Photos: How Important Are They When Selling a Property?

First Impressions are Lasting Impressions

These days, with all the advancements in Internet technology, buyers can take virtual tours of a property online, without ever stepping foot inside the house or even an agent's office. I can't tell you how many listings I have seen online that have few, poor or no photos at all.  What is the point of an online listing if there are no photos of the property?

On the flip side of the coin, I have personally fallen in love with a property based on the photos alone!  Especially the photos that capture the true essence of the house, highlighting the architectural elements and other attractive selling points, those are the best!  And I know from experience that a well photographed property gets far more inquiries than one with poor photos or no photos at all. That is why photographing a property is one of the services I provide in my Staging Consultant business.

The camera that I use is a Canon EOS Rebel XS Digital SLR.

 I also use a Sigma wide angle zoom lens and an external flash.

This combination seems to capture true colors and high definition details, which is what agents want when they post photos for online listings.  I also use several photo editing software programs depending on what needs to be edited, such as Picasa for straightening a crooked image or PhotoShop 9 for lighting adjustments. This attention to detail is what makes my photos professional grade. They are all shot in HD, cropped and edited before uploading to the real estate company's websites.

Tips for photographing a property to list:

• clean EVERYTHING. This includes outside too, like flower beds, the front porch and back patio, brickwork, siding, EVERYTHING.
• hide those trashcans!  Yes, everyone has them, but they do not belong in the photographs for your listings!
• hide your A/C units! Again, we all know they're there, but no one wants to look at them! At the very least, incorporate them in your landscaping with shrubbery or even a short piece of fence with plants in front of it. 

Try to take photos right after the lawn is mowed, and on a clear sunny day if you can. But keep in mind, a grey sky can be altered in Photoshop to a clear blue, as if it were spring time in heaven when you took it. You can also adjust the saturation levels in Photoshop, which in simple terms just means you bring out the colors more in the photo. This added step really enhances the photo for online viewing. Cropping may take some practice but a well-cropped photo shows only the best parts of the space. Two well-cropped photos of a room is better than one big awkward photo (which is what you get when you try to get the entire room in a single shot).

The key is to take the photos immediately after you've detailed the property inside and out so that it looks as clean and as new as possible in the photos. Pictures of the property are likely to be a potential buyer's first impression, so make the best of them!

I hope you find these tips helpful. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them!