Why Professional Real Estate Photos are Critical for Your Home Sale

When listing their house for sale, many sellers’ main concern revolves around getting the right price for their home. One thing that’s too-often overlooked by sellers, however, is just how to get that perfect price.

Here’s a hint, though: One major, super-important step in getting the best price for your home is taking the measures to get the best possible real estate photographs that’ll showcase your house as one worthy of being purchased for the list price — or higher!

The majority of homeowners in Canada start their search for home-sweet-home online. Among these purchases, the homes that sell the fastest and for the highest prices are almost always homes listed on the Internet. Oh, and they’re ones with high-quality professional real estate photos!

The photographs posted along with your home’s listing (online and offline) are the #1 tool you have for getting buyers through the front door. So before you email your realtor those shots you took on your iPhone last night — think again.

Hiring an experienced professional real estate photographer could be the key to selling your home. Here’s why!

1. Allows for Tip-Top Staging

Ever spent an entire weekend binge-watching HGTV? (Admit it, it’s fine!) Ever found yourself completely baffled by how universally-fabulous each show manages to make their final renovation look?

Well here’s a secret: Every renovated home on HGTV looks universally-fabulous because it is!

Homes on HGTV and homes that sell for the right price in real life are almost always homes that have been staged to appeal to the largest selection of buyers! Personal photos and weird, quirky decorations are put away. Furniture is arranged in a way that accentuates the space, and extra decorations are added to elevate a rooms’ potential.

Especially if you’ve lived in your home for a long time, it may become difficult for you to see past your personal belongings into the best possible ways to stage your home. Bringing in a professional photographer, however, may be just the thing you need to allow for tip-top staging.

Remember, it’s key to make sure a potential buyer can envision themselves (and their own things) in a space.

A professional real estate photographer walks into a space and sees, objectively, what needs to change to allow for the best photos. They’re able to decide on a room’s best angles. They can work with the space from there, removing things that are distracting or less-than-lovely.

Plus, many pros come along with expert design and staging professionals who can take your home’s staging game to another level altogether.

A professional real estate photographer’s job is to document your home in the best possible light. In many cases, this means helping to stage your home in the most universally-appealing way through their photographs.

2. Highlights the Best Parts of Your Home

You may be an expert in making the perfect apple pie or in crafting the perfect Christmas wreath. But chances are unless you’re an experienced photographer, you’re not an expert in real estate photography. This means you’re probably limited when it comes to photographic perspective and composition skills, not to mention all of the other technical jargon like ISO, shutter speed and metering.

Much of the function of real estate photos, in general, is to highlight the best parts of a home. It’s to prove the appeal and atmosphere of your home, drawing attention to the little quirks that make your home special. All this, while also allowing buyers a feel for what it’s like to live inside!

A professional photographer who specializes in real estate understands composition and the ways in which your home can be best showcased. They understand the types and range of photos the real estate industry demands in order to sell a home. They know how to snap the right photos that capture ceiling, floor and walls all at once.

Bringing in a pro who knows how to take a good and thorough set of photos shows that you’re being honest and transparent as a seller. It highlights the things that make your home the one worthy of buying.

3. Shows Pride in Ownership

When it comes down to it, taking the time and care to have your real estate photos professionally shot goes far beyond the pixels on the screen. A professional photographer not only helps communicate the potential and overall aesthetic found throughout your home — but it also helps to demonstrate the years worth of love and pride in ownership you’ve poured into the place.

Anyone can snap a few photos of a house–just like anybody is capable of actually living in that house. Taking the time to have your home professionally documented shows that you’re taking extra care as an owner.

And that makes sense, right? You’ve taken extra care of your house as long as you’ve lived there. Keep it up!

Professionally-staged and shot real estate photos demonstrate to potential buyers that you’ve been willing to go the extra mile to prepare your home for someone new to love. It communicates the fact that you’ve taken good care of your home all along and that buyers can trust they’ll be left with a well-cared-for house.

You may think most buyers won’t notice the difference between professional and amateur shots of your home. Let us stop you right there. They sure will notice!

It’s important to prepare for this. Professional shots communicate to buyers that you’re willing to go the extra mile to do things right. This grants them peace-of-mind and confidence when sending out an offer.

Remember, much of the home-buying process revolves around buyers’ emotions. If you can put out photographs that evoke emotion and a sense of care in viewers–well, you may as well head out front to hang up your “SOLD” sign!

Want More Info on Professional Real Estate Photos?

Maybe you need a little more convincing, or you’re ready for tips on how to hire a great professional real estate photographer. Either way, you’ll want to do plenty of research!

We’re proud to have well-trained REALTORS® who have taken the time to do the coursework and learn what you need to get the best photos needed to sell your home.  Not to mention, we also have a great network of local businesses in St. Paul and Bonnyville that we partner with.

For more information on professional real estate photos and other tips on how to sell your home, check out our site!