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.