If you’re on the market for a new home, are the photos you view of a home going to affect your opinion of the home? The answer is yes for 83 percent of home-buyers. Looking at photos of a home online is usually where most people begin their search. If the photos suck, chances are, their interest in the home will diminish real quickly.
In fact, quality photos are so important that Forbes recommends not listing your home at all unless nice, flattering photos are taken that show a clear depiction of the home. Low quality, blurry or just plain unprofessional photos will hurt your selling potential big time. First off, having photos of your home with a listing is CRUCIAL and secondly, quality photos are essential. If an agent tells you otherwise, run for the hills and find a more experienced agent.
Signs of A good agent
- Either hires a professional to take photos or takes professional pictures her/himself with a PROFESSIONAL camera. Smartphones won’t do.
- Is willing to take new pictures if the originals are not perfect.
- Takes a variety of shots of the exterior AND interior. If a listing has pictures of the outside but not the in, that sends off a red flag to potential buyers that something is wrong with the inside.
- Knows the importance of staging and lighting. While quality photos are extremely important, so is staging. Nobody is going to look at a listing that has quality pictures of a messy and cluttered house. Your agent should be able to give you staging tips.
- Edits every photo to make it look even better.
- Knows the best times of day to take photos. A dark and dreary day is not going to deliver the best pictures of the interior of your home and a day that is TOO sunny will create unwanted shadows outside the home. The agent should take natural lighting into consideration when taking listing photos of the interior and turn all the lights on inside. He/she should take exterior photos on a slightly cloudy day to avid shadows and take photos of every angle to show all dimensions of the home.
So, yes, quality listing photos are VERY important. Please consider this when choosing an agent. This will be a huge factor in whether your home sells or not. If you need tips on staging your home please give us a call at 406.360.7654.
