If You Don’t Think Photos Matter, Just Ask a Client

September 7, 2007 |

I pride myself on taking the best listing photos I can. I do so for a few different reasons. First, it is a matter of pride. Second, our clients deserve it. Third, I NEVER want to see one of my pictures on this site.

That being said, I think there are still far too many agents out there who just don’t take the time to care about the listing photos they are presenting to the public. As a team, we occasionally end up listing homes after they have expired with another listing firm. This experience always provides us with a unique opportunity to hear reactions from people who have recently gone through the selling process. We use the feedback as a way to make sure we are doing the best possible job of serving our clients, and to compare our services with those of our competitors. The best thing is, clients provide pretty candid feedback.

Such was the case with a listing we recently started marketing. As is usually the case, I did the photography, we created a flyer, etc. An interesting thing happened, however, when the owner saw the photos. He was so thrilled by the photos we were using compared to those of his previous agent that he was convinced that the reason the home didn’t sell was because of the pictures. He actually wanted to raise the price of the house based on the new photos! I very much appreciated the compliment, even though we didn’t change the listing price.

Not that I want to be self-congratulatory or anything, but I thought I would post the before and after pictures here just to highlight how important listing photos really are. Incidentally, these were the only pictures that I could use for direct comparison. The old listing only had 6 pictures. We used 15. Let me know what you think:

BEFORE

oldhuntingtondining.jpg

AFTER

huntingtondining.jpg

BEFORE

oldhuntingtonkitchen.jpg

AFTER

huntingtonkitchen.jpg

BEFORE

oldhuntingtonliving.jpg

AFTER

huntingtonliving2.jpg

[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, photography [/tags]

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Industry Issues, Selling 

Comments

11 Responses to “If You Don’t Think Photos Matter, Just Ask a Client”

  1. David Smith on September 7th, 2007 3:08 am

    What a huge difference a change of angle and added light can make. There is a sense of continuation in the new images, you can see where one room leads to another.

    The addition of the picture on the wall and fish tank are nice as is the removal of the light catcher from the kitchen window.

    These images make the home feel open and inviting. Great information thanks. Now I’ll end with the typical quote; “Great Post”

    [Reply]

  2. Daniel Rothamel on September 7th, 2007 3:31 am

    David,

    Thanks for the kind words.

    [Reply]

  3. Ben on September 7th, 2007 6:33 am

    That blog is AWESOME! I was chuckling pretty good until I saw this one: http://www.reagentinct.com/2007/08/29/bad-mls-photo-of-the-day-139/
    at which point I almost gave myself a laughter hernia!

    [Reply]

  4. Duane Gran on September 7th, 2007 7:56 pm

    I’m curious if you have seen realtors making use of a professional photographer. The photos you took are a marked improvement. I wonder if there is much ground to be gained going for the last 20% of quality.

    [Reply]

  5. Jeremy Hart on September 7th, 2007 10:26 pm

    Sold. I agree, I was surprised how angle gave such a different perspective. Nice job …

    [Reply]

  6. Athol Kay on September 9th, 2007 10:05 pm

    Hi Daniel, thanks of course for the link love.

    I do think you’re generally safe from getting scalped by me for a bad photo of the day. :-)

    Being the first person to ever comment on my orginial blog is kinda a life time get out of jail free card. ;-P

    [Reply]

  7. Daniel Rothamel on September 10th, 2007 2:03 am

    Athol,

    I didn’t know I was the first. That is pretty cool. I’ll put in on the VERY short list of things I have been first at.

    Your new blog has been great, BTW.

    [Reply]

  8. Lisa Sanderson on September 12th, 2007 12:29 am

    Hi Daniel, I shared this article on facebook after I found you in one of the groups. Nice job and I couldn’t agree more!

    [Reply]

  9. Daniel Rothamel on September 12th, 2007 5:48 am

    Lisa,

    You found me on Facebook?! I love it!

    [Reply]

  10. Frankly on November 17th, 2007 11:59 pm

    What kind of camera do you use?

    [Reply]

  11. Daniel Rothamel on November 18th, 2007 2:42 am

    I use a Canon EOS Digital Rebel xti

    [Reply]

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