Tectone Real Estate » Real Estate Photography

Good Tips for Great Real Estate Photography

salsabilahanun — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:23:10 +0000

In today’s market, home sellers need to bring out as much ammunition as possible in order to attract buyers. One of the first steps in drawing interest to your home is to create a clear, enticing and positive online listing of your home. As much as words can be used effectively to describe selling features, nothing can compare to the impact of quality photographic images. Digital cameras and photo software like photoshop, make it easy for homeowners to take their own listing photos. If want to present a successful image gallery for your home, here are some important tips to keep in mind:

Take more than one!

Your listing should contain more than one photograph. Ideally, there should be several photographs, all of superior color and in the correct format. Posting only one image, or only outdoor/only indoor images can easily come across as if you are hiding something distasteful. Prospective buyers want to have a clear visual picture of your property and are more likely to book a viewing if they’ve seen a good visual representation of your entire home through an internet listing. Make sure to include whatever rooms inside your home offer distinctive features or appeal. Your agent will probably have a limit on how many photos you can submit, so maximize potential by using your full limit and include only the best photos of the best rooms, views, and outdoor spaces as well. Take note that you’ll want a great photo of the front exterior of your home, as this may be the image that is used repeatedly as a sort of cover shot. This will be the image that initially draws people to look further into your listing.

Set them up!

You will need to do a little home staging to prep your rooms before taking the photos. Remove everything from the room that distracts from your purpose of making the home look attractive. Avoid including things like door frames and chair backs in images. Remove extra furniture and add only striking decorative items that accentuate the selling features of your home. Keep an eye out for things that can be removed to improve the photo. Clean lines and an uncluttered room will make for an appealing photos. A strong photograph will focus on the building’s/room’s architecture, design and space.

Don’t aim too high!

Don’t aim your camera too high when taking photos. Viewers are not going to be interested in shots of the ceiling. If you have a ceiling/wall feature that you want to capture such as a high, coved or vaulted feature, you may need to use a camera with a wide lens. Aim to include a suggestion or taste of that feature, while still including the scope of the room at roughly eye level. Remember, it’s important to capture the entire room. Viewers want to be able to perceive rooms as if they were just walking through your house. Clear, accurate visual information is what you want to offer in your photographs.

Color your world!

Once you’ve taken a whack of photos, you can then look at them on your computer and use a photo editing software package to adjust the color on your images. Play around, with different levels of color and contrast. Light and bright, is what you’re aiming for.

Make them fit!

Keep in mind that most websites are designed to work best with horizontal (landscape mode) images. A mixture of horizontal and vertical formatted images can be distracting and confusing.

Seven Steps for a Quick Real Estate Sale

salsabilahanun — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:10:04 +0000

The longer a piece of property stalls, the greater threat it poses to your marketability and profit. There are 10 simple things you can do to enhance your home’s appeal, get warm bodies through the door and close the deal sooner rather than later.

1) Open houses

This is one of the most popular weekend activities. Letting people walk through your home – touching it, feeling it, picturing their children playing in your backyard – is a highly effective way to generate interest. However, an open house is only as effective as the traffic it generates. Without some other key home-selling strategies, you may find your open house events sorely disappointing.

2) Perks

Creativity is key in some areas where the housing market has peaked, leaving sellers at their wit’s end. Throwing in perks like a cash rebate disguised as a “decorator’s allowance” or homeowner’s association fees for a year can be very enticing. It can also be considerably cheaper than letting your property languish on the market, forcing you to slash the price. One of the standard incentives is to cover closing costs for the seller. When including perks, be mindful of the buyer’s perception. You don’t want to seem over-eager, because they will then question your motives and probably use that against you in price negotiations.

3) Hire the best

Hiring a good agent with years of experience and knowledge of the market and its current trends is crucial. For Sale By Owner properties are generally preyed upon by opportunistic investors who plan to flip the property and see this as a way to take advantage. If you don’t have the knowledge and the real estate savvy, get somebody on your side who does. Hiring a good agent will generally bring you a higher sale price, and is worth any commission you may have to pay out in the end.

4) Make a map

Just as real estate investors create a plan for their investments, sellers must map out their selling plan. What is a reasonable price for that market and how far would you be willing to come down off that price? Set a date on which you will reduce the cost if the home has not yet sold, as flexibility is key. A good agent should have the know-how to help you with mapping out your strategy.

5) Get organized

Cleaning out all your personal stuff can make a prospective buyer start viewing the home as their own. A clean, open, clutter-free space leaves room for imagination and creativity. Does your home have a wealth of storage space? Show it off by cleaning and organizing your closets and cabinets. Above all, make sure the home stays clean. Nothing kills a deal faster than seeing hairbrushes and dirty dishes lying around.

6) Get chic

An interior decorator with an eye for design can be your best friend. Their skills can entice buyers and help transition the house from “your home” to a “show home.” Spring for new end tables, pillows, decorating accessories, fresh paint on the walls and ceilings. You may even want to remove your old personal effects, such as family pictures. Small details like setting the dining room table as if you were about to host a dinner party can also help prospective buyers picture themselves in your home.

7) Professional photography

Just as professional models attract jobs by using professional photographers for their head shots, so should you give your home top-notch treatment. Quality photos of not just the exterior, but several different rooms on the interior, can enable prospective buyers to take a “virtual tour” of your home. Internet shopping is becoming increasingly popular as an essential step that precedes an actual home tour. It is important to gain interest up front with these photos, and a professional can help capture the true essence of your home. It is a worthwhile investment to drive up interest and foot traffic.

Make Your Real Estate Pictures Perfect

salsabilahanun — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:08:06 +0000

So your selling your house, and the agent is coming to take photographs. Do yourself a favor and consider the following advice. After all, the picture is what most buyers are going to see first. If they like the picture, they’ll search further for more info, ideally coming to see your home in person. If they don’t like the picture, they’ll just click on by.

Cluttered Counters: So many times in interior real estate photographs I see drinking glasses or worse—pop and even beer cans—sitting out on the counter or table. I am sorry, but this just lacks class. Your home doesn’t have to be the Hilton to deserve a tidy-up before the Realtor® comes. For such an import appointment, clear off the counters and tables.

Dark Windows: When you book a time for your promotional photographs to be taken, make it during the day. Natural light enhances your home’s looks, and bright windows with a view of the outdoors make rooms look cheery and inviting. Too often I see pictures of rooms with dark windows. They are like depressing caves to me, and the light of the camera flash reflecting in them is no solace. Further, many people are interested in seeing the yard or other exterior features of a home. If the photographs are taken in daylight, any feature of the home, inside and out, can be on display.

Television on: As with the cluttered counters, I see having a TV on during photographing as a sign that you just can’t be bothered. Not that I expect all home sellers to stand at attention from the moment their home is listed until it sells, but, for me it’s an aesthetic issue. A TV on is a distraction, even in a still photograph. It takes away from your home.

These are a few key things that could be considered when taking real estate photos, to make them the best they can be. In general, too much clutter distracts viewers, in a photograph and in a personal showing. Buyers want to see your house, not your dirty laundry, your favorite drink, or whatever was on TV the day the Realtor® came by.