I've done it myself; taken what I thought were great listing pictures and used them for my online MLS listing. My clients thought they were fine and I believed they were just fine, until I started working as a buyer's agent in Seattle many years back.
I caused over 40 different buyers weekly and everyday I'd hear, "Did you see those listing pictures? There's no way we should see that house, it's a dump! Does the listing agent understand how bad they're?" Obviously, the listing agent didn't spend anything on real estate photography.
My buyers would also see some very nice listing photos and would like to get in to see the house that afternoon. We'd step inside and they'd wonder if it was exactly the same home they saw online. They felt cheated because the pictures were nothing beats the actual home. (but at least the listing agent got buyers walking through the house).
All of it came down seriously to the listing pictures they saw online. That's essential marketing for listings! Give buyers a good picture and they'll jump inside that day. Let them have a "do-it-yourself" picture and they'll move onto another home. The listing pictures make the difference, especially when you spend a couple of bucks on professional real-estate photography!
Even once the listing pictures were much better than the actual house, guess what? It still got the buyers inside! That's your goal as a listing agent; get as many showings as possible. Professional real estate photography makes that happen.
With up to 80%+ of buyers looking online now, the listing photos are first thing they're looking at and basing their initial impressions on.
The amount of money in lost commissions you think you're missing as you won't spend a couple hundred bucks for professional property photography?
If you did spend the well invested marketing dollars on some professional real-estate photography.......
Isn't it funny how this type of small part of your organization make a difference everything? Anytime you realize how one issue affects your net profits, that'll cause you to perk up, right?
Now don't give me the excuse that it's too expensive because it's not. Consider it as a marketing and advertising expense because that's what it really is. And real estate photography is one of the greatest things you are able to spend your marketing dollars on.
You might grab a professional in real-estate photography in the local area and offer them $50-$200 to come quickly to your listing and take some fabulous photos. Ensure they're top notch, have all the proper equipment and understand the goal of the photos. That you don't want to cover real estate photography that's no much better than your own.
Your other option is to opt for a business like Vicaso.com who property photography exclusively. Their business is listing photos for real-estate agents!
austin real estate photography
You can schedule your photo shoot on their website, pay about $200 or so and get probably the most captivating listing photos you'll ever see. Even though you have a crack house listed on the market, their property photography will make it look like a palace.
I'm letting you know; don't skimp in your real-estate photography. Go through the cost being an investment. In the event that you spent $200 on professional property photography and got in another $20,000 in commissions that year from faster sales, more clients, and higher listing prices, wouldn't that be worthwhile? You betcha!