So Curbed.com have put together a list of homes for sale in 25 US cities all for about the same price of $250,000. Of course it’s interesting to see the huge difference in what you get for the same level of investment. So for example, in Detroit you can get an historic 4 bedroom home that’s been almost fully renovated inside, and located just 15 minutes from the center of Detroit. However, in New York City $248,000 will get you a studio apartment that needs fixing up.
But of course what interests us here at BestRealEstatePhotographers.com are the photographs used in the marketing of each of these properties.
The reason why that is so interesting is that each of these properties are about the same sale price, and so generally speaking the selling agent will pocket the same commission on each home. It’s obvious that for same of the agents selling these homes, the quality of the real estate photographs is really important. It’s part of their brand, and tells potential clients that this agent takes their marketing seriously.
However, for other agents the photographs don’t mean much, so it’s obvious that they took their own photos rather than hiring a professional real estate photographer.
So let’s go through some of these listings now and see the differences in photos used:
Chicago, Illinois:
The photography on this one in Chicago is pretty well done. The agent has obviously invested in a professional photographer, and they’ve lit up the inside and shown us the outside view as well:
Here’s a close-up of the main living area with that great view:
Notice also that the colors are good, the walls are straight, and it looks quite realistic.
Austin, Texas:
This 3 bed, 2 bath home in Austin is a nice looking place, and the photography is very good:
You can see in this kitchen shot that the ceiling is white as it should be, and apart from the walls not being quite straight, there’s not a lot to complain about:
This real estate agent hired a professional, and it shows.
Atlanta, Georgia:
This is where things start to go down hill. This is a $250,000 home in Atlanta:
But where the color balance and image quality really drops is in the interior shots:
Notice how the colors look weird, the whole image is a little hazy, the walls aren’t straight (it looks like the TV is about to fall off as it leans over) and the white ceiling is dark grey above the window? This is not good photography when you compare it with the above properties in Chicago and Austin.
Hamptons, New York:
Now we really hit rock bottom with this $249,900 home in The Hamptons, New York. This home was obviously photographed by the agent, and they haven’t bothered to hire a professional photographer:
Here’s a blurry photo of what I think might be a bedroom:
And here’s the awful photo of the bathroom:
If you were the owner of this home, and you compared these photos with some of the other photos in this list, would you be happy with what your real estate agent was doing? I doubt you would be once you saw the difference in image quality. In fact, I doubt this homeowner would be very impressed at all with their agent.
Conclusion:
Now, for some of the other properties in this list, where the price is the same and, presumably, the commission the agent makes on the sale is the same, why is one agent prepared to spend money on professional photography, but another one isn’t?
I think it’s interesting to see the value different agents assign to their clients. All of the clients are homeowners and all are paying the real estate agent the same amount, yet some of the agents treat their sellers like kings, while others are offering the barest of services. Some agents might even question if the agents that take their own photos are being professional at all.
What do you think?
Now that you’ve been through this list of similarly priced homes, what do you make of the various levels in the quality of photography being offered by the different agents?
Fortunately there is somewhere you can go to find top quality real estate photographers that won’t you let you down, and that’s right here at BestRealEstatePhotographers.com. Look for an independent real estate photographer in your area, and notice the difference they’ll make to your marketing campaign.