Picture Yourself Making More Money

As the saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

When selling your home it could be worth even more dollars. With the rising popularity of sites
like Zillow and Trulia and advertising on social media, photos are one of the most important
parts of marketing your home. The photos are the first thing, other than maybe price,
prospective buyers see. Based on some recent studies, photo quality makes a significant
difference in views, the time on market and purchase price.

A photography company recently compared 700 listings with and without professional photos.
The listings that used professional photos sold much faster than those without. More attention
and positive impression are bound to have an effect, but speed isn’t always the most important
thing. The same company found that the homes with high quality photos sold closer to the
asking price, a difference of thousands on average in the same zip code.

Does this mean that buyers are willing to pay more just because the listing has some pretty
pictures? Maybe, but it is more likely due to the increased attention. More demand means a
higher price. Statisticians have found that in some cases high quality photos accounted for more
than double the views over comparable houses in the same zip code. More eyes and a better
impression means more dollars faster.

I’m not necessarily saying that you should go out a buy a fancy camera, that’s only a small
part of the equation. Angles, lighting and an artistic touch are probably more important. Talk with
your Realtor® about suggestions for photographers. If you don’t have a Realtor®, give us a call
we would love to go through some options with you.