says. "There can be some legitimate reasons for few (or no) photos in a listing: The sellers want privacy, or they have valuables they don't want in the photos. But many would-be buyers -- rightly or wrongly -- assume that there's something wrong."

Tepper says it's a good idea to have about a dozen photos. But that number isn't a hard and fast rule. You want to convey a good sense of the property by ensuring the pictures match the description and showcase the features you highlighted. If the listing emphasizes a great view, it pays to have a photo of the view.