Bad For Sale ’snaps’ - June 2008 - Lighting is critical.

June 10, 2008

When you take a photgraph of your family, a beloved pet, or friends, you try to make sure there is a good light source. What’s the point in taking a photo in the dark?

Isn’t it just as important for buyers to clearly see the subject of your real estate marketing photographs? Property photos (we call them Staged Marketing Photos) of a property are the basis for much of the marketing campaign surrounding a property.

Here are some of this months examples - taken from a public website populated by real estate agents in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

bad mls photograph - bad lighting Bathroom photographs should only be used if it is a selling feature of the property. The lighting in this ’snap’ says it best ‘dreary’. If you have to include a bathroom photo, turn on all the lights; be sure to use high wattage light bulbs.

A large room, one of the main selling features of the home. How would a buyer know? Light sells. This ’snap’ says ‘another ho-hum’ room.

This one could be considered artistic. An attempt to add light and drama? The room has lost it’s impact with the eye catching light. Maybe the light comes with the house? Maybe the lamp is hte feature, and happens to come with an extra room?

The picture says it all…. Nothing to add to this one. Next house please!

Hard to know what we are looking at here. Open the windows, or try a different angle. A widescreen lens would work best here. “Maybe this house needs some repairs?” OR “Seems a little run down” could be some of the buyer’s thoughts on this one - “What are the sellers hiding?”.

Ahhh… setting the mood with lighting. Buyers want to see the updated bathroom, but the photographer went a little too far ‘mood setting’. Is that someone in the mirror? If you have an updated bathroom - show it off.

Property photographs are often a buyer’s first impression of a home. If the buyers cannot clearly see what is being sold, the seller is off to a bad start.Over 87% of home buyers search for properties online, not to mention the Realtors that search the MLS. Once they’ve entered their search criteria, price, location, etc., marketing photographs are how they decide which of those to visit.

As a result, how your property looks online is critical for attracting buyers and their agents—the more visits, the better chance of an offer. Your property needs to beat the competition.

Give us, the Open Door Staging team 15 minutes, and we will tell you how to make your listing look better than the compedition online to sell your property faster. (c) 2008 - Open Door Staging Inc.