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Don't Let Your Agent Be Your Photographer Too

6,498 Views | 39 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by Diggity
Red Pear Realty
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4:26p, 5/23/19
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We recently listed a property for sale and when we went back through the previous listing, the photography was so bad that we wanted to share. The lesson is, friends don't let friends let their agent take their listing shots. Here are some comparison shots from the last listing (not us) to the current listing (using our professional photographer):

Front View
Old

New



Entry
Old

New



Kitchen
Old

New




Breakfast Table:
Old

New



Master Bedroom
Old

New



Living Room
Old

New



A Closet
Old

New



Bedroom
Old

New


Side View
Old

New



Back Yard
Old

New



I'm sure somebody is going to talk about their agent's $10k camera rig (and if they are that into it, go for it).

Listing link if anybody is interested:

https://www.har.com/2103-highland-stone-court/sale_16528647
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
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aggiebq03+
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7:15p, 5/23/19
Yeah new photos are way better.

Everyone knows you need HDR to sell a house.


I am curious though, how did your professional photographers camera setup turn the breakfast table from oval to square? That's impressive.
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Red Pear Realty
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In reply to aggiebq03+ • 9:31p, 5/23/19
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He took the pictures when the current owner lived there versus the old photos that were taken when somebody else lived there and was selling it.

You'd be surprised at how many people allow their agent to take and post potato quality pics, even for more expensive homes. The College Station market is really bad about doing this. I want people to know that this is costing them money.
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
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Furlock Bones
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7:54a, 5/24/19
AG
yea, there was certainly better staging in the second photos. but, the Red Pear is still correct. much better photos overall.
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DannyDuberstein
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12:31p, 5/24/19
AG
I liked this change too

OLD


NEW
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histag10
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2:14p, 5/24/19
AG
It also looks like they cleaned the house between the two shots. It kind of looked like very unorganized sloppy people lived there in the first set.
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Red Pear Realty
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In reply to DannyDuberstein • 2:32p, 5/24/19
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For this to be accurate you gotta post before / afters of the same girl or it doesn't count.
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Kenneth_2003
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2:58p, 5/24/19
AG
The problem with teh first set of pics is the realtor is a crappy photographer and can't stage a property, or their client just didn't care. If the seller didn't clean the house before the realtor showed up to get photos why bother getting good ones?
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BrazosDog02
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7:11p, 5/26/19
AG
Photographers are so cheap for RE photography. Why would one NOT use a pro for this? I see it all the time and still don't understand it. Poor photos or dirty houses.
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JosephMarcus
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8:25p, 5/26/19
won't the potential buyer just see the actual house when they come do a tour? what does it matter if the photo looks better? serious question.
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expresswrittenconsent
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In reply to JosephMarcus • 9:12p, 5/26/19
JosephMarcus said:
won't the potential buyer just see the actual house when they come do a tour? what does it matter if the photo looks better? serious question.
but you need to get a potential buyer to the house first and many folks will be looking online at properties to select houses they want to see in person. Depending on the market maybe that doesnt matter much.
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aggiecive
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9:39p, 5/26/19
AG
It seems to me if I were a listing agent part of my sales pitch would be that I hire a professional photographer if I win the listing. I would also attempt to have a relationship with a photographer where I don't pay until closing, maybe at a slightly higher than usual rate due to rate terms.
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TXAGBQ76
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10:31p, 5/26/19
AG
Second set was definitely better. We were lucky; our realtor understands staging and did a superb job. Spent several hours with my wife moving thins, adding things, taking out things, etc. I was going "wow, tel me again why we are selling? LOL"
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JBLHAG03
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In reply to JosephMarcus • 7:43a, 5/27/19
AG
Youve obviously never been house "hunting." I wouldnt have given the house a second thought after looking at first set of pics online.

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JosephMarcus
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In reply to JBLHAG03 • 8:13a, 5/27/19
JBLHAG03 said:
Youve obviously never been house "hunting." I wouldnt have given the house a second thought after looking at first set of pics online.

I like the way that you tried to answer my honest question, but threw an ever-so-slight insult in there too. well done sir.
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JosephMarcus
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In reply to expresswrittenconsent • 8:14a, 5/27/19
expresswrittenconsent said:
JosephMarcus said:
won't the potential buyer just see the actual house when they come do a tour? what does it matter if the photo looks better? serious question.
but you need to get a potential buyer to the house first and many folks will be looking online at properties to select houses they want to see in person. Depending on the market maybe that doesnt matter much.
that makes a lot of sense. thanks for the answer.
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Diggity
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In reply to aggiecive • 5:42p, 5/27/19
AG
Don't know many photographers that are going to risk not getting paid for their work in exchange for some small potential upside at a later date.
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Red Pear Realty
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7:06p, 5/28/19
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Just so we are all on the same line of thinking, good photographers usually cost somewhere in the ballpark of $200 or less so it's not like this is some crazy expense.
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Red Pear Realty
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7:55p, 6/17/19
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Bump
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NoHo Hank
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7:56a, 6/18/19
AG
It's worth it to pay the money. I'd imagine the different in people showing up to look at the house based on the two sets of photos would be 3 to 1. That said, if you're too cheap to pay a photographer, at least do the following.

1. Clean up the damn room. When we were house hunting a year ago, I couldn't believe how many pictures we looked at where this was **** everywhere. You don't even have to put it away, just get it out of the frame. If you have a bed in the picture, make it. Take things off the nightstand. Put your toothpaste and toothbrush in a drawer rather than leaving them out. Not that hard....
2. Stand in a corners. Put two seconds of thought into where you're going to take the picture and what the point of the picture is. You want to make every room look as big as possible by getting as much in the frame as you can. That's not gonna happen when you stand halfway across a room.
3. Add a light of light. Open windows and turn on lights.

Sure a photographer would do a lot more than that, but just doing those 3 things would have improved the first set of pictures tremendously.
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Gramercy Riffs
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In reply to aggiebq03+ • 10:34a, 6/26/19
AG
aggiebq03+ said:
Everyone knows you need HDR to sell a house.
I can't tell if this is a serious comment from a realtor or a tongue-in-cheek comment from a real estate photographer. The thought of using HDR in a photo set makes me cringe.
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Gramercy Riffs
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In reply to JosephMarcus • 10:48a, 6/26/19
AG
JosephMarcus said:
won't the potential buyer just see the actual house when they come do a tour? what does it matter if the photo looks better? serious question.
There are all sort of statistics out there to support the use of professional photography, although the numbers change so often that I won't attempt to quote any of them. They relate to a greater number of page views, more in person tours of the home, higher offers, and quicker sales. There's also the rare occasion when someone purchases a house from another state without ever seeing it in person (I've had that happen twice on vacation homes).

I usually don't rely on those stats to make my pitch. I explain it to my clients and potential clients another way. Home searches start online, and the general assumption is that people are using the photos to determine which houses they'd like to tour. But the opposite is also true, and in my opinion is even more important: there are so many homes to choose from, people end up looking for reasons to eliminate properties in order to narrow their search. Professional photographers don't just highlight the good features, they know how to avoid highlighting the bad ones. Don't give potential buyers a reason to eliminate your house before they ever even see it in person.
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Gramercy Riffs
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In reply to NoHo Hank • 11:38a, 6/26/19
AG
john32f said:
It's worth it to pay the money. I'd imagine the different in people showing up to look at the house based on the two sets of photos would be 3 to 1. That said, if you're too cheap to pay a photographer, at least do the following.

1. Clean up the damn room. When we were house hunting a year ago, I couldn't believe how many pictures we looked at where this was **** everywhere. You don't even have to put it away, just get it out of the frame. If you have a bed in the picture, make it. Take things off the nightstand. Put your toothpaste and toothbrush in a drawer rather than leaving them out. Not that hard....
2. Stand in a corners. Put two seconds of thought into where you're going to take the picture and what the point of the picture is. You want to make every room look as big as possible by getting as much in the frame as you can. That's not gonna happen when you stand halfway across a room.
3. Add a light of light. Open windows and turn on lights.

Sure a photographer would do a lot more than that, but just doing those 3 things would have improved the first set of pictures tremendously.
All good points. A few things to keep in mind:

Excellent point about putting thought into what you want to accomplish with each shot. That's why I don't really like photo packages with a guaranteed number of images. When a listing agent asks me how many pictures they'll get, my standard answer is "as many as it takes". The goal is quality, not quantity. I did have one realtor tell me that buyers sort listings by the number of photos, so she wanted 40+. Sure it was ridiculous, but she paid a premium on every image over 30.

A word of caution about making every room look as big as possible though: this should be accomplished by knowing where to stand (just as you said) but not by using an ultra-wide lens. For reference, I think Red Pear's photographer shoots too wide (edit: to be clear, those are all nice images, and I'm being very picky). That's why you see distortion on the edges and the objects in the center of the image look so far away. That bedroom isn't nearly as big as shown, and the living room isn't as long as it appears. Nothing wrong with wide lenses, but there's a limit to what you can/should do with them. We can make things look their best without misrepresenting them.
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Gramercy Riffs
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11:47a, 6/26/19
AG
And in support of OP's point about good photos, here are a few more comparisons to add:





















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Red Pear Realty
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In reply to Gramercy Riffs • 12:02p, 6/26/19
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What market do you work in? I'd love to get your info for future listings.
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FincAg
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In reply to Gramercy Riffs • 12:41p, 6/26/19
AG
Perfect example of better photography. Definitely an upgrade.
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mazag08
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2:39p, 6/26/19
AG
My last client didn't want to pay for photography so I paid for it out of pocket. Definitely affected my bottom line, but was well worth it as we got three offers in two days.

First impressions are EVERYTHING. And every first impression, even during a drive by, is when they search for the house online.

If you have 15 people who would be perfect buyers, why take a chance at alienating a portion of them because you haven't presented yourself as best ad you possibly can?
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Diggity
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In reply to Gramercy Riffs • 7:46p, 6/26/19
AG
Love your work
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Gramercy Riffs
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In reply to Red Pear Realty • 9:51a, 6/27/19
AG
Red Pear Realty said:
What market do you work in? I'd love to get your info for future listings.
I'm primarily in the Austin market now, although the pics I posted were all from Crystal Beach. I no longer work in that area.

I've changed my business model a bit though, and my focus now is on multifamily remodels. I'd consider shooting a single family home if a realtor has an emergency or the house would look good in my portfolio, but working with apartment communities has been a better deal for me lately.

If you ever need anything, I can be reached at: roland at rolandcphoto dot com.
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Gramercy Riffs
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9:54a, 6/27/19
AG
And thanks everyone for the compliments. I didn't mean to hijack a thread - I obviously agree with Red Pear's point about using a pro and wanted to add to it.
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JosephMarcus
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In reply to Gramercy Riffs • 10:31p, 6/30/19
Gramercy Riffs said:
And in support of OP's point about good photos, here are a few more comparisons to add:





















yah. I'll have to trust you. those houses in these pics look like the same house and I don't really put much stock in a picture someone took with a better camera, but that's just me.
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Ol_Ag_02
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In reply to JosephMarcus • 8:40a, 7/1/19
AG
JosephMarcus said:
Gramercy Riffs said:
And in support of OP's point about good photos, here are a few more comparisons to add:





















yah. I'll have to trust you. those houses in these pics look like the same house and I don't really put much stock in a picture someone took with a better camera, but that's just me.


Better pictures absolutely get more people in the door.
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Gramercy Riffs
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In reply to JosephMarcus • 3:52p, 7/1/19
AG
JosephMarcus said:

yah. I'll have to trust you. those houses in these pics look like the same house and I don't really put much stock in a picture someone took with a better camera, but that's just me.
Well that's certainly an interesting take. I posted five comparisons from four separate houses (two of them are shown in exterior shots, so I'm not sure how those could have gotten confused). I can post hundreds of other examples from years of doing this, but that would just clog up the board. I didn't realize we were on opposite sides of the discussion, or that there was any opposition to the notion of using a professional photographer.

The camera is simply a tool, as is my lighting equipment, my tripod, my computer, my vehicle to get me to the location, my chair to sit in while I process the images, every book I've read, every class I've taken, and every conversation I've had with people who are much better than I am. They're all tools that are/were used to get to this point.

The people who build expensive homes aren't simply using better hammers. Monet isn't famous because he used the most expensive paintbrushes. Babe Ruth didn't hit all those home runs because he had better bats. If these images were simply created with the click of a nice camera, my job would be a heck of a lot easier and I'd have much more free time. For the record, I use a fairly inexpensive camera compared to other professional photographers. Heck, I'm not even using what would be considered a pro model at all.

The average real estate photographer could have used an iPhone and produced better images than those 'before' shots. And countless high-dollar architecture photographers can make me look like a complete amateur as well. I've got a long way to go before I'm anywhere near their level, regardless of what gear they use.

In a way, clients aren't paying for the hours that it takes to produce or deliver 20 images. An argument can be made that they're not paying for the images at all... they're paying for the years that it's taken to learn how to do it.
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pants
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3:08p, 7/13/19
There definitely is something to be said for someone who knows how to make a house look its best, and I would definitely hire a professional when selling a house. With that said, my (admittedly amateur) opinion is that I have been turned off by photography that's "too good."

The most obvious example is the super wide lens mentioned before. If the room looks huge in pictures, I get disappointed when I arrive at the house. It's a letdown that bothers me for the rest of the showing, whether conscious or unconscious. That first impression is crucial in my mind as a buyer of the most expensive thing I'll probably ever buy.

A less obvious example is not getting everything in the picture. Overall, in the OP, the new pics are better, but there are two very nice live oaks in the front yard that the "better" photo ignores. I might be in the minority, but trees and the yard are very important to me. It's important not to leave something out that could be very important to someone in favor of something that's cery important to you.

Basically, everything y'all are saying is good, but there is a line. Show everything important about the house without over-representing what's there!
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Diggity
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8:48p, 7/13/19
AG
You can add a picture that shows all the trees after the main shot.

The point is that people want to see the actual house for the primary pic, rather than the landscaping.
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