Get attention

Using higher quality professional real estate photographs for your listing shows attention to detail. Recent studies show that professional real estate photography will increase the amount of time a potential buyer remains on a listing and number of clicks on a listing as well. Using a professional real estate photographer for your listings will gain interest in the property.

More attention means more potential buyers. More buyers equals a faster sale. Homes that are listed using professional images tend to sell faster - around 50% faster. Photos used to represent your listing can have a major impact on potential buyers. Perception is everything. Using low quality, quick, cheap looking photos will give the impression to the buyer that the home is not high quality. They will will unconsiuosly assign a lesser value to the property of homes not taken professionally. They may even skip over the listing entirely.

Image Matters

Professional photographs are more than a slideshow for your listing. Sharp, composed, well color balanced, well lit, staged, well-thought out real estate photographs increase the perception of the home. Dark, blurry, out of color images turn buyers away and they simply click to the next listing.

In addition, showing a professional portfolio to a seller will give you more confidence in your ability to sell their home for the best price. Stand out above the rest. This is a competitive market. Buyers know this. Sellers know this. You have one shot to make a good first impression.

One of the first things an agent does before showing a home is turn on all the lights. This allows the home to look inviting, warm, welcoming. Why use poorly lit real estate photographs before the buyer has a chance to see the potential of the home?

Time is Valuable

The one thing we can't make is time. Taking photos of each property yourself is time-consuming. Let's be honest. When you take photos yourself, how long does it take? A hour? Two? Make sure you include the time it takes to delete the blurry ones, the ones you have to crop out, the ones which look a little too dark or out of color. Are they composed properly? Are you stressed just thinking about it? Using a professional photographer assures that images will be shot, edited, re-sized and properly formated so all you have to do is add them to your online listing.

Just a note of warning - if you are using a professional photographer and they say it only takes 10 minutes to shoot a property, well, you haven't hired a professional. High quality images take time. On average it should take a photographer about 3-4 hours to shoot and edit a 3000 sq ft home.

Future Listings

Sellers tend to list their home with the agent who uses a professional photographer to photograph their home. This is because they know that professional, high-quality images allow a home to be better marketed and increase the potential for selling it fast at a high sale price.

Most likely, the more successful listing agents in your company use a professional real estate photographer. It not only gets the listing more attention but it also allows them to look more professional. If you want to stand out more in your area as a listing agent then using professional images instead of taking them yourself with a point and shoot will give you a competitive edge over your competition.