Real estate agent Teresa Boardman has written a piece for Inman called “Why our clients deserve better than DIY photos“, and I think she’s done a great job in presenting the case for agents hiring a professional photographer instead of doing it themselves for the sake of a few dollars.
According to Teresa, there are two types of ugly real estate photos:
- The ones that show a poorly presented home with a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes.
- Poor photography, such as ones where “the agent doesn’t understand white balance and created a bunch of yellowish images and a couple of blue ones”.
One problem she identifies is that agents often don’t have a wide angle lens, and so when they shoot a room they show only half of it, and the photo is probably far too dark as well, so when buyers are comparing that property with another that has great photos, well, the house with the great photos will attract far more interest.
She goes on to say:
The bad photographs in the MLS, Zillow and other places give the general public a great reason to ridicule real estate professionals. They make us look really bad — and stupid, too.
There are whole websites dedicated to making fun of real estate pictures. If we all used only commercial quality professional photography to market homes, it would be a simple way to raise the public opinion of real estate agents — even if it means hiring a photographer.
That’s the key – hiring a photographer.
It’s called “being a professional real estate agent”. Another name for it is “investing in your business”. Because even if you are paying for the photography yourself (though I know in some parts of the world, such as in Australia, it is the seller who pays often for the photographer), it is money that is going to come back to you like an investment when you put it to good use.
So out of curiosity, I went and had a look at the listings of Teresa Boardman, and she takes her photos herself using a quality DSLR. They are good photos, and I see a lot of photos looking like this taken by professional photographers so in that regard they pass the test.
But the photos could be much better, and I think that’s where a lot of agents miss out. As I’ve said before on this blog (see this post on “Gorgeous real estate listing photos on your phone?“), there is a difference between good photos and great photos, and hiring a photographer does not necessarily mean you get great photos. Rather it’s all about choosing the right photographer, one who can create magazine-quality photography that puts you up and above other agents in your area.
Is it the fault of the sellers?
Should homeowners be doing their homework on agents when it comes time to sell their home? A lot of agents seem to think so, as this one wrote in the comments of that article:
If a seller picks an agent that does a poor job then I blame the dopey seller, not the agent. The seler should be researching the agent, chaecking other listings they have, calling references and doing THEIR homework. Sellers – and buyers – get what they deserve.
In other words, do agents do what they do because their own clients haven’t pushed them to go further?
As another agent put it in the comments:
… what I fail to understand is why people are still hiring Realtors to list their house when they can see the poor quality of their listing photos! It’s not a perk to have a professional anymore; it’s a must.
So perhaps some agents are only willing to hire a photographer when they are forced to in the face of market expectations.
I can see evidence of that in some cities where professional photography is the standard expectation, and so any agent who falls below that standard (by taking their own photos) will not pick up any listings. However, in a lot of smaller towns it is common for real estate agents to take their own photos, so in that area buyers and sellers are not exposed (ha ha) to enough high quality imagery so they don’t seem to know any better. That’s not their fault, it’s just what they are used to.
What do you think?
Should all real estate agents include professional photographer as part of their service, paid for by them?
And why do you think so many sellers choose to list their home with agents who do take their own bad photos?