Why it matters
First you have to understand the way buyers are buying homes nowadays. They aren't looking through newspapers. They arent' driving around the neighborhood. They aren't even asking their own real estate agent. They are looking for homes on the Internet.
As a result, the pictures they see online determines what they are willing to go see. Of course, there are exceptions. Always. However, would a buyer who sees a home online, which has terrible pictures, want to see that home? I venture to say that they would not. I mean put yourself in a buyers shoes. Would you want to go see a house that looks like crap because of bad pictures?
Hire A Professional
Has there ever been a time were you wanted to save money by doing it yourself? Yeah watching YouTube videos and figuring it out yourself is cool and all. But what was the result? Did you botch the job? Or did it come out better than what a professional could have done? I have been guilty of this myself. At the age of 16 I tried to install a satellite dish on our home. Let me tell you that I was humbled by the experience. This is why people get paid the big bucks to do it. They know what they are doing because they have done it a lot of times. They have the tools and the knowledge to do it right the first time.
This time is just like that. You want to hire a professional real estate photographer to do the job. He or she will know exactly what needs to be captured. They understand composition, lighting, exposure, and a slew of other photography issues much better than an amateur. Have you heard of the flambient technique? I didn't think so. And until I hired a professional real estate photographer I hadn't either.
“If you think it's too expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur"
Red Adair - Oil Well Firefighter
Photo Distribution
Okay now that you've hired a professional real estate photographer and received the great pictures, now what? You're asking yourself what do I do with these great photos? The first place that they will be going is to the multiple listing service (MLS). This will be the hub of all photo distribution. Once your real estate agent has uploaded them to the MLS, major websites begin to crawl the MLS. They extract all listing information along with your pictures. Some websites crawl faster than others. In my experience Redfin is the fastest. Zillow is not as quick but still gets the pictures within a few hours.
Your photos can also be used in marketing material such as flyers, okay mainly flyers. But your photos can also be used to put up on independent websites. You can dictate how you want to present your home to the world and are not limited by how Redfin or Zillow wants to do it.
Better Pictures
You're thinking why the heck should I hire a professional when I have a great camera on my phone. Yes, your phone has a great camera. I'm not disputing that. I'm saying that your phone is not as powerful as a DSLR. For example, the iPhone X has a rear camera that can capture 12 megapixels. You're like heck yeah! But you would be wrong to think that it can outperform a DSLR. Canon offers a lot of great cameras. I own one and love it. Even in the lower end of the Canon line, the camera takes 18 megapixel pictures. That's 50% more information that is captured over the iPhone X. You can also get out of hand with megapixels. Sony offers the a7r mark iv. It is capable of 61 megapixels. That is a bit much. I think the sweet spot is somewhere at 20 megapixels.
More Money
Now on to what really matters, money.You're thinking why in the freak did I just spend so much money to hire a professional real estate photographer. The answer is to get more money for your home. That's why! Oh and it sells faster on average than homes that don't have good photos. I have seen homes sell for more when they have great photos. They also take fewer days to sell. This can be important if you have to make a move quickly. Who doesn't want the most money with the least amount of time your home is on the market?
One example I recently saw was a home that sold for 328,500 in San Jacinto, CA. This home had two agents try to sell it. One after the other. The first agent's listing was cancelled for unknown reasons. The first agent had mediocre pictures. The second agent had great pictures. The second agent was able to get the home sold in 11 days. The agent also got more than the asking price of $320,000. I say that this is all attributed to having good pictures.
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