Good pictures are crucial marketing tools for a home sale. It begins with a home professionally photographed as an important part of effective marketing. Homeowners and Realtors® depend on high-quality, high-resolution images not just to sell the home, but to sell it at a higher price, sooner.
Wall Street Journal, August 2012: “According to research from the National Association of Realtors, 98% of home buyers who searched for a home online said photos were among the most useful features of real-estate websites.” And, “listings with nicer photos gain anywhere between $934 and $116,076.”
Elsewhere, studies by larger real estate concerns, like Redfin, find professionally shot photos result in 61% more views!
Typical sales price increases more than pay for professional pictures—across all price tiers.
Creating high quality imagery is a team effort. Homeowners must be involved in the process if professional photographs are to do their job. It really is important. The home needs to be clean and de-cluttered though not necessarily ‘sterile.’
Hiring a professional stager to help prep the home may be advised.
Anything distracting from presenting the home in the best manner possible must be addressed. Religious, political, and highly personal items (e.g. family photos) should be removed. Seemingly simple things like a cat atop a refrigerator, dogs (or people) asleep on the furniture, destroy the photograph’s intent.
The goal is to enable potential buyers to project themselves into the home.
The following checklist is provided for agents and homeowners to help prepare for Torben Photography’s visit. The list is not all-inclusive but does provide a pretty good starting point based on past experience.
Staging List | Inside
Staging List | Outside
Staging List | General
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– Driveways clear |
– No parking in front of home |
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– No vehicles |
– Clean, de-cluttered |
– As much ‘off’ floor as possible |
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– Fish in clean tank, Ok |
– All other pets out of sight |
A typical photo shoot will focus on these shots:
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Thank you, I have a small job shooting a condo for rent. This will be my first real estate job. Thank you for the list. I will use it for sure. 🙂