Have you ever known, or do you know someone who photographs their own MLS listings and fails to realize the importance of hiring a Professional? Real estate agents caution their sellers about the importance of the famous “curb appeal,” and with good reason! They encourage them to tidy up and most times stage the home’s interior. Then they come along, shoot some rushed photos on their smartphone and toss them on to MLS.

While curb appeal is the client’s responsibility, Online appeal is the agent’s or agency’s responsibility. Agents have one chance to impress – a quick two seconds to grab a buyer’s attention without a photograph, and you increase your chances to 20 seconds if you do. Do smartphone listing photos or those you take with a point-and-shoot camera take full advantage of those extra 18 seconds?

Why professional photos are a crucial part of the sales process.

When the average buyer looks at a listing online, the first thing  he or she does is look at the images, this is a given.

Images are looked at first more than 90% of the time and the last thing any agent needs is a bad or an awful “ok” first impression that almost seems more alarming than the previous.

Some agents surprisingly enough may not even add images to their listings and feel that a description will suffice, however this agent is more and more rapidly becoming extinct as the market is actually to competitive for them to survive very long.

How much better can a Professional Real Estate photographer be?

According to a 2013 Redfin study, properties that are professionally photographed are more likely to sell within 6 months.

It goes without saying that the faster you can sell, the faster you can move on to the next property.

Bellow we have some images that will put it all in perspective for you.

Click thru these images to see the professional photographer’s work VS the Amateur.

“But I own a professional camera!”

While the above may be the case some of the time, the best techniques, angles and image retouching abilities are often untapped due to the inexperience that the amateur behind the lens carries with them and that will eventually hurt the overall growth of the agent or agency.

If you really give it some thought you will realize that hiring a professional photographer will actually increase your profit and your status as an agent.

Agents stay extremely busy – Allow real estate photographers to help!

At the heart of it all agents understand that they can only take on so many responsibilities in the real estate practice before they start to neglect their clients “many times without noticing” – this all becomes increasingly difficult as they attempt to grow their businesses. It is the agents or agency who acknowledges this very important part of the buying experience that typically move to the next level.

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Remember to focus on selling and leave the photography to the Pros: “It is better that way.”

Now some may say that a good home will sell itself and while that may sometimes be the case it is also true that a good home will sell faster with the right help and proper listing and faster sales equates to more opportunities to sell.

Next time you need photos for a listing ask yourself: “Would I like to sell this property as fast as possible? 

The buying experience is very important and can determine repeat business and referrals. Give your valued clients the experience they deserve!