Photographs are powerful bait. Good ones can lure buyers; poor ones can do the opposite.

Selling a home used to be all about "curb appeal," or the first impression a property conveys to potential buyers as they pull up in front. A house that looks unattractive from the street won't sell, the mantra goes.

These days, a property's "pix appeal," or attractiveness in photos posted in online listings, is equally important. Eighty percent of homebuyers used the Internet last year to search for a home, and nearly 25% reported that the Internet is where they first found the property they purchased, according to a National Association of Realtors survey.

"Without pictures I am much less likely to go see a house," says house hunter Dan Dillbeck, of Grand Rapids, Mich. In most cases — 85% of the time — online photos are his first view of a home, he says, adding that poor pictures tend to turn him away.

The Wall Street Journal reports “listings with nicer photos gain anywhere between $934 and $116,076.”

Since the price of a DSLR camera (anywhere from $500 to $1,000+) is generally out of the price range of your average hobbyist, let us assume that photos shot with DSLR cameras are shot by professionals. Since professional photos could net you thousands more on the sale of your home, it stands to reason that spending the $100 – $500 on professional photos is a worthy investment of your marketing dollars.
Given this obvious upside, it is shocking that only 15.4% of homes in our data set were marketed using professional photography. The majority of listings, 80.9%, were photographed using point-n-shoot photography, and still another 0.7% used just a camera phone. Let’s not mince words: If you are not using professional photography to market your home, you are not really marketing your home.

A few more interesting tidbits that came from our analyses:

Homes shot with a DSLR camera:

• Receive an average of 61% more views than their peers across all price tiers.
• Have a 47% higher asking price per square foot.
• Have an increased likelihood of selling for homes priced above $300,000.
• Stay on the market an average of 10 days longer across all price tiers.

Homes with professional photographs get more page views and ultimately sell for a higher price, but they surprisingly take slightly longer to sell.

So, what does this all mean to someone selling their home?

Be sure that you, or your agent, invest in nice listing photos. A professional-looking photo dramatically increases the likelihood that a potential buyer will click through to view your listing, and drives more buyers to tour your home. Ultimately, the more people interested in your house, the better your chance of receiving an attractive offer. A photo really can be worth a thousand dollars.

Real Estate Photography Tips for Agents and Homeowners

I thought I would publish some tips for real estate agents and homeowners (sellers) that will result in better pictures. certainly I would love to have your business but if you are going to do it yourself, your photos should be good enough that they grab a potential buyer's attention.

1. REMOVE THE CLUTTER!!!  It makes your home look smaller and can instantly cause a potential buyer to skip your listing and move on tho the next. Also remove all personal photos. The goal is to have potential buyers envision themselves living in your house; your family’s photos interfere with that process.

2. USE A TRIPOD It provides steadiness and allows you to operate your digital camera’s controls — specifically, shooting interiors at a slower speed.

3. CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE FOR EXTERIOR SHOTS If you shoot the home from the traditional front on shot, it is generic. Be creative and make the pictures memorable.

4. LEAVE NO DETAIL UNATTENDED  Tape the folds of the dining room tablecloth so it doesn’t pucker out. Position chairs uniformly (about 1 foot) from the table’s edge.

5. SHOOTING A POOL PRESENTS SPECIAL CHALLENGES because of the reflective nature of the water. Use a flash and try your shot in late afternoon or early morning.

Higher Resolution Photos Accepted in HAR

Hi everyone. Pat Cassity of Pat Cassity Photography here. I just thought I would share some news about photos uploaded to HAR. HAR is now accepting higher resolution images uploaded into TEMPO.  As you know you were originally restricted to a photo no larger than 640 x  480. The resolution of your photos can now be 1024 x 768. Almost 100% larger! The maximum file size is still 700kbs. This is great news!  As more and more people have larger monitors these days, potential buyers can now view photos with much more detail than before. This is also great news for photographers that use HDR photography. The larger images will certainly make your listings stand out from all the rest! For an example of how HDR (High Definition Resolution) can add to an image click on the link below.

http://cassityphotos.smugmug.com/Real-Estate-Photography/Real-Estate-Photography/12941140_EArbY#1030623876_MnqvT