Why are quality professional photos so important in selling your property?

Pictures in real estate are one of the main selling points to get you the money you deserve for your home or business; plain and simple. But there are many more in depth reasons that lead to success as a part of good images.

Pictures that are of a bad quality and don’t highlight the best attributes of your home are not only a turn off to potential buyers, but will indefinitely lead to fewer leads and offers throughout the sales process. Having a good set of pictures to show of your real estate cannot just be worth a thousand words but thousands of dollars as well.

Buyers across the country have rated photographs the most useful tool while searching for their real estate because people are naturally drawn to visuals for convincing. 80% of people who purchased a new home in 2006 used the internet while searching for their next purchase according to a survey of buyers and sellers alike. Photographs are known by agents as being one of the most important impressions and sometimes, the only impression, a seller has to make before the purchaser moves on.

Think of photos of your real estate like the warm in person handshake to the potential buyer. It welcomes them into what you’re selling and shares with them the most important details of what they are looking to buy. It is not only a first impression; it can quickly be the last if not done properly. A strong visual of the real estate you are looking to sell can be the most vital part of finding the perfect buyer. Having a solid marketing campaign means you have a riveting set of high quality and quantity photographs of your home to let the purchasers know how important this is to you and them as well. You can also use these photographs for the virtual tour, websites, brochures, flyers, photo boards, newspaper adverts, and so much more. Paying for great value images is not a one-dimensional purchase by any means.

The “multiple photographs and virtual tours” are consistently the highest rated feature of online research for homes followed by “map/directions”.  People need a crisp and clear visual of what they are looking for before they commit to a showing. You can add more photos to your web listing than any other medium and for a fraction of the cost. This will prove to the impending buyer that you have nothing to hide and much to highlight when it comes to your lovely real estate up for sale.

There was a study which monitored listings over a 30-day period; this study showed that properties which featured just one photo generated about five views and 1.37 leads opposed to listings that had over 21 images which received over 77 views and close to 11 leads. The remarkable outcome of this study proves whole-heartedly just how important virtual tours and visuals are to potential buyers.

Look at this study relating to the number of photos that a listing posts. It compares photos to the number of Days on Market (DOM). Here is the analysis proving that more photos on a listing help sell the home faster:

1 photo lasted = 70 DOM
6 photos lasted = 40 DOM
16-19 photos lasted = 36 DOM
20 photos max = 32 DOM
  
Now, take a look at the Final Price as a percentage of the Original Price, showing that properties with fewer photos sold for less:

1 Photo = 91.2% of Original Price
6 or more = 95% of Original Price
    
According to these studies, a $600,000 home, showing off only one photo, could sell for as much as 3.8% LESS or a loss of over $22,000, just because there was only one photo and no virtual tour accompanying the listing! More shocking is the fact that only 12% of agents posted 20 photos or more, demonstrating that if you put in the quality and quantity of photos buyers want, you will not have much competition to sell.

Now think about this, photos are the most important factor to selling, right? Well, the previous findings we talked about don’t even go into depth of the importance of the QUALITY of these photos. Just think of the power of an amazing photo compared to one taken by a haphazard real estate agent who knows nothing of photography? The difference could mean thousands of dollars in your pocket and several weeks or months of days on the market.

“LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION” is really “PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTOGRAPHY!” If you think of selling your home as a business, you’ll be in the right mind set. You clearly want to get the job done in the fastest way, make the most out of it as possible, and do so without breaking the bank. Virtual tours with good quality photos are never a waste of money due to the large return on your investment. The difference between substandard agents who carry along an inexpensive digital camera is obvious to everyone looking at the listing when compared to top-notch photographs by a professional. It shows not only professionalism but the fact that the seller is serious about giving potential buyers not only quality information and photos on the property, but quality real estate as well!

The 4 most important things you gain by having high quality professional images for your marketing tools are:

1. Generating more interest in your property
2. Attracting more viewers and leads
3.Generating higher offers and a higher selling price
4.Faster sale

The most important thing to realize when looking to sell real estate is this: the internet is the most powerful outlet you have and your interactive virtual tours and photographs are the most important tool. When plugged into the outlet of the internet you have a significantly higher chance at success when selling.  Give us a call today and let us photograph your properties. We’re sure you’ll see the difference right away!

Yours Sincerely,

Jason LaVanture & Jim Blue