Real Estate Photo Philosophy - Phact or Phiction
Posted in Technology, Tools and Tidbits By Mike Sparr, Friday, April 4, 2008.This morning Realtor.org posted an RISMedia article on the importance and benefits of presenting listings with photos. Their research identified the DOM shortens from 70 days with one single photo, to 40 days with six photos. Not only did the DOM shorten, but the listing actually sold closer to the asking price with just one photo.
Check this out for yourself!
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Daily Real Estate News | April 2, 2008
How Photos Help Sell Homes
Photographs that accompany home listings on the Web or in brochures, newspaper advertisements, flyers, magazine articles, and other marketing materials play a significant role in attracting buyers.
These images serve as the first impression, and buyers often decide whether or not to see a home in person based on their quality and presentation.
Research reveals that the more photos a listing has, the quicker it sells. A property with a single photo spent 70 days on the market (DOM) on average, while DOM fell to 40 with six photos, 36 with 16 to 19 photos, and 32 with 20 photos. Additionally, listings with one photo sold for 91.2 percent of the original price, while homes with six or more sold for 95 percent of the original price.
The photos to be used in an agent's marketing materials should be taken by a professional, with experts noting that sellers will recoup the costs of professional photos if their homes sell faster and at a higher price.
Source: RISMedia, Gar Bene (04/01/08)
Click here for the article: http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008040205?OpenDocument
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Now don't be shy; GET YOUR CAMERA SHINED UP AND START SNAPPING SOME PICTURES! Better yet, hire a professional to capture great images that really get your buyers attention!
Go ahead, hit me with your best shot! Feel free to post your favorite photo of one of your listings!
I will be posting some more information on photos in the near future, so stay tuned to get the most out of your marketing!
Happy Snapping!
Erika
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Submitted by John Lauber on April 4, 2008 - 11:20am.
This seems like a timely post for me. In my closing today, I had the buyer and seller both complimenting the number of photos and the quality. The buyer said, "It really helped us make a decision by having those photos in the brochure and the website." The house sold in just over a week after showings began. It kills me to see one photo on a listing when it's so easy to get decent photos with the tools today.
So like Erika said, get snapping. As many as you can get.
John Lauber
John@JohnLauber.com
Submitted by Real Estate Web Critic on April 4, 2008 - 11:24am.
One more reason why NAR does not do us justice by allowing Realtor.com try to upsell us on 'Enhanced' listings with more photos. Clearly, the public and Realtors want more photos and allowing a fair amount of photos (without an extra charge) as a basic service should be a minimal requirement for Realtor.com.
The Real Estate Web Critic
Submitted by Jay Thompson on April 4, 2008 - 12:04pm.
Point2 Agent - one of (if not the) largest providers of real estate agent web sites, has reported a similar trend with the number of photos vs. leads produced. See this issue of The Point Magazine:
http://nls.point2.com/Content/Documents/Point2NLSThePointv1n3.pdf?utm_so...
(It's a big PDF file, be patient)
There is an interesting graph on the bottom of page 4. (And no comments on the bozo interviewed on page 2!)
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
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Submitted by Mike Sparr on April 4, 2008 - 12:26pm.
John, that's great! Congrats on this mornings closing! I think one key thing there you mentioned was that they liked the photos "in the brochure AND on the website". I think that may be something else agents are skipping; some may think that posting on their website is plenty and they don't need to do it anywhere else. It's just like creating a brand for one single listing, use the photos in ALL marketing. Great comment and great work!
R.E. Web Critic, that is the unfortunate part, but I think because it is not currently a "must have" (well we think it is but as we know others find it a commodity), then companies can still charge for it as a premium. I am sure, like anything else, it will become a bigger demand and hopefully they'll begin to incorporate more photos into the "basic packages".
Jay, great graph! I have kept that for future reference. I also had to take a peek at your feature article; very COOL, congrats! Your comment "The agent that fails to embrace technology is the agent who fails to fully service his clientele" fits this post perfectly. Thanks a bunch for sharing.
Submitted by Krista Miller on April 4, 2008 - 1:48pm.
I was just having this conversation with a colleague yesterday after reading the article. In my opinion it is the lazy agent that doesn't include pics. HOWEVER, an interesting note: a leading brokerage in our area (Berkeley) has begun to intentionally NOT put pictures (ooh, funky grammar) up on their listings until after about 4 days of being active. I am not really sure why this is, but can only surmise that they are hoping people will go back to their listings?? Is this crazy or is there something to it??
On related note, I do these walking tours of my listings. One sold to a guy living out of state who saw the online tour and purchased it sight-unseen. Not smart in my opinion, but I was representing the seller so hey...works for me!
Jay, I second what Erika said about your article!
Krista Miller
Windermere Real Estate Bay Area
Submitted by G Dewald | Union Street Media on April 4, 2008 - 1:59pm.
Krista, is the photo-withholding brokerage actively promoting the lack of photos for four days or is it something you've just noticed?
They may be doing it as an A/B test to examine the difference in visitor behavior on pages with photos vs without photos.
Sounds pretty odd though.
Submitted by Stacey Pfeifer on April 4, 2008 - 3:02pm.
We've seen the correlation for our clients over the years more extra photos = more consumers joining their database. We also tell our agents who don't have many photos to add links to each listing and give area info like:
school district/school sites
city services links
Yelp! links to restaurant searches etc
Google/Yahoo map
local online city guides
Walkscore [totally great free site that paints a little neighborhood portrait for the listing http://www.walkscore.com ]
link to your flickr account if you save area photos there too.
Enhancing listings is a hard sell to agents who don't have a virtual or in-house assistant, but these details are so vitally important for people doing home buying research-- totally worth doing! The agents that do it generally are happier clients.
Here's a listing that is pretty well packed, I think:
http://tinyurl.com/5unv8v
Submitted by Debbie Ferrari on April 4, 2008 - 4:46pm.
Use of text AND photos is what comprises a COMPLETE communication. Just as 80% of communication between two people facing each other is NON-verbal, and based on what one person SEES the other doing as they speak, the same thing holds true for text AND photos.
A picture truly IS worth a thousand words and since it is, why NOT put it into the MLS listing?
I can think of no good reason for leaving a photo out and it really ticks me off when an agent lists a property WITHOUT the picture right away. (Our MLS will DROP a listing after 7 days if the picture is not there).
You NEED both. If there is no pic, the buyer will likely skim over the listing and go to the next one WITH a picture. Sorry, but true.
Some agents here are habitually lazy or slow in getting their home photos onto the MLS listing, but I have learned that that is because they are
pretty brain-dead about taking photos. And they have to WAIT till a spouse or child can take the pics FOR them...Gimme a break!
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Debbie Ferrari, "The Internet Broker"
****For South Orange County, CA****
Search the Local MLS Right from My Giant Web Site at:
http://www.debbieferrari.com
E-mail: Debbie@DebbieFerrari.com
CALL ME TOLL FREE: 888-547-2942
Reach Me All Day Long---
Submitted by Krista Miller on April 4, 2008 - 9:05pm.
G Dewald: Just something that my colleagues and I noticed...but worth looking into the intention (or lack of) behind it.
Debbie: Your MLS will actually drop the listing? Do they fine the agents for not including pictures? How does the agent population feel about this?
Krista Miller
Windermere Real Estate Bay Area
Submitted by Debbie Ferrari on April 4, 2008 - 11:44pm.
Hi Kristi:
I'm not sure if they take it completely out, but it is not Active until the
picture is put in. That is, if they catch it. Usually it will be someone
that reports it. Say, it's been in 30 days and still no pictures....there
is a button as agents we can click on to "report a violation" then they (the
MLS) will in turn notify the offending agent.
Debbie Ferrari, "The Internet Broker"
****For South Orange County, CA****
Search the Local MLS Right from My Giant Web Site at:
http://www.DebbieFerrari.com
E-mail: Debbie@DebbieFerrari.com
CALL ME TOLL FREE: 888-547-2942
Reach Me All Day Long---On My Cell Phone: 949-463-4111
Fax: 949-625-8622
Watch My 2-Minute Video:
Debbie Ferrari, "The Internet Broker"
****For South Orange County, CA****
Search the Local MLS Right from My Giant Web Site at:
http://www.debbieferrari.com
E-mail: Debbie@DebbieFerrari.com
CALL ME TOLL FREE: 888-547-2942
Reach Me All Day Long---
Submitted by Mike Sparr on April 7, 2008 - 9:52am.
Incredible that the MLS is actually not activating the listing until photos are attached, and also interesting that it allows agents to report a violation for that. Times are changing and the systems are beginning to mandate that... I think we'll begin seeing that a lot more.
Submitted by Victor Lund on April 7, 2008 - 10:10am.
It is important to understand that the rules of the MLS are determined by the members/subscribers, not the MLS staff. This is also true of the processes for reporting and charging violations by other members.
Victor Lund
Partner
WAV Group
http://waves.wavgroup.com
http://www.wavgroup.com
Submitted by Mike Sparr on April 10, 2008 - 7:17am.
Thanks, Victor. You're right. I guess it's kind of a catch 22. You obviously want consumers to look at your own listings, so if competitor agents don't post pictures, more props to you. Then again, you don't want consumers to avoid going to that MLS altogether because not all agents post photos. Thanks for your thought!