Rule 11 of Good Real Estate Photos - Shoot What Buyers Want To See
June 19th, 2007 Rules of Good Photos
As a follow up to the wonderful post of Cecilia Hutchings yesterday I’m going to pull out a “what buyers want to see” list.
We usually have a limited number of photos to work with on our MLS sites. Some allow as few as six, others as much as ten. My feeling is you should use ALL the photos you’re allowed. Just as long as you have something decent to show of course. Don’t use a bad picture if you don’t have a good one.
Lead Photo – 99% of the time this will be the front of the house. It’s a natural photo in terms of telling the story of what the house is like. It’s important that this is a good photo as this is the very first impression a buyer will get of the house. If on the day of the photo shoot the day isn’t all that nice, you can and should “drive by” and shoot another one and update it.
Photos 2, 3 and 4 – The photos should be of Kitchen, Dining Room and Living Room. The order isn’t likely all that important. Generally I’d suggest placing these in order of the overall “wow” impression of the photos. Just having these three early on is important. This is where the buyer will spend the majority of their time in the home.
Cecilia said…
“The kitchen, a fireplace, dining space and the living room, those are shots I look for…”
“And in place of a bedroom I prefer to see a dining room, living room and family room where we actually do spend our time.”
Photos 5 though 10 – Shoot The Features
The temptation is to shortcut the photo shoot and simply snap bedrooms and bathrooms. Bingo! Ten pictures and we’re outta here.
Cecilia said…
“When I look at MLS photos I want to see the front of the house, the kitchen, some pasture and a barn if there is one.”
“I don’t care for bedroom photos very much. If there is something special about it like a balcony, access to a patio, a sitting area or some unique architectural feature I would like to see that but not in place of the kitchen.”
“As for the so-called media rooms, photos of the big screen TV are a turn off for us. But if a room has built-ins I want to see it. That goes for fireplaces too, definitely that.”
What counts as a feature will vary from area to area and within price ranges of course. Cecilia is looking for pasture and a barn for her horses, so she’s looking for that feature in photos for possible homes. Possible features important are in no particular order;
Fireplace, Patio, Barn, The View, Pasture, Pool, Master Bedroom, Back Yard, Storage, Garage, Family Room, Finished Basement, Master Bath (if it’s more than just a simple “look a bathroom”)
The Leftover Shots – Bathrooms and Bedrooms. Ideally a home has so many good features, that you never get as far as having to dip into the bathroom and bedroom shots. My feeling with bathrooms is the goal is simply to show that “it’s not nasty” assuming it’s just a regular ol’ “we poop and shower in this room” bathroom. If it’s a glorious “spa bathroom” then it’s a feature in my book and should be included.
Small to medium sized bedrooms are all but impossible to photograph interestingly and the majority of bedrooms have no defining features other than dimension. One typical 12×12 bedroom can be remade into anything a buyer wants it to look like quickly and easily as a DIY project. By all means use one to pad out your photo slots if you’re low on features, but don’t show one instead of a feature.
The Recap…
Rule 11 – Shoot What Buyers Want To See
June 20th, 2007 at 5:26 am
Great information. I went back to one of my listings and rearranged the photos as you recommended. I like the results. Thank you.
June 20th, 2007 at 6:48 am
Thanks Douglas. It’s pretty simple, but once you do it, it just makes sense doesn’t it.
Good photos aren’t rocket science.
June 25th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
[...] “Shoot What Buyers Want to See” is the 11th part in a series on good real estate photographs being published on REagent in Connecticut by Athol Kay. On the surface this post doesn’t seem to fit the “consumer-oriented” model of the carnival, however it is a special submission from Cecilia Hutchings that really takes this entry to the next level. And I’m sure there are a lot of consumers out there that agree with Cecilia. [...]
July 28th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
[...] A good source for bad photos is REagent in Connecticut where you can find a slew of bad photos. Many of them funny. In his articles Athol commented about the sequence of photos. It makes sense to me. Buyers what to see the front of the house, photo 1. Wives, and more & more cooking husbands, want to see the kitchen, photo 2. I have to say my son and his best friend are the cooks. My daughter in law competes with my son. But, his friends’ wife lets him do all the cooking. So with many buyers it is not just the wife who the kitchen is important to. Photos 3 and on should be the living areas, great room, living room, family room, dining room. After the first 3-5 photos the rest can be bedrooms, backyard, views, or large storage areas. [...]
August 27th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
[...] Rule 11 – Shoot What Buyers Want To See [...]
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:40 pm
[...] I’ve covered what you should be shooting before, but I’m even getting more specific on the very order you upload you photos to the MLS in Connecticut. [...]
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:50 pm
[...] I’ve covered what you should be shooting before, but I’m even getting more specific on the very order you upload your photos to the MLS in Connecticut. (We get 10 photos in Connecticut.) [...]
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:50 pm
[...] I’ve covered what you should be shooting before, but I’m even getting more specific on the very order you upload your photos to the MLS in Connecticut. (We get 10 photos in Connecticut.) [...]