90 Day Challenge – Day 3 – Examining your Environment – Power of Photos

I know that at some level, everyone understands the power of a good picture.  However, when I look at some of the ad photos, I wonder why Realtors® don’t translate that concept into property pictures.  The pictures of the property are many times what compels a buyer or a cooperating agent to contact you for a showing.  Photos drive web leads, ad calls and are definitely a statement about your marketing acumen. So, for today’s challenge – let’s learn all we can about good photography and real estate.

• Hire a pro.  The shortest path to picture perfect photos is to hire a professional photographer.  There are many awesome photographers, but a longtime favorite of many of EWM’s top producer’s is Luis Travieso.  (phone number – 305.401.4604).  Some great tips that can be learned from the photo above:
  • Great lighting – shooting at twilight creates an ethereal look, especially with the interior lights illuminating.
  • No distracting objects in the foreground.  No cars, no brooms, leaf blowers, or personal items to distract the eye.
  • Symmetry – Instead of trying to get the whole house in the photo – it is framed and balanced – 2 trees, 2 potted plants, 2 bay windows – all framing a focal point of the foyer which beckons the viewer to enter.

  Along the same lines, but at a lesser expense, the good virtual tour companies offer some great photos along with their tours.  The top 3 tour companies we see with great photos are obeo.com, vht.com and planomatic.com.

• Consider a digital camera. If you are looking for a digital camera here are some great choices from the pro’s that won’t break the bank:
  

  
  Kodak EasyShare V705 7.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Ultra-Wide-Angle Dual-Lens Optical Zoom

Fujifilm Finepix E500 4MP Digital Camera with 3.2x Optical Zoom

Kodak Easyshare P880 8MP Digital Camera with 5.8x Wide Angle Optical Zoom

• Take a lot of pictures.  Not that everyone will work, but you want to end up with at least 8 high resolution photos.
• Clear the debris and distractions. Do try to take pictures while the furniture is still in the house.
• Make sure you photograph the following areas:  Exterior Front, Exterior back – both from the back of the house out to the yard and from the back of the yard towards the back of the house, All living areas, All bedrooms ( make sure you get a shot including the closet), All bathrooms, Kitchen (including appliances).
• Play with the lighting – watch out for reflections from the sun or a flash.  Don’t shoot into a mirror.
• For interior shots – shoot from a corner into the room.  Try from at least two corners to vary the exposure. Try some shots from the doorway or hall.
• Make sure you take high resolution pictures.  If you want to resize them use pixer.us. Pixer is a great online photo editor.

So… look at your listing photos and decide which of the following two videos best represent your listings.

OR

Your assignment – go get those listings photographed.  You are going to need 8 good ones for one of our next lessons.

Looking for other challenges?  Read more