The real estate photos taken by yourself or your agent ultimately become the first impressions prospective buyers experience when buying a home. According to the National Association of Realtors, photos were rated as the feature used most by most homebuyers when searching through online listings and with 80% of homebuyer’s house-hunting online, a property’s photographic appeal is an extremely integral component in marketing. Therefore, real estate photos are essential in impressing potential buyers.
When selling through an agent, it is important to find out who’ll be photographing your home. Agents may decide to hire professional photographers to take the highest of quality photos or others may opt to take the photos themselves, as they have years of experience on their hands.
Nevertheless, if you decide to take the photos yourself, instead of hiring an expensive professional photographer, the following tips are sure to help you take expert-like photos.
Before taking the photos, investing in a decent camera and staging the home are key steps. If you want quality photos, any digital point-and-shoot camera with seven megapixels or more is sure to produce superior photos. For those with a larger budget, a DSLR provides several more lenses and a larger variety of settings. Additionally, investing in a tripod will lead to higher-caliber photos.
Whilst taking the photos, you must always remember to use the best possible lighting, angles, and compositions, also make sure to remain honest and take several photos. Lighting is a critical factor in the quality of photos, thus you should take photos at the crack of dawn when natural lighting is at its peak. Remember to open curtains, turn on all lights, and avoid using the camera’s built-in flash as it leads to unpleasant shadows and reflections. Take interior shots when natural lighting reaches its best and take exterior shots on overcast days to avoid dark shadows. Angles are also critical factors when taking quality photos. Photos taken from a corner or doorway provide context and look much better than a tighter shot would. Exterior shots should also be taken from an angle as they give buyers’ a greater perspective of the home’s depth. Don’t forget to refrain from photographing objects that might obscure the property such as streetlights, poles, cables, and wires. Although you may want your photos to make your home as appealing as possible, it’s also important to not mislead buyers and to avoid taking wide-angled shots as they might make a look room larger than it really is, possibly disappointing and angering potential buyers when they view your home. Moreover, digital cameras come with the advantage of almost limitless photos, so you should always take as many photos as possible, and choosing the very best at the end.
After taking the photos, touch up the photos if needed and create a listing just as good as the photos. If you feel as if anything were to need a bit of tweaking, there are several online photo editing tools which allow you to adjust brightness, contrast, and color as well as crop your photos. In order for buyers to see your real estate photos, they’ll most likely end up on your agency’s up-to-date and easy to navigate website and paired with an accurate, depictive listing.