We have all heard the old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, in real estate, pictures can make a huge difference in how quickly you sell your home and ultimately, can impact how much you sell it for. You may be old enough to remember the days when you walked into a real estate office and asked, “What’s for sale around here?” The agent would then pull out this bound book, full of black and white pictures of listings, sorted geographically. Using their guidance, and those grainy photos, you would decide to make appointments to see a few of those homes.
Today, home buyers can sit in the comfort of their current home, perhaps with a glass of their favorite wine, and use any number of websites to sort through available properties, filtering the results based on location, price point, square foot dimensions, school district, etc. Once they have the results, they start to dive into each one. The will immediately begin flipping through the images of each listing, often making a decision whether to keep looking through the entire portfolio within the first couple of pictures they see.
If those first couple of images were poorly taken, perhaps with the agents cell phone, the potential buyers may be turned off immediately and delete that listing from consideration. The worse part, the house could have been the perfect one for them. But dark, out of focus, poorly composed images present a feeling of a house none of us want to live in. On the contrary, professional images show the home in its very best light, literally. Rooms are shot from the angles that best demonstrate the flow of the house and create a mood that allows the viewer to place themselves within the house at least in their mind.
That other old saying, “You only get one chance to make a first impression” is also very true when it comes to real estate photography. It’s hard to get over the first impression you have of something. It’s nice to have that working for you, not working against you. Cell phones are fine for selfies and Facetime, but put a professional camera in the hands of someone who knows how to use something other than the “Auto” setting, and very special things can happen.
Generate Leads
Online listings with professional photography generate an average of 61% more page views than their point-and-click counterparts.
Sell More Consistently
Homes priced above $400,000 are more likely to sell when their listings feature professional photography.
Command Higher Prices
In 2010, a brokerage called Redfin surveyed MLS systems around the U.S. and discovered that listings with professional photography sold for higher prices than their counterparts. On the low end ($200k to $300k asking price) these listings sold for an average of $935 more. On the high end ($1m and above) the average increase was $116,076. Listings in-between these extremes typically saw an increase of $5000-$20,000. Even on listings with lower asking prices the financial benefit outweighs the cost of hiring a professional photographer!
Impress Current Clients
Your clients want to know their listing is in good hands. High quality photography shows them you’re committed to the exceptional presentation of their property.
Attract New Clients
Beautiful photography is an excellent way for an agent to showcase their professionalism and marketing savvy, and it gives them an impressive portfolio with which to attract potential clients.