As a Northern Virginia realtor, do you really need a professional photographer to do your listings? In today’s blog, we cover this question and give you some reason as to why it is important to have professional photos for your listings.
Check out this video about real estate photos and what you should expect!
Homes that are professionally photographed sell FASTER and for thousands of DOLLARS more! You only have one chance to make a first impression. It is said that it only takes seven seconds for a person to develop an impression of another person. With photos, this time is even quicker. Millennials, Gen Z’s, and Baby Boomers, who actively use social media and smartphones, scroll through their feeds at lighting speeds, picking up information quickly and only STOP when something catches their eye. Your real estate photos need to be those “wait, let me take a second look” kind of quality.
A professional real estate photographer is a realtor’s key to high-quality photos that are sure to make future homebuyers stop and look. To achieve such photos, your real estate photographer should:
- Use the best angles
- Use appropriate gear
- Possess great editing skills
Along with making your listings look GREAT, a recent Redfin study found that realtors that use professional real estate photography saw their listings sell faster and for more money, compared to the use of amateur photos.
Best Angles:
The angle a photo is taken of a room can drastically change how that room is perceived. The idea of capturing rooms is to make them feel large, airy, and lifelike. The viewers should be able to start envisioning themselves in the house. Staging your listings can help this process greatly, but that topic is for another article. Additionally, taking multiple angles of a single room is always a good idea, just so you have some wiggle room when deciding the best angles in post-production.
Detailed photos are also a great way to pinpoint the elegance of a listing. For example, having photos of unique crown molding and fireplaces can show viewers the fine architecture of the home.
The Gear:
Gear DOES NOT make the photo. I am a firm believer that, high-quality photos don’t require the most expensive cameras. How the real estate photographer takes the photos and their editing process is more important in my eyes. With that being said, there are some great cameras and lenses that can give real estate photographers the best of both worlds. As a realtor, just remember that the more expensive the gear the higher costs you will incur. It is up to you if it is worth it.
Some more gear…
Cameras:
Typically any camera that has a megapixel around 20 will serve you more than fine. For a frame of reference, the iPhone X has a 12MP camera. “Wow! That is pretty close to the standard!” Yes, however, they do not have the additional features cameras have, such as bracketed photos.
Lens:
The lens is more important than the camera body after all the photo has to travel through the lens first! A wide-angle lens should be in every real estate photographer’s bag along with a zoom lens for detailed shots.
Tripod:
A tripod should always be used to ensure a level and stable shot.
Flash:
Using flashes are key for a lot of real estate editing techniques and are great for getting the right color and lighting of rooms.
Editing Real Estate Photos:
This is where the magic begins. Once they have the perfect angles, your real estate photographer begins the editing process. Color correction, window pulls, tv and fireplace replacements, enhancements, are just a few things that get your real estate photos to those high-quality results.
To conclude:
Using a real estate photographer and having professional photos for your listings is a great asset for realtors. Professional photos help realtor’s listings sell faster and for more money. The right gear for high-quality real estate photos is a must; however, the types of photos a real estate photographer takes are a big part of the quality as well. The type of angles can alter the way a room is perceived. Real estate photo editing is where the magic begins and is where the final product is completed.
Resource: https://www.redfin.com/blog/professional-real-estate-photos-sell-homes-for-more/
