Is Real Estate Photography Becoming an Industry standard?

Written by Gatlin Hubbard on July 5th 2019

Years ago, before online real estate listings were a thing, a drive-by was the main way a potential buyer could assess a home that was for sale. Back then, even if a buyer was just looking, they probably had to attend an open house to get a glimpse of the listing.

Those were the days when curb appeal was so important that a buyer might lose interest in a home just because there were weeds or dead grass on the driveway - regardless of how great the home was on the inside. Conversely, a listing with a great curb appeal often performed very well on the market.

These days, however, technology has changed the game completely. The vast majority of buyers now search for their homes online. Consequently, photos might be not just your best, but in many cases your only shot at impressing potential buyers.

Most buyers have limited time to review the photos in an MLS listing. At most, you have about 6 to 8 seconds to impress a buyer with your property photos. If your photos reflect poorly on your property, buyers will quickly skim over your listing and move on to the next one.

While it might seem easier to take listing photos yourself using your smartphone, you should know that your shots are unlikely to measure up to the quality of professional real estate photography done by an experienced, well-equipped photographer.

While It might seem obvious to some, good photography is critical for the success of a real estate professional but when you dig into the numbers, It's shocking how much of an impact good photography makes!

Check out some of these stats:

- Homes with high quality photography sell 32 percent faster.

- Homes with more photos sell faster, too. A home with one photo spends an average 70 days on the market, but a home with 20 photos spends 32 days on the market.

- For homes in the $200,000 to $1 million range, those that include high-quality photography in their listings sell for $3,000-$11,000 more.

Technology is changing the way people do business and for a real estate agents its currently in a rapid state of evolution.