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RE: Can really bad real estate photos be an ethical problem? |
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Buildatour.com
Basic Member
Posts:122
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| 12 Jan 2009 09:08 PM |
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I'll bet most aggressive sellers would say an emphatic YES! It's pretty well known that the majority of buyers start their search online. We'd all probably agree that first impressions are extremely important, right? Well, it only takes a few real bad real estate photos, (or no photos at all) to form many bad first opinions about your seller's property very quickly.
Consider this. An agent takes a few phenomenally bad photos and uploads them to the listing on the local MLS. It only takes a day or two for those bad images to be spread all over the internet through various feeds.
Agent's have a fudiciary responsibility to their clients in appropriately representing their interest. Uploading photos of the sellers property that are less than appealing could be construed as falling outside the lines of that fudiciary responsibility. In this case, even if the property sells, it will most likely bring less than it would have if great photos of the property had been used and displayed in a professional manner on the internet. No property photos at all might be a better option than really bad ones. But consider how many potential buyers have said that they just move on to the next listing when there are no photos, or really bad ones. If all other factors are as they should be, great online property images may be the single most important consideration in marketing a property online.
When we had a booming real estate market across the country, no one seemed to care, because properties seemed to sell anyway. But, in one of the flatest real estate markets we've seen in decades, sellers are starting to sit up and take note of every little detail. They now expect that the images used to market their property be as good as possible. Some sellers even demand that professional photography services be employed.
In this market, sellers are now doing their homework when it comes to selecting an agent to sell their home. As an agent, you should be aware that other potential sellers are carefully evaluating the way in which you market properties online. It's important to realize that you may be loosing listings that you don't even know about when sellers are grading your online image. If 80% or more of potential buyers are starting their search online, and most sellers know this, isn't it logical that 80% or more of your efforts should be focused on your online marketing plans? Pictures are the first thing buyers see. If you're pictures are great, they're much more likely to dig deeper.
There is some debate about what constitutes a good photo or a bad photo. We'll simply say here that you're probably not going to make good interior real estate shot with a $100 digital camera or your cell phone camera ... for crying out loud! And, you do need to take a little time to actually look at EVERYTHING in the frame before pushing the button. To make the sort of images that buyers and sellers are coming to expect, you need camera equipment that lends itself to interior real estate photography. We recommend a camera lens of 28mm or less (wide-angle), and it's a good idea to purchase a camera with external flash capabilities.
You probably spend a lot of money on advertising each year. Because good or even great real estate images are so effective in selling property and reducing time on market, it seems like an investment in camera equipment for real estate marketing would be money well spent.
If you don't have a background in photography, we'd recommend you go to your local camera dealer and speak with one of their trained salespeople. Make sure they know what they're talking about though. Places like Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. don't always employ camera experts in the camera department.
If you're willing to make a commitment to making better property photos in 2009, we highly recommend Larry Lohrman's Photograph For Real Estate Blog. <a href='http://www.photographyforrealestate.net' target='_blank'>http://www.photographyforrealestate.net</a> |
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