by Grant Wakelin
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Too true - the most important part of the online marketing of your property is photos. At 200 square we always recommend cients use professional photography. There are plenty of amateur versus professional real estate photo examples out there that demonstrate the difference.
We use images in real estate marketing to convey information and create an emotional connection between the buyer and the property. So with no irony at all let's get analytical about the importance of your property photos....
The realestate.co.nz sponsored Nielson Research August 2009 4th Annual Real Estate Market Report looked at what buyers wanted with online real estate marketing. The study highlighted that buyers want lots of large high quality photos. Specifically the survey identified as useful or very useful in the buying process:
- A large selection of images - 95% of respondents
- High quality images - 93%
- Large images - 90%
Photos being the most important resource for buyers is clearly evident throughout the study.
Supporting the proposition that real estate buyers want great images is what they do when they get them - a study, admittedly from a USA real estate photography firm, asserts a 145% increase in the click-through on internet property listings using professionally taken photos. Thats, like, HUGE!
Another USA study showed that real estate photos taken with a high end SLR type camera (so probably by a professional photographer) added between $USD 934 and $USD 116,076 to the final selling price compared to those homes sold using simple point-and-click camera photos. The only exception to this was at the low end of the market where it seemed price was more important than the quality of the photos!
A simple, clear message, buyers want lots of high quality images, they look more closely at the property details when they get them, and pay more money for the home. Spend the money on expert images of your property - with think it's a great investment. Do you?
Chris said:
.....images of a property can change dramatically by : the 'time ' of day ..the weather conditions...season of the year....angle of the shot...the same image can look lousy when some background condition has changed. The professional camera ' really requires to be on duty with all these basic changes....the only real assessment is an actual visit to the location for the potential "Buyer"....OK
Posted 25 th May, 2014