I sometimes hear from agents that a home is too inexpensive or too small to have professional photos made. I do understand that the marketing budget for less expensive properties has to be managed very carefully. Still, lets look at why you are having professional images done for any of your listings.
The first thing people think about when hiring a photographer is to make photos of a listing for selling that home. We all know that it’s the price that sells the home. The photos are there to get as many people looking at that home as possible. We want the images to make the person reach out to inquire about the property. Multiple bids are great, but getting a buyer committed that can close the deal is the most important thing. Getting them as quickly as possible is likely to fit the seller’s desires as well as the agent’s.
The bigger reason for having good photos is your branding. Very close to 100% of people are looking online when they are buying or selling a home. Sellers want to see how their home stacks up against their neighbors and they will be noticing which agent’s listings have the nicest images and a well written description (in that order). Naturally, those sellers are going to make a list of potential agents to list their home with so good images on all of your listings is excellent advertising. If the seller goes one step further and reviews a bunch of your current and closed your listings, they could be put off if the only ones with good photos are the most expensive and it looks likely that their home wouldn’t get that treatment. At that point, you have done some negative advertising and may not get a call.
How does this tie in with the title? There are ways to get prices down to the point where having professional photos will work for nearly every property. The first step is to call me since there is no way I could put a price on the price list other than “it depends”. If you are booking a full session for a home, it’s possible to make 10-12 images of a smaller nearby home for a very reduced price. If I’m already in the area, my travels costs are met with the bigger home and that let’s me lower my prices since it’s only about 60% of the work to make half as many images.
Do you have a number of small properties that need photos? Sadly, the agent I worked with in Mammoth retired, but even though it’s a long drive, we were able to get images done at a great price. When I would photograph a nice home for sale, she would book me to also make photos of the vacation rentals she managed. That filled up two days and by putting me up in one of the rentals overnight and getting me fed at a family restaurant, my costs were minimal. I also used to make photos for a leasing firm that would line up 5-6 properties at a time with a delivery of around 10 images each. I’d start at first light and work a solid day capturing the images and deliver them a couple of days later. It’s good to be busy.
The bottom line is that professional photos make you look good and there may be ways to get all of your listings covered if we put our heads together. If there is something that saves me time or money, I’m more than happy to pass on the savings. My goal is to make you look good so you get more listings and can keep calling me with more work.