Why Professional Real Estate Photography Is Your Best Marketing Tool

Ever look on MLSLI.com and notice photos of houses that are dark and dingy with glowing windows, are crooked, warped or sideways, are low res perhaps even shot with a cell phone camera, have reflecting flash bulbs in every mirror, are out of focus, or just poorly portray the house that is up for sale? These photos are found online everyday and are used to advertise homes in your area, maybe even your own. First impressions are key to selling real estate as you are not just selling a house, you are selling a home and photos that are anything less than picture perfect showcasing it at its best is not doing its job.

This blog is being brought to you by
Dream Homes Real Estate Photography (www.dreamhomesphoto.com) located in the Dix Hills, Huntington area but covering all of Long Island. As a real estate photographer I would like to share with you, the realtor or home seller, why professional real estate photography is your best marketing tool!

Absolutely price and location are huge factors when buying a home, but first impressions will determine if that next step of seeing the house in person will take place or not. Prospective buyers search online before actually scheduling an appointment to view a property. When searching pages among pages of houses for sale on the internet you, the seller, only have about a fraction of a second to grab someone’s attention and get them to click on your listing to take a closer look, an ordinary or sub-par photo could make them pass it by and keep looking opposed to a professional photo which would make your listing stand out among the rest. Even if the house you are selling is “perfection” in person if the photos do not accurately portray that a poor first impression could be a turn off, therefore the wrong photos could have a negative effect and ruin a potential sale.

Refin Corp. did a study on Long Island showing that listings with professional photos not only got more attention online but also sold at higher market values. To realtors who don’t use professional photographers because of the extra cost to market a property in this economy The Wall Street Journal weighed in commenting that by investing in your own listing you gain profit in the long run. You know the saying a photo is worth a thousand words; The Wall Street Journal claims “a picture is worth $1,000 or more,” their reasoning- “at the closing table, listings with nicer photos gain anywhere between $934 and $116,076–as measured by the difference between asking and final price–over listings using photos from point-and-click cameras.”

Redfin’s data showed that professional photos in real estate listings:

• Receive an average of 61% more views than their peers across all price tiers.
• Have a 47% higher asking price per square foot.
• Have an increased likelihood of selling for homes priced above $300,000.

The Wall Street Journal closed their case by stating, “If you are not using professional photography to market your home, you are not really marketing your home.”

I conducted a poll myself among Long Island realtors on LinkedIn asking the importance of professional real estate photography compared to the average realtor’s photographs. This is what local realtors had to say.

Dalia Mairzadeh, Licensed Sales Associate at Prudential Douglas Elliman said, “Your photos are your first chance to get the client interested. Bad photos, and you have already eliminated clients and opportunities.”

Tom Brady, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson at Charles Rutenberg Realty said, “I use a professional photographer. The impression given by the photos is hugely important, why take a chance. I've seen some realtors who take their own photos and claim they are as good as a professional’s pictures; they aren't.”

Beth Witt, Owner/Broker RE/MAX Wittney Estates said, “We've been using a professional for several years. Any agent that does not use a professional photographer to take pictures of homes that they have been hired to market is doing the seller a terrible disservice.”

If you are a realtor who currently is not using a professional real estate photographer and is interesting in trying it out to revamp a stale listing that isn’t getting much attention or to photograph a new listing please take a look at our website www.dreamhomesphoto.com to see what Dream Homes can do for you! New clients receive 15% off their first booking with 12-24 photos per house so that you can choose your favorites. At Dream Homes we always include complimentary retouching and can turn a gray sky blue or make the grass greener on your side of the street as a picturesque setting is the beginning to the phrase, “Home Sweet Home.”

Dream Homes also conducts MLS Makeovers and is looking for realtors to submit a listing they currently have on the market in the Dix Hills/Huntington area for a free photoshoot to show a side-by-side comparison of “before” and “after” photos by Dream Homes in our next blog! To enter your listing email the MLS id number to dreamhomesphoto@gmail.com.