photography

More Listings, More Money: The Impact of Professional Photography

May 27, 2024

Someday, probably sooner than we imagine, sellers will be competing for buyers, while buyers will have vastly more choices in homes. First impressions matter, but never more so than when there aren’t enough buyers in the market.

When it comes to showcasing your listings, high-quality photography can make all the difference. If you’ve never used the services of a pro real estate photographer, you’ll want to read on to learn why you should.

And, most importantly, discover the questions you should ask to ensure you get the right photographer for your real estate business.

Why clear, compelling listing photos are important

It makes a great first impression

Your listings are essentially your products, and first impressions are crucial. Compelling photographs are the first point of contact for prospective buyers, drawing them in and sparking their interest.

Showcases a property’s best features

Skilled real estate photographers know how to capture a property’s strengths and minimize its weaknesses. They use their expertise in lighting, composition, and post-processing to make a home look its absolute best.

Increases online visibility

We already know from the various ocular movement studies that buyers’ eyes go right for the photo as soon as they pull up a listing. If there is no photo, they leave the page.

If the photo is dark, crooked, or otherwise amateur in nature, most will also leave.

Results in faster sales and higher prices

Properties with professionally photographed online listings tend to sell faster and often at higher prices.

The Inspiration Series is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

Helps you ace your listing presentations

Who is more likely to ace the listing presentation, the agent with DIY photographs of past listings or the one with gorgeous, jaw-dropping photographs?

Here are the questions to ask when interviewing a photographer

Can I see your portfolio? Reviewing a photographer’s previous work will give you a sense of their style and the quality of their work.
Are you insured? Ensure that the photographer carries liability insurance in case of any accidents or damages during the shoot.
What equipment do you use? Ask about the type of camera, lenses, and lighting equipment they use to ensure they have the necessary tools for the job.
Do you offer post-processing services? Inquire about their editing and retouching capabilities to enhance the final images.
What is your availability? Confirm that the photographer can accommodate your scheduling needs, including weekends and evenings if necessary.
Do you provide virtual tours or drone photography? These additional services can enhance your listings and attract potential buyers. Yes, hiring a professional photographer will eat into your commission check. But without one, you may not even get the listing.

With the right photographer, you’ll have the tools to make a lasting impression and close deals more effectively.

When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazin

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct, response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The Free Online Real Estate Business Plan

The Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your financial goals. – Click Here

4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

Edit Like a Pro: The Top 3 Non-Photoshop Tools for Real Estate Photos

Sep 5, 2023

Even if you use the services of a professional to photograph your listings, there are still plenty of other parts of your real estate business for which your own photography skills might come in handy.

These include snapping neighborhood shots for your neighborhood blog, photographing attendees at your client appreciation events, photos of your buyers standing in front of their new homes, and other opportunities.

These photos are brand-propelling if done and used right. Today, we start with editing these gems and introduce you to three very popular editing apps to help you out.

PicsArt

Price: 7-day free trial, $0, $60 or $84 a year

Who needs this: Those who appreciate a clean, quick way to remove backgrounds.

Pros:

With PicsArt you can edit both photos and video, a boon for agents who utilize video in their marketing.
No steep learning curve.
Easy to use.
An impressive range of editing options, such as AI tools.

Cons:

“PicsArt is fine while using in iOS device but it was responding very slow in most of the Android apps,” according to one reviewer at G2.com.
The free version is loaded with ads for the premium version, popping up in the middle of editing.
“They are gradually moving some of the free features under the payment plans,” says one reviewer. Keep this in mind if you hope to be able to use the free version in the future.
Options are limited on the free plan. For instance, you must go premium if you want to use the video editor.

The Multiphoto Series is shown above. To see more, Click Here.

Pixlr

Price: Free (very limited), $1.99 a month, $7.99 a month, $12.99 a month

Who needs this: Agents who must collaborate remotely with clients, partners, etc.

Pros:

Pixlr is cloud-based, allowing you to access it from anywhere.
Offers an option that edits images through AI.
Simple, easy-to-understand interface.
Well-suited to the novice editor.

Cons:

Although they use it primarily for on-the-fly editing, some reviewers experienced in photo editing claim that Pixlr is “basic” and that many of its functions require updating.
Ads pop up at inopportune times.
Although the template library is growing, it’s a bit paltry at this point.
Since this is an internet-based product, those with a slow connection might want to choose something else.

Snapseed

Price: Free

Who needs this: Agents who are new to photo editing as well as those who need on-the-go editing capability.

Pros:

Owned by Google, the Snapseed app is available for iOS and Android. The desktop version was discontinued in 2018.
Little editing experience is required when using the app’s editing tools.
The price (can’t beat free!)

Cons:

“Snapseed does not automatically save changes, so you need to click the export button to save any edits.” (colesclassroom.com).
Although most features are easy to use, some may stymie the newbie.

Download here for Android and here for iOS.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review

The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

Plentiful, High-Quality Photos are a Listing MUST-DO: So Find a Good Photographer

Feb 20, 2023

It’s safe to say that most real estate agents aren’t professional photographers. Most do, however, carry smartphones with them – phones with cameras.

It’s all too tempting to skip the expense of a professional photographer and snap photos of a listing with that handy dandy iPhone.

So, while your clients work their fingers to the bone to get the home ready for the market, in walks their real estate agent, breezing through the house snapping phone photos, then slaps them on the MLS and calls it a day.

Listing Photos DO Matter

Let’s get into the statistics. The National Association of Realtors has found that 92 percent of homebuyers start their search for a home online. Of those people, 98 percent say that the listing photos are the most important information they find.

Nearly all of them!

Then there is the study from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA’s Institute for Behavioral and Experimental Real Estate. This study finds that the typical homebuyer won’t even look at a listing that doesn’t include photos, and when he or she does look at a listing, the first thing viewed is the photos.

Finally, another study finds that listings that include professional photography get 61 percent more views than those with agent-generated photos.

So, ok, we know that listing photos are an important aspect of generating interest in a home that’s on the market. But there’s more.

The Photo Introduction Series is shown above. To see more, Click HERE.

Pro vs. Amateur

Now, here’s the study that should make you pay attention. A while back, the Wall Street Journal reported that “At the closing table, listings with nicer photos gain anywhere between $934 and $116,076 . . . over listings using photos from point-and-click cameras.”

Your listing clients are paying you to market their homes so that they make the most money possible in the shortest amount of time. The value of hiring a professional photographer is obvious.

How to choose a real estate photographer

As you gain experience as an agent, you will hope that home sellers will ask you about your past marketing efforts. So, ask the photographers you interview the same question. Ask for recent listing photos. Then, request the following:

Names and phone numbers of agents they’ve worked for.
An itemized list of what his or her fee includes. Pay close attention to how much of the post-production work is included in the price.
If a licensing fee isn’t on that list, ask if the photographer charges one and how much it is.
Ask if he or she will retain the copyrights to the photos.

Don’t neglect your due diligence; call those agents that each photographer has worked for.

Choosing the least expensive photographer is easy, especially as a new agent with limited funds. Keep that temptation at bay by understanding that listing agents who use professional photographers earn more money at closing than those whose listing includes bad photos. (Redfin)

Welcome to the world of real estate!

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook