What to look for when choosing a Real Estate Photographer
Tom Duggan Photography
We create Digital Visual Experiences for companies that want to wow their ideal customers to attract more business.
You're a new agent or an established realtor, but you haven't had much success selling your listings and are not happy with your listing photos.
What do you do?
1) Talk to your fellow realtors about who they use.
2) Look on MLS, Zillow.com, Realtor.com, Redfin.com, and other RE sites, find a style you like, and research who provided the listing photos.
3) Google search for "real estate photographers near me" and see how many ratings a photographer has and what their average rating is.
According to sites like NAR(National Association of Realtors) ( www.nar.realtor ) and Redfin.com, real estate listings with professionally created imagery sell up to 32% faster than those without or with substandard photos.
Here's what to consider when searching for a Real Estate Photographer.
What's Important When Hiring A Real Estate Photographer?
1) FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN PHOTOGRAPHING REAL ESTATE FOR AT LEAST FIVE YEARS
We all want to give people chances when starting their careers. You can still do that as a new or experienced realtor, but most times, you must hit the ground running, create your listing media, and go live ASAP to get the best return for your seller.
I can write another article on how you can help a photographer new to the real estate market. Stay tuned!
2) LOOK AT THEIR PORTFOLIO
Spend time and effort finding a photographer who can add value to your business and listings.
We can usually tell "price shoppers" who want the least expensive option and will never look at a photographer's style or portfolio. Most of the time, they get what they pay for.
Do they capture your style?
The obvious:
- Are the images under/overexposed?
- Are the colors correct?
- Does each image show enough of the space to give an accurate picture, pun intended, of the listing's elements, be it a bedroom, kitchen, living room, or den?
-Are the images tilted?
-Are the images cropped too tight where you can't get a perspective of the space?
You're investing in your business and your seller's success.
Just as you do your diligence in finding inspectors, mortgage brokers, loans, and trade contractors, add a photographer to your list of assets to research!
3) WHAT SERVICES DOES THE PHOTOGRAPHER PROVIDE?
For me, I'm a "One Stop Shop" where I offer many real estate media services.
领英推荐
Some specialists excel and concentrate only on one or two aspects of real estate digital media, while others, like myself, like to have it all under one umbrella.
Having a single photographer offering multiple services can save you a lot of search time if you need only certain services for any of your listings.
4) When the photographer gives you a contract to sign, READ IT
I will publish an article about the contents of a photographer's Real Estate Contract in the future.
Here are some of the most often ordered Real Estate Media Services:
- Digital Still Photos
- Digital Video and Commercial Grade Digital Audio
- Drone Digital Still Photos and Digital Video.
- Virtual Tours. Some vendors use unique names. Matterport calls them "Digital Twins." Zillow calls theirs "Zillow 3D Tours." CloudPano calls them "360o Virtual Tours".
- Floor Plans
Most of these services are self-explanatory. You can see examples of each service through the photographer's portfolio.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS WHEN HIRING A REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHER:
- Besides photographing Real Estate Listings for over five years, are they familiar with Real Estate?
Do they understand how Realtors operate, and more importantly, how Photographers operate in the Real Estate space?
- Can they help or guide with staging or prep?
I provide all my Realtors with a checklist that helps them help the seller prepare their home for listing photos that will help me capture all the best aspects of the property.
I'm not a stager, but I have access to many stagers and other realtor trade contractors.
CONCLUSION:
It may seem daunting with much to pay attention to when choosing a Real Estate Photographer.
You can reduce it to a few factors:
You're now on your way to increasing your selling rate!
Go get 'em!
I help maximize savings and secure your future through expert Tax Planning and Cash Flow Management.
4 个月Tom Duggan Photography Great article. I love how you've shown the way to find the right photography professional for real estate. It is a huge part of generating interest in a property.