You have one chance to impress: a few seconds to grab a buyer’s attention. Do iPhone photos or those you take with a point-and-shoot camera make optimum use of those valuable seconds? That’s right. And here is why you should hire a pro.
First Impressions are everything
When moving back to New York, browsing through StreetEasy, Zillow and Trulia websites, I was surprised to see how terrible some of the photos of apartments were. Blurry, dark, shot from weird angles, and sometimes there were no photos at all.
In 2016, shouldn’t decent photography be a basic standard when listing a property?
In today’s visual and digital driven-market, most prospects begin their search with a quick glance at an image on a website. First impressions are everything, even more so in real estate. Why jeopardize your first impression and connection with a potential client? This is your first contact with your prospect: make it count.
Your smartphone just doesn’t do the trick
Sure, smartphone technology is always improving and those cameras can be pretty great—but they are nothing in comparison to a well-lit professionally angled shot by a photographer (and the touch-ups). You’re working in an aggressive and competitive industry: you want to stand out from the crowd.
You are your listing
As you are what you eat, what you do and what you wear, as a real estate agent you are also how you brand your listing. You can tell a lot about the agent and the listing by the quality of the photos.
So if you put low resolutions images or just bad photos, what does it say about you? That either you don’t have the time or that you don’t care. And would you work with an agent who just doesn’t care or doesn’t have the time for you? In the end, properties with stellar photos will always make you look good.
Be real
Prospects spend much more time looking at properties with great photos.
They quickly skip over listings that have poor photos or overly edited photos (don’t try to make things look better than they really are). For residential sales for instance, buyers want to see if they can picture themselves living there. The photos tell the story of a home.
Quality photography is not a luxury: it is a necessity. You want to peak interest; you want to receive a call for prospects that are actually interested and ready to buy. Don’t waste their time or yours.
Professionally photographed properties sell for more money.
According to a recent study co-published by real estate consultancy and research firm REAL Trends and Virtuance, real estate agents who always use professional third-party photographers earn twice as much gross commission income as agents who never use professional third-party photographers. Well, we’re pretty sure it’s not only thanks to the professional photos. However, online listing photos are a critical factor in the selling price, how quickly it sells, and whether it sells at all. Remember that 93% of homebuyers start their search on the Internet and a picture is worth a thousand words.
Conclusion
Consumers demand a visually appealing online presence. A fundamental shift is happening in the real estate industry and professional photos are playing a key part in the selling process.
Professional photos make a very measurable difference in how quickly a house sells and how much it sells for. While the income relation to good pictures also has to do with the agent being a professional versus just a part timer, great pictures mean you'll get more value. Terrible ones can mean more days on the market, bad branding for you, a troublesome transaction and less commission. Save time, energy and close for more by hiring a professional photographer.
We hope this post helped you in some way. Message us if you are on the fence. We’ll give you honest advice.