Why is professional real estate photography a necessity?
In this video real estate agent Peter Lorimer outlines his reasons for saying:
“You absolutely must, must, MUST have professional photographs taken in a house …”
Why does this agent say real estate photography is so important?
It’s because people these days, especially buyers under the age of 40, have grown up in the internet age and they are used to flicking past images of homes that don’t grab their attention.
“You might have a gorgeous, stunning house, but if your photographs are crap-ola, they’re not going to stop on it and they’re going to bypass you.”
Peter goes on to make the point that more eyes equals more buyers which equals a better sale. It’s the common economic formula of supply and demand. If there is more demand for something then that helps to push the price up, which is something homeowners and agents both want.
“So if you don’t have professional photography just spring for it. It’s somewhere between $200 and $400 bucks, generally. And it’s a tax deduction.”
I think that’s a great point – if you are a real estate agent then you can claim photography as a business expense, which effectively brings the cost lower than the listed price for that service.
So what should you be paying for a photographer? Well, Peter lives in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles where prices for photography are going to be higher than they are in other parts of the country, especially in smaller cities and towns.
However, you want to avoid the attraction of working with the cheapest real estate photographer you can find because with photography services, as with any other service, you get what you pay for. So if you choose a photographer that is priced lower than average then you are probably going to get a less than average result. If you choose a photographer that is priced higher than average then you will probably get a higher than average result.
Go with quality every time – your bank account will thank you for it.
Professional real estate agents should act like professionals
Peter also says:
“You are not doing your sellers the service you should be.”
Home sellers hire a real estate agent to do a professional job for them. They entrust the sale of their most valuable asset (in most situations) to an individual they regard as knowledgeable and professional, and they expect that person to do the very best job for them. That is what they are paying them to do. So if an agent cuts corners for their own benefit then that is not acting as a professional, and it is not giving the kind of service that an agent should be giving.
This point has also been made before by North Carolina real estate agent Leigh Brown in this video:
… where she says:
“(Professional photography is) one of the services that ought to be provided to all consumer listings, regardless of price point …
Consumers deserve it. You’re calling yourself a professional realtor, and I think it’s a professional standard we should all be holding up.”
That’s worth reading again if you didn’t catch it the first time because I think a lot of agents, especially those outside the major metro areas, miss that point.
Tips for a real estate agent considering a real estate photographer:
So if you’re a real estate agent, regardless of the market conditions right now, regardless of where you live, and regardless of the value of the home you are selling, hire a professional real estate photographer and follow these tips:
- Hire a photographer based on the quality of the photography and not on the price.
- Be consistent with your images – don’t go DIY with your phone camera just because it’s a cheap home.
- The expectations of your buyers and sellers are not the same as they were in 1997 – things have changed, and you might need to change your marketing to keep up.