Great Photos Help Sell Real Estate

Great Photos Help Sell Real Estate

by James F. Brown

The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is absolutely true. Great photos can help sell properties. But bad ones can drive potential buyers away before they even tour a property. Too many sellers and their agents give short shrift to photos. With just a little care and thought, anyone can take attractive real estate photos that entice buyers.  Here are some tips for taking those photos:

• Plan your photo shoot. Think about what you want the photos to accomplish, what impression they’ll make on a potential buyer. Take notes about what specific photos you’ll take, and how you might compose, frame, and light them. Be aware of special features that can help sell a property. These might include a pool, spa, high-end bathroom and kitchen fixtures, home offices, entertainment rooms, state-of-the-art electronic systems, computer and Internet connections, built-in speakers and intercoms, and so on. You’ll want to have photos of all these. Create a checklist to ensure you take all the photos you need.
• Use a good camera. That means a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) with a zoom lens and a minimum of six megapixels resolution. No cell phones, no snapshot point-and-shoot digital cameras.
• Use a tripod. This will let you shoot from a single point of view, rotate the camera for overlapping panoramic photos, keep the camera horizontal, and permit long, blur-free exposures without needing to use a flash.
• If you use a flash, point it up to bounce the flash off the ceiling and provide even, diffused light. Straight ahead flash can look harsh and leave unwanted shadows.
• Avoid taking wide-angle and “fisheye” photos. It’s done to show the entire room, but it makes the room look bigger than it really is. That’s OK for hotel rooms for short stays, but it can shock, dismay, and disappoint a buyer seeing the rooms in person. No fisheye photos, where straight lines come out curved. It’s disquieting, disorienting, and looks weird.
• Frame the exterior (and interior!) shots so they look well composed. Don’t just take quickie snapshots. Also, take some night-time exterior shots, too, especially if there are colored outside lights. Have the drapes closed and interior lights on. Such photos make a property look magical and welcoming.
• Light changes during the day. Think about doing two separate shoots at different times to take advantage of the best possible light for different areas.
• If the property is empty, make sure it’s clean before shooting. If you’ll be staging, take photos after staging is in place. (If it’s occupied, try to get the owner or tenant to tidy up before shooting. Pigpens don’t sell properties. Tell them their place will be shown world-wide on the Internet to motivate them to houseclean.)
• Photos of bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens appeal to women, but don’t neglect the guys. Take shots of the garage, basement, man cave, workshop areas, and any outbuildings.
• Take at least two photos of the back yard – one from the building looking back and another from the rear of the yard looking towards the house. Take additional shots if there are features such as a pool, spa, water feature, BBQ, fire pit, patio, RV hookups, extra parking spots, or children’s swing set. And take photos of the side yards if they look nice and have attractive features (such as an herb garden or fenced dog run).
• For multifamily rentals, take shots of separate gas and electric meters to show that tenants – not the landlord – will be paying for those utilities.
• Shoot lots of photos, more than you’ll be using in your marketing materials, and pick the best ones.
• Arrange the photos in sequence to duplicate how a buyer would actually tour the property.
• Caption the photos (using photo-editing software) so buyers will know what they’re seeing.
• Learn – and use – inexpensive or free photo-editing software such as PhotoShop Elements, GIMP, ACDSee, or PhotoScape to crop, correct color balance, and lighten or darken photos to improve them. Adding attractive borders to photos will make them look stylish and professional.
• If architectural layout drawings are available, add them to your marketing materials.
• For photos that will be on the Internet, resize them to 72 or 96 dpi so they’ll load faster and take up less room. For photos that will be used in printed hard-copies, keep them at 300 dpi.
• As an alternative to taking photos yourself, consider hiring a professional photographer who specializes in architectural and real estate photography. The cost would be more than offset by the advantages of having more eager buyers, higher offers, and shorter DOMs.

Following these tips will make your photos pop, lure buyers, and help sell your property.

James F. Brown is a writer, editor, photographer, and real estate investor. He is a member of the LA South REIA.