Given the high demand, many believe their property will sell quickly even with poor photos. However, bad photos often lead to unnecessary viewings where potential buyers say, "This isn't what I expected." You'll also be able to command a better price if the positive impression from the photos is confirmed in person. A good rule of thumb: the better the photos, the easier it is for potential buyers to decide if your property is right for them.
The overall impression counts! We know this from the advertising and food industries: less is often more. Photos of real estate look better when they appear uncluttered. If rooms are cluttered, it disrupts the potential buyer's imagination and makes it difficult for them to envision their future home. Experts advise: When taking photos of furnished rooms or the garden and yard, these should be "depersonalized." This means personal items such as clothing, toothbrushes, lawnmowers, or similar items should not be visible in the picture. It's recommended to take test photos to identify such distracting details.
Bright rooms are equally important for compelling real estate photos. Drawn curtains or blinds, as well as backlighting, darken rooms and exterior views of a property. Bright rooms are more inviting. However, if direct sunlight shines into the room, photos will be overexposed. Therefore, it's advisable to time your photos precisely when the light is ideal. In such cases, curtains or blinds can also be used to create optimal lighting. With a professional camera, the amount of light can be regulated via the aperture and shutter speed.
A good photo of your property also depends on the perspective. If it's chosen incorrectly, the house or rooms can appear distorted, or proportions can be misleading. If a room looks smaller than it actually is, potential buyers might be put off. The lens also plays a role. If you want to capture as much of the room as possible in the photo, wide-angle lenses are a good choice. However, a wide-angle lens can also make rooms appear too large. This can lead to unnecessary viewings where prospective buyers discover that your property is actually too small. It's also important to ensure that lines don't converge, as this leads to spatial distortion. To achieve straight lines, for example, at the corners of walls, doors, or windows, the camera should be held level. It's recommended to take the photo from a height of about one meter.
If any small details in the photo are still not quite right, they can easily be edited. For example, if lines aren't perpendicular, you can adjust the crop, correct distortion, and straighten the image. Photos that are too dark can also be slightly brightened and contrasted. However, be careful not to overdo it. Potential customers might become skeptical if the photo appears heavily edited.
You can find out how to enhance your property with home staging in one of our upcoming issues.
Don't have time for such an effort? Or do you have questions about how to take perfect real estate photos? Contact us! We'll take care of it for you.