Make Your Listings Stand Out With These Real Estate Photography Tips
If you want to venture into real estate, high-quality photos in your portfolio are vital to inspire homebuyers to take interest in your properties. However, taking great shots may seem tricky at first, so you will need to learn how to produce beautiful, high-quality, and consistent real estate photos — especially when you consider how many homebuyers will first discover your properties.
79% of potential buyers rely on online sources to find their next abode, which means that real estate listing photos are the first thing they see before checking out a house in person. Therefore, the more impressive real estate photos you have, the more leads you will generate since photography plays a significant role in your marketing as a real estate agent.
Having exceptional real estate photos in your portfolio isn't a difficult task. Sometimes, you only need sufficient natural light to achieve this goal. We've come up with several vital tips that can help you take your real estate photography to the next level. Here are some of the tactics you can use:
Hire a Real Estate Photography Professional
If you don't know how to shoot perfect real estate photos, you can hire a real estate photographer. Hiring a pro ensures that you get high-quality exterior and interior shots.
Make sure you look for a photographer with a remarkable track record in taking great-looking property photos. Experience is also crucial since veteran photographers can deliver quality images even under stringent timelines, particularly if they have an established real estate photography business and are familiar with your needs as an agent.
Real Estate Photographer Costs
The cost of hiring a real estate photographer varies depending on several factors, including the number of images you need, the number of houses being photographed, the size of the home, the amount of photo editing required, and more. You can get most of the professional photos from a starting price of about $100. The costs can jump to thousands of dollars depending on your needs. For example, hiring someone to take drone photos and aerial shots of your properties is likely to cost a pretty penny.
1. Find the Right Real Estate Photographer
You can use various sites to find a real estate photographer who has the experience to deliver quality photos of your client's property. Remember to go through the photographer's portfolio to see their skillset before hiring them to snap some pics. Once you find a real estate photographer with the right qualities you’re seeking, you can use them regularly.
When looking for a real estate photographer, first ask your network if they have any recommendations. Otherwise, here are some places you can source your photographer:
Pro Tip:
What happens if your photographer isn't available and your Nikon camera is also missing, yet you have a deadline to meet? Download the Exposio app on your Android or iOS device and use the app's HDR camera to create high-quality real estate photos in a flash. With the Exposio app, you can choose the suitable camera settings including the best angle for your property shots. A single click on your device can capture up to 27 shots. With every shot, the camera settings change automatically to fit different purposes. The app also eliminates the tedious tasks of editing, presets, and bracketing.
2. Declutter and Clean Each Room to Prepare for Photos
Homebuyers or renters want to see images that represent a place they could call home. With this in mind, make sure your pictures make the property look inviting, positive, and secure. Avoid uploading photos that show scattered toys, dirty dishes, messy beddings, and cluttered countertops. When potential buyers see unkempt interiors or exteriors in property listings, they will look for another real estate agent. Although you can decide to use photoshop afterward or rely on professional real estate photography expertise to snap the final image, you should definitely prepare and clean the property before taking a single picture.
Make sure you declutter and clean every room to show prospective buyers what the home offers. Decluttering is a great home staging strategy to get your property ready for interior photography. Also, make sure you:
- Remove unnecessary chairs and other furniture from the living room
- Straighten the pillows
- Declutter the kitchen countertops
- Clean the shower screens
- Try hiding all the cords and pet-related items
3. Utilize Natural Light
There is something special about how natural light illuminates a room. As the light pours over different surfaces, you have an opportunity to capture naturally lit images in the house. Even with a short equipment list, including a tripod, wide-angle lens, and DSLR camera, you'll snag quality shots.
You don't have to rely on other light sources or better shutter speeds to get a higher ISO value of the interior and exterior photos — nine times out of 10, simply using natural light will suffice. Also, remember to turn off any artificial lights in the property to avoid color casts.
4. Time the Real Estate Photoshoot for Optimal Lighting
When planning for a real estate photo shoot, the first rule of thumb is to choose a sunny day. On a sunny or partly sunny day, the colors of a photo are full of energy. On cloudy days, however, you'll have low light that leads to flat and dull images.
Take pictures during the hour of the day when the property has adequate lighting. Midday may be the right time for most houses, but some also have the most light in the afternoon or during the morning hours. Avoid taking pictures of the interior at sunset when the light changes color to maintain consistency; you want to make sure you take all shots with the same constant light. You can use net curtains or open the blinds to ensure that enough sunlight fills each room. Alternatively, you can take interior photos at dusk to match the outdoor light using interior lighting. This way, you can also avoid overexposing the windows.
5. Use Consistent Lighting and Editing
The best real estate photography begins with adequate preparation, even if you're using a professional photographer. While natural light is a favorite, sometimes you may have to rely on lamps and light stands to illuminate the property properly. Added lights can make your space feel warmer, but the color cast can also turn the scene very yellow or orange, so you may need to make adjustments to the white balance during post-processing. Conversely, going without lights gives real estate photos a more even look by minimizing the shadows — but the interior of a house feels a little bit cold in the absence of artificial lights.
No matter which method you use, be consistent; different lighting and editing can alter the aesthetics of your photos. All the images should be cohesive and portray an accurate reflection of the property.
6. Take Real Estate Photos of the Exterior of the Property
The exterior of your property acts as bait for potential buyers, helping them to decide if they would like to see the rest of the house. Make sure you have a shot of the overall property to showcase in your portfolio and other marketing sources. You will also want to avoid blocking the sun in your exterior shots since you can't rely on artificial illumination. Showcase the best features and highlight the uniqueness the property offers to homebuyers in your pictures. Use a full-frame camera and take advantage of your tripod and timer to get your property's best angles and vertical lines.
7. Do Not Mislead Buyers
Even if you photoshop your real estate photos, it’s likely that buyers will want to check out the house before buying it. Don't be tempted to use random stock photos that are somewhat close to what you want to sell. You will end up misleading many buyers if you try to cover significant property imperfections through either photography tricks or photoshop. Instead, only share photos that are an accurate representation of the house to avoid frustrating potential buyers.
8. Post the Optimal Number of Real Estate Photos for Your Listing
You might assume that having as many photos as possible is a good idea, but it's a huge mistake. Excessive images frustrate homebuyers. Usually, photos are in slideshows or carousels, and when you have too many of them for one property, it takes longer to understand everything the home has to offer. Consequently, buyers will have a hard time getting the details they are seeking from your pictures.
Although there’s no perfect number of images and most MLS allow unlimited photos, 20–25 high-quality photos should suffice. This way, you will have a good balance between quality and quantity. A smaller property will require fewer images than a larger one with unique features. Capture wide-angle shots that bring out different angles instead of too many pictures of the same areas.
9. Ensure Real Estate Photos Are Optimized for Mobile and Desktop Users
Research shows that one in four real estate website visitors use their mobile devices to bounce around the web. Therefore, you should optimize your images for both desktop and mobile phone users to generate as many leads as possible. Social media also offers a gateway to potential buyers, and only appealing property images will find significant traffic on websites like Twitter and Instagram.
10. Create a Virtual Tour of the Listing
Technology has taken over the real estate industry. You can now use virtual tours to create a perfect impression on your property while advertising to potential clients.
Also, if interested out-of-town homebuyers do not have to see the property in person to understand everything it offers because you’ve set up a virtual tour of the listing, you can funnel a considerable chunk of global buyers to your listing. Having virtual tours on your website or social media platforms not only encourages all buyers to consider your properties regardless of their location, but you can use these tours to expand your online presence without spending as much time setting up (and taking down) open houses.
Images Make All the Difference
Having the perfect images on your portfolio can set you apart from other agents in the real estate industry. These real estate photography tips will go a long way in marketing your property to prospective buyers.
The CE Shop is an innovative and results-driven education provider dedicated to helping you expand your knowledge and expertise in real estate. For more assistance in using technology to increase your number of leads and boost your business, check out the Technology section of our free Agent Essentials resource library.
The content provided on this website is deemed accurate at the time of creation.