A picture is worth a thousand words
My husband and I just returned from a European vacation including a stop in Amsterdam, where if you inhale too deeply while cruising down the canals, it’s possible to achieve a cannabis high. He took his typical 2,000 digital photos while I spent my time trying to avoid being the subject of his 2,000 photos. But when it comes to marketing your property for sale a picture is truly worth a thousand words and there is no such thing as too many quality pictures.
Things have changed a lot since I started in real estate. At that time you were lucky if you could get a decent shot of the front of your new listing. The company I worked for actually hired artists to do pen and ink sketches of the property to be used in marketing, but with the advent of the digital age, that all changed.
Today pictures are a crucial marketing tool used to sell properties. According to research from the National Association of Realtors, 98 percent of home buyers who shop for properties on line said photos were one of the most important features of a real estate company’s web-site.
Typically, listing agents take their own photos and post them to their company’s website, which in turn gets posted to large real estate search engines like realtor.com and trulia.com. But more and more realtors and sellers are turning to professional photographers to maximize the home’s amenities and location.
Virtual tours done by professional companies are also very popular providing a potential buyer with a real time walk through of the property. Real estate professionals claim the more professional the photography, the more hits the property gets on the web.
Pictures are the first impression of your home that many buyers will see, so it’s important before choosing a listing agent to determine his/her marketing procedure as it relates to pictures. You can start by reviewing an agent’s current listings to determine if their pictures are good quality even if they’re not professional. Out of focus pictures, poor lighting, grainy effects and poor composition will not hold the attention of today’s online buyers.
You should also feel comfortable having some input on which shots will best enhance the unique parts of your home. For instance, Anna Maria has so many waterfront properties that just shooting a picture of the canal may not be special, but shooting a picture from the front door straight back to the water is.
The pictures of your home should look like something out of Architectural Digest, clean, uncluttered and spacious. Decide along with your agent which pictures are to be posted and how many is appropriate for the size of your home.
If you and your agent decide to use professionals to photograph your home, ask about their credentials and look at some of their work. This is especially important on high end properties where buyers expect a certain standard and will quickly move on to another property if their initial impression isn’t favorable. Good quality pictures are also frequently turned into marketing pieces for bulk mailings as well as print advertising, so it’s crucial that pictures look professional.
Just like sharing your travel experience with your friends through photos, getting the best possible shots of your home will provide potential buyers with the true feel of your property making them want to see it in person. And by the way, the next time you’re in Amsterdam check out the cannabis coconut cookies or lollypops just don’t try and get them through customs.