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.