What good photos matter when selling your house!

The Importance of Good Photos in Listings

Making the “Golden Hour”

You’re getting to the time when you want to sell your home. You’ve managed to de-clutter, remove questionable stains from the carpets, and Windex every surface you can. The last remaining step for you is to take photos to post on a selling site. However, you don’t think your amateur photography skills on your iPhone 6 will cut it. After all, this is a big decision and (hopefully!) a big sell. In order for you to reach success, I’m here to help guide you through the importance of good photos in listings and assist in making the process nothing but smooth sailing. Let’s begin, shall we?

According to realter.org, 92 percent of homebuyers use the internet as part of their home search. Pretty obvious, right? In this new and technological age, the internet is a great resource for getting your home out there and on the market. So, listing photos is a critical factor in the selling of your home, and can determine how fast it sells, how much it sells for, or if it sells at all. One of the single most important things to remember about selling your home is to get great photography. This applies to all homes, whether their listing price is $20,000 or $200,000! Potential buyers want to see it from every angle, in the best lighting, to discover the good/bad about it and how they want to proceed. It should be no surprise that good photography sells homes for more money, and faster to boot. We’ll go into a few of the topics you should be well-versed on at the end of this article so that you can feel safe and comfortable on the road ahead.

Home Photography: Staged vs. Semi-Professional

In order to get the best angles and eyes on your home, it is usually best to go with a professional photographer who knows how to work the light and get the photos just right to put online. A great home photographer understands those lights and angles, and want to make the home look as amazing as possible. This may include coming to the home with a tripod, a variety of lenses, and even involve getting on the ground or going to great heights to get the photos you need to sell for more.

Staged Photography

Staged photos are very simple to understand, but can be difficult to execute. If something is staged, furniture, light fixtures, or shades may be moved in just the right way in order to make your living room, dining room, or patio look immaculate. Now, it may not look like that all the time, but to potential buyers, it looks fantastic. That look may be just what they were envisioning for barbeques or family dinners. Your photographer will want the spaces to look their best, so they may charge a per-room fee. This fee ensures that your bathroom with the shoddy drain looks brand new. Many will go to their local Walmart or TJ Maxx, buy what they need to give rooms that pop of color or polished look and return to your home to place the items in the most strategic way. Photographers will adjust lighting, angles, and edit so that your photos are better than anyone’s on your block.

Do-It-Yourself (Semi-Professional) Photography

Now, if you can’t afford a great photographer, don’t fret! Just because you aren’t a pro doesn’t mean you can’t get great photos on your own. There are a few steps that you may want to take to ensure that your photos come out just-as-good (if not better!) than a professional’s.

Step 1: Invest in a Decent Camera

A cellphone camera won’t always cut it when it comes to great photos, but you can change the game really fast with a camera that won’t break the bank. Try to invest in a camera with at least 5 megapixels or more to produce quality photos of your home. A camera that won’t break the bank, but can give you the photos you need, can easily be found on Amazon. Popular brands include Nikon, Sony, and Panasonic. Camera shy? Well, there’s good news for you! An iPhone 6 has 12 megapixels, as does the iPhone 7. You’re a Samsung user? The Samsung Galaxy S6 has 16! If you don’t want to go the traditional camera route, be sure to look up your phone’s megapixels. The answer may surprise you!

Step 2: Stage Your Home

You want to show off what space you have, not show off your clutter! Move your furniture, clean the house top-to-bottom, and remove those fridge magnets. This may leave your space looking a bit dull or aged, but head to Hobby Lobby or Amazon to buy a few things to spice it up and make it look new again. Make sure to edit your photos after! There are plenty of sites online that will let you edit photos for free, or you can use a popular editing platform like Photoshop.

What Next?

Your next best step after photos have been taken is to put them on your local selling site(s). It’s best to have your photos on multiple sites in order to get the most hits. You’ve probably done your research and have a battle plan, so put that plan into motion! Make sure to create a listing that’s as good as your photos, whether they’re professional or not. The best sites for this are those with an easy-to-navigate platform and search engines so that it’s user-friendly overall. Pair your photos with accurate, friendly descriptions to catch the eye and haul in the emotions of the buyer. After all, they want a home!