It goes without saying that high-quality professional photos are an EXTREMELY important part of any realtor’s marketing plan when it comes to selling a property. At least they should be...
I see listings all the time that have cheap, unprofessional photos. Or worse - no photos at all!
Quality aside, what about photos that don’t accurately represent the property?
I recently showed two houses to some clients of mine; one that failed (miserably) to live up to the glory the photos had promised and one that actually turned out to be a real gem, despite what the photos suggested.
With the first house, the photos and virtual tour made the place look immaculate. We stepped inside expecting to see a solid reno in move-in condition. Instead, we found quite a bit of wear-and-tear on the hardwood floors, a half-finished basement, and some major sloping on the second floor.
With the second house, the online marketing made the place look a lot darker and more dated than it really was. We weren’t expecting much and were quite surprised to see just how much natural light there was when we stepped inside.
In both cases, the photos fell short of showing us what the properties truly had to offer.
I’m sure that the photos for the first house brought in plenty of potential buyers. However most of those buyers were no doubt disappointed with what they saw once inside and moved on to the next property on their list.
And I’ll bet the photos for the second house actually scared off a number of potential buyers. Some of those buyers might have considered making an offer if they’d come to see the place in person.
Keep in mind that when you’re searching for properties online, you can’t always tell what's what from the photos. Nothing beats visiting a property in person and seeing for real if the place is as good... or as bad... as the photos say it is.
If you’re thinking of making a move and would like to know how I can help, feel free to contact me for more info.