You’re moving to a new town. A new state, or simply across to a new neighborhood. Have you ever tried to look on Zillow or other real estate websites for a home to purchase or a place to rent? 3 years ago we did just that. 3 years ago we tried to find a home to rent when our house sold just 2 days after being listed, with a 2 week closing date! The choices were slim at the time. But what was worse were the photos posted with the homes. I didn’t want to have to settle for any of the homes available if the photos were anything to go by. I’ve never understood why anyone would list anything with sub-standard photos for advertising. The number one rule of advertising is to make what you’re selling appealing. It’s basic business sense. And yet here we were, looking through endless iPhone photos of properties or supposedly “professional” photos that were not professional at all!
For those of you Real Estate Agents paying someone to take photos, stop and ask yourself, am I getting what I pay for? $150 doesn’t buy you a whole lot of professional photographer! Make sure you are truly servicing your client, by providing them with the best…not the cheapest.
There is so much that goes into taking great real estate photos. Understanding lighting; the best time of day to photograph the house; the best lens to use; the glass of that lens, (you’d be surprised how many people take photos with dirty glass!) as well as the camera used. And, no, an iPhone or phones in general should never be used to photograph a home to list on the market! Photographers should be using a tripod, a timer or remote trigger and lighting. This is just the technical side of it before the camera is even clicked. In order to produce a beautiful end product, that clients can envision themselves walking into and making their own, you also need to spend time editing the photos. Often times, a single photo online could be made up of 3 -5 different photos put together in order for that particular room to look it’s very best.
Next comes knowing what to look for while photographing a home. This is essential. Making sure toilet lids are closed, or broken lights are noted. Making sure the room is well lit. Opening all the blinds so as much natural light is in the home (as well as turning on all inside lighting) is one of the biggest mistakes I see photographers make. Being able to balance the light between inside and outside a house takes skill, and time. (This is also were those multiple photos I was talking about earlier come into post processing to create one desirable photo) Blinds that are closed scream I am not a professional and I don’t know how to take this photo. Standing at different angles to ensure the client is viewing the home from the correct perspective and not looking down on a room is also very important. I have seen many photos that seem to have been taken from standing on a step ladder to try and get more of the room in the photograph. All of this can be avoided if the photographer knows what kind of lens to use in the first place. And crooked walls? The amount of crooked walls out there is astonishing. And I am yet to walk into an actual house, where the walls are in fact crooked, (unless we count that one time at Disneyland when I was in Toon Town) Fixing walls to be perpendicular is very simple in post processing. If you take a look at the homes you have listed and the walls are crooked, you may want to reevaluate who you use to photograph your homes. It’s classic, “I’m not really a professional!”
The reason I can say these things is I because I’ve been there. I’ve been the home owner selling a home. I’ve been that someone looking online to purchase or rent. And I’ve also been the photographer, who thought I knew what I was doing. However, it is completely different from how you shoot as a portrait photographer. I’ve owned my own portrait business for many years and when I started photographing homes, I thought, “Oh how hard can this be?” But trust me, it is a lot harder than simply clicking the camera. I was extremely lucky. I had 2 incredible realtors graciously take me aside, spend time with me and teach me how to not only take a professional photo for real estate, but also showed me exactly what to look for that shows off the best attributes of the home.
Here are a few of the top things I have learned over the years that you can look for the next time you have a home photographed. And remember, these mistakes can be easily fixed if you hire a professional real estate photographer.
1. Do your homes look like this? Perspective is key.
Or has the perspective been corrected in post processing?
2. Are the walls crooked?
Or has the perspective and distortion been corrected?
3. Are the rooms photographed minimizing the room space?
Or are the photos being taken from another location to show the full potential of the room?
4. Are the blinds closed, making the home look dark and dreary?
Or are the windows open, allowing natural light into the room, making the space more inviting.
5. Is there a person/camera in mirrors?
6. Was the photo taken shooting down onto the room.
Or was the photo taken from a better angle to show the true perspective of the room?
7. Has the photographer left the photo the way it was originally taken?
Or have they spent the time in post processing to adjust the perspective, angle and warping of the lens?
These are just a few things to keep in mind next time you want to best represent your clients and their homes. These small changes will make a huge difference into not only how the homes you are selling are being presented, but also how you as a professional are being represented to the online browsers and buyers. Remember, you have approximately 3 seconds to make a first impression online before a buyer will look elsewhere. Keep their attention by putting your best foot forward and spending the extra money on professional photographs that will invite prospective clients to stay, browse and schedule a viewing of your next rental property or home for sale.
