Not long ago I was raving about someone who took a picture of one of their properties from their car. How could I tell? The car’s side door mirror was in the immediate foreground of the picture. For a long time now Sara’s been taking pictures of our properties from elevated postions. It’s a photography thing.
Well today I get to give her a bit of a jab. On the weekend she was with out her little ladder doo hickey thing, and I found she’d climbed to new heights on the top of my car through the sun roof. Not many people care about the little things people do to go above and beyond but while she was certainly going above I had to give her the gears for not getting out of the car.
I will say that I don’t think there’s anyone in the Edmonton area who does a better job marketing their properties or presenting them then Sara does. The question is, is it worth it? Should you settle for the crappy pics from an agent or a private sale company? That’s debateable.
What I can tell you is that we’ve had a number of properties sold just from the pictures. Then there’s this beauty…
We could tell that it had great curb appeal but it had already been on the market for 18 months with a couple other agents through the hottest market real estate market we’ve ever seen, and it hadn’t sold. Both the other agents used the same pictures. We knew we had to re brand the property and we knew this exceptional property would look great at night. Of course it had to be summer solstice, so on the longest day of the year we’re standing out front of our client’s home at midnight waiting for that perfect dusk shot. It turned out even better than we’d hoped.
The exterior shots are one thing, but the real time and effort goes into the interior shots. Sara typically snaps 100-200 photos of each listing, using a variety of exposures for each shot. When she edits the photos she’ll piece together the best parts of each exposure into one picture, so you can see the whole room in clear light. It also means she sometimes has to get into precarious positions to get the best angle. So don’t let your equity go down the drain with crappy pictures….let your photographer get into the sink instead 
(OK I know that last one is a bad picture but that’s the best I could do with a camera phone…besides…that’s why I let Sara take the pics!)
hi guys!
very creative. i would need a very tall ladder in nyc
Interesting, but not questionable:
Consumers run from a bad experience.
If a good picture is worth 1,000 words, a bad picture is worth…?
Ask yourself if you really have the time to take bad pictures, then ask youself if you want 1,000,000 people to see a great on line marketing campaign.
***advertising edited***
“…..It’s not the house that sells,
it’s the picture….!!!!!”
said by: Karl
Are you kidding me here? Are we supposed to read this and realize that “oh, ok, so realtors do deserve all the commission they make – because they take hundreds of photos and spend many an hour in front of Photoshop editing them”.
Sheldon, you have already posted several blog entries stressing the importance of good photos in a listing. While I agree that the photos should look good in a listing, you make it sound like realtors are justified in spending vast quantities of time on them, and as a result, deserve to be paid 15% commission for that.
Perhaps you might consider posting some some stats as to how much better homes sell when they are listed with simple point and shoot photos, or when they are listed with photos heavily edited in Photoshop. And no, please don’t even bring up comfree – I want to see some comparisons between MLS listings, since that is your area.
I am absolutely disagree with Sheldon that more pic.s or whatever pic.s sell house fast.
Sorry for comment.
I’ll come up comparison of two houses in next post.
Lets see what other feel about.
“Good Lord”
1. pictures – help sell houses – irrifutable.
2. good pictures help sell houses faster – no question
3. great pictures – help sell houses – in the shortest time.
Not science, not comparables – empirical knowledge!
Nobody said anything about 15% commission! I wish!
Here are some stats from a study done in Virginia…
The more photos a listing had, the faster it sold:
1 Photo = 70 DOM (days on market)
6 Photos =40 DOM
16-19 = 36 DOM
20 (the max on his MLS) = 32 DOM (in Edmonton the maximum # of photos we can put on the MLS is 10)
Source: http://blog.franklyrealty.com/2007/11/buyers-dont-skip-photoless-listings.html
Right in our article is a perfect example of a home that was marketed with average pictures for 18 months… better pictures, better marketing, a way slower market, and it sold in a month! That’s the best proof I can offer.
Anyway, we weren’t try to sell anyone anything, just thought some people might enjoy a lighter read for a change.
Nice picture of the car. Is that a Ford Freestyle?
How many KM’s?
What are you asking?
thanks.
No, Jim_s, it’s a Volvo.
Who wants to drive domestic junks (cars) around?
Nobody!!!!
It’s not for sale, anyway!!!
he-he-hah-hah-he-he
Well, one thing for sure , the more pictures you post from a house, the more people is going to view that house.
Same thing, when you are looking for a woman, you immediately want a picture, a good picture, of that woman, right?
And the more pics she sends, the more likely you are going to get….well….connected.
he-he-he- ha-ha-ha
Let me tell you, a Realtor, who is so detailed about pictures, deserves your 15 % comission.
Don’t you think?
The 15 % charge is as follows:
– 7 % for the sale of property;
– 8 % for the pictures taken of your house;
ha-ha-heh-heh
@Sarah
Just remember correlation doesn’t necessarily imply causation. What I mean is that because there is a correlation between numbers of pictures and DOM it doesn’t mean that more pictures CAUSES houses to sell quicker.
I would suggest an alternative explanation. Perhaps really crappy homes with interiors in terrible shape have less pictures posted. As a recent buyer I noticed this trend. When there were lots of pictures the houses tended to be in better shape inside. Invariably whenever we went to look at a house with just one exterior picture on MLS the interior was a disaster.
Overall though I fully support your effort to make high quality photos available for your properties. I can’t tell you how much easier it makes it for buyers to sort through houses and view those more likely to be a good fit.
Im usually the most critical of realtors and this blog, but I have to admit, Sarah or Sheldon take amazing pictures.
As a former prospective buyer (who wont buy when prices are this ridiculous) I take more of an interest and take a closer look when great, clear, and numerous pictures are taken.
I especially like the pictures taken of your current listings.
However, all the pictures in the world aint helping things move in this market!
Jim_S
It’s a volvo. I don’t think successful relators would drive a Ford.
I think that the “wow” factor would be increased if she were standing on someone else’s Volvo while taking the picture. Bonus points for a BMW or Mercedes.
Who said….. that,
it’s her Volvo??
The third picture looks impressive. However, considering that the property backs onto the Whitemud Drive, it won’t sell any time soon with a price tag of $600k.
Sheldon,
Since you let Sara take the pics, my question is: how would you have looked in your photo on the left frame of this site if you had taken the pic, ha ha?
Sheldon,
I’ve been reading this blog for 4 months now and want to say thanks. Your doing an awsome job.
ML
That indeed is above and beyond. I guess whatever works to sell the house.
What type of camera are you using?
And more importantly, whatever are you doing inside that sink?!