To Post or Not to Post

....THAT is the question!

Search any standard MLS site and you will soon find exactly what I'm talking about. You will come across photos of rooms which are, in a word - disastrous! No, no, - this is not another blog about being "photo ready", - let's call this one "photo necessary?" - this is a about using discretion. 

Every home has them - the spare bedroom that's been turned into a storage room for all things you keep meaning to put in a yard sale. Or the garage that's been packed to the hilt with more boxes, cars, mowers, lawn care, toys, old paint cans, and sporting equipment then it can possibly hold. That’s just life; we have “stuff” and it needs to be stored somewhere. But the question is should photos of those rooms be included on your MLS listing? Are they "photo necessary"? A wise sister of mine put it this way. Think of the MLS listings like your work resume. You want to bullet point all your best skills and attributes, you want the viewer to have enough information to be interested, but still wanting more so they will schedule an interview. Show off the best conditioned and primary rooms of your house, which should entice the viewer to want to see the home in person.  

Let's take a look at some photos and ask yourself if they would represent your home well to a potential buyer.  

In the above photo, we have a child's play area. Anyone who has kids has experience with a room in the house that looks like Toys R US has exploded! But the question is, should this photo represent your house on your MLS? Would a home buyer look favorably at this room? Would they be able to see beyond the toys to notice the great amount of light the room gets? Or notice that it has a full size window which indicates it's a walk-out basement at grade level? Did you? Or did you just see the toys? Besides just the visual mess, this room has now been "labeled" in the viewers mind as a play room for children. Will home buyers who do not have children be able to see past the toys to the rooms potential for their needs? Maybe they will classify you as "that toy house" and instantly cross you off their list. Can you afford to minimize the amount of people who are looking at buying your house?  We know that when it is time for "viewings" and "open houses" you will have this room cleaned up; but as I've said before, MLS listings are a 24/7 open house - if this photo was in your MLS listing online, this is a potential home buyers first impression and are already deciding on whether they want to see your home in person. 

Garages. 

Do you have a spotless garage, with amazing built in storage? Or a 6 car garage in showroom condition? The average home's garage is probably not "photo necessary" and should not be posted on the MLS. Chances are your viewers know what a garage full of trash cans and recycle bins look like, so this photo does not benefit your homes "resume", and should be left listed as a feature on your MLS, but not photographed. 

Ah, storage! 

We all have piles and piles of "stuff", and it needs to go somewhere, but will photographing this storage room boost your home's views? From this photo we can see that there are built in shelves in this storage room, which is a great feature, but is it really necessary to photograph? Imagine you are scanning through an MLS listing and as you pass the inviting bedroom and spa like bathroom photos, you then see this photo! Are the first words out of your mouth, "why would someone even put this in here?!"  If they are, then we have made our point.   

I think we have fairly concluded that sometimes less, is more. Showing every single room in a house on an MLS listing is not necessary. Leave them interested, and wanting to come and see more!

FullHousePhoto.com

Empty Room Photos

I have been grappling with a dilemma lately about marketing our business.  I have seen a ton of houses on the MLS listings which are vacant, so there are a lot of unattractive photos of empty rooms most likely taken with a point-and-shoot camera. Charissa and I have been debating whether anyone would hire a professional to shoot a home which is primarily filled with empty rooms. I personally questioned whether anyone would feel it necessary or beneficial. So I decided to put this debate to the test and, even I, am amazed at the overwhelmingly obvious results!

Normally I would show you the “point-and-shoot” photo first. But in this case, seeing the professional photo first and then the others will provide a more clear distinction.

Below is the professionally photographed empty master bedroom suite. 

Professionally photographed empty Master bedroom suite

Notice that in this photo we have really good clarity, a nice sharp image. We are also being shown a large expanse of the hard wood floor which gives us a good feel for how big the room is, and shows that the floor looks to be in very good condition. Starting in the left hand corner of the photo you will see a peak into the master bathroom, and then moving to your right we see the entry door, next to that we see a walk-in closet door, and to the right of that we see another walk-in closet door. Although we do not see any windows in the bedroom, we can tell by the feel of the photo that this room is light and bright and must have windows. This photo has revealed a lot to a potential home buyer, which is exactly what a good real estate photo will do.

Note that the professional photo was taken with a wide-angle lens, which mostly only real estate or landscape photographers would own for their trade. Even the average amateur who has an SLR camera would not typically own a wide angle lens as they are not sought after for general photography, especially due to their limited use and expense.

Now lets take a look at the average point-and-shoot camera shot of the same master bedroom.

  

Point-and-shoot of empty Master suite

HUGE difference right?!  I must say even I was shocked! I was standing in the same spot when taking this photo, and believe it or not, this is as wide of an angle as this camera allows for. So, right off the bat, the biggest and most glaring difference is in the visual range. The point-and-shoot just cannot take as wide of a shot as the professional lens. Pointing the camera directly at the entry door does not allow me to see any of the bathroom, nor very far down that wall to get a better sense of how large the room really is.This is representative of a typical shot seen on many MLS listings. It is impossible with this camera to get all of the room's features in one photograph. We would have to take several photos (which is excessive for an empty room). By taking several photos a viewer gets a chopped up feel of the room, it’s very hard to get an understanding of the flow and size of a room when you have 3 parts of it you are trying to stitch together in your mind. As far as quality and clarity, the point and shoot pales in comparison. As always, the professional photograph is also professionally edited for color, clarity and contrast, something that can not be taken advantage of currently with the point-and-shoot format (at least not to the extent of a DSLR).

Below are photos of a spare bedroom, also empty and taken with both cameras and the same conclusions are obvious. From the same vantage point of the room the photos are vastly different. The professional photo by far allows for a more expansive view, and a more clear and vibrant photograph.

       

Point and Shoot -  bedroom #2

 Professionally photographed - bedroom #2

I think we can safely conclude from this test that there are a lot of MSL listings online which are under-representing the actual size and features of a room and home. A point-and-shoot camera was likely used because the rooms were empty and they felt that was "good enough".  Keep in mind that MLS listings are like an around-the-clock "open house". Potential buyers are seeing that house for the first time online and making immediate decisions based on the photos representing that home. How many potential buyers are passing on a house based on miss-representative photos? Would you have been captivated by the photos taken here with the point-and-shoot camera? Did they tell you anything important about the room? Would they have enticed you to go see that house in person?

I hope that I have proven to you, as I have myself, that the amount of information a potential home buyer can get from an empty room makes it very worthwhile to hire a professional photographer. Surprisingly, from a good quality photo, you can get a “feel” for the room – even when it’s empty. First impressions matter when it comes to home buying; many may not give you a second look if you don't capture their interest the first time!

FullHousePhoto.com

"Photo Ready"

What is “photo ready”? 

As real estate photographers we want to capture a home looking its best so that potential buyers will notice the wonderful features of the home. Clearing away visual distractions is necessary in order to have the buyer focus on what matters, the size of the rooms, the condition of the house, and the architectural features. Imagine if you were a potential buyer, would you be captivated by photos of a home with the beds unmade, dirty dishes in the sink, or toys strewn around the family room? Sure, that’s probably how the majority of all our houses look on a daily basis, but when trying to sell a home, we know that the “lived in look" is not going to get you noticed! Let’s take a look at a few photos to see what I mean.

Photo #1

In photo #1 we have a very nice kitchen, it’s very well kept, large, spacious, and clean. Kitchens, as they say, are the heart of the home. Many potential buyers choose homes based on the size and condition of a kitchen. Ask yourself, was your kitchen a main reason you chose your current home, or the top thing on your list for your new home? I know it was for me!  This is a great kitchen, but is it “photo ready”?  Let’s take a closer look.

Photo #2

In photo #2 we've pointed out some items which should be removed. I’m sure some of you are saying “really – we have to remove ALL of those items, but I use them every day!” Remember, it’s just for the 2 hour time-period that we will be photographing the home. You can put everything back after we are done. However, keep in mind that you are selling your house; you will have potential buyers walking through and “photo ready” is a good bench mark for how you will want your house seen by others. Optimally, for a kitchen, you want to showcase counter space (which this kitchen has a lot of) so clearing all items off of the counter is essential. Just putting things in drawers or cabinets temporarily for the time period of the photo shoot is a good solution. Is it required for you to remove ALL these items before we will take photographs? No, but we hope to show you that photos with minimal clutter and distraction will look better and attract more people to your listing! And after all,-THAT is our goal!!  

Photo #3

Photo #3 is the same kitchen, but this time all the items which we pointed out in photo#2 have been removed. As you will hopefully notice, it’s a much cleaner and attractive looking picture. Your eye is no longer distracted by little items, your focus now is on all the features this kitchen has to offer. Beautiful hard wood floors, loads of cabinet space, large classic granite counter tops, complimentary tiled back splash, a built in microwave, gas range and a prep sink within the large island. Hopefully with this photo a potential home buyer will be imagining themselves cooking a family feast or baking holiday cookies on the big island counter!

Bedroom “photo ready”

NOT "photo ready" 

We all have busy lives and when we are in the process of selling our house it only increases the chaos in our day. The majority of your things are boxed up, you can’t find anything, and you always need an item that you packed away! It can be a nightmare, and the last thing you want to hear from your photographer or real estate agent is that you need to pack away more things. You NEED your every day items, and it’s difficult to keep your house constantly in a “show room” state. Trust us, we understand that! 

Items that should be removed

As photographers we just need you to tuck some things away for the pictures, just so that everything is neat and clean. Vacuum, dust, clear off counters and dressers, and consider removing some non-essential furnishings to show the expanse of a room. It's a temporary change for the time period of the photo shoot. However, we do suggest being in "photo ready" condition for the homeowners who will be coming to see your house too.  

Photo Ready

This room is now "photo ready"!  It took minimal moving and cleaning to transform this bedroom, and now it looks much better! Notice that it's not stark, but we did "de-clutter". Just as your mother always told you, "go make your bed"; this is one of those times when you pull out the "company's coming" bedding and spruce up your bed more than normal. Notice that the personal hair products are gone from the dresser, the photo boxes are removed from the shelving, the trash can is gone, and the bedside dressers are clear. The laundry basket has been removed (no one wants to see your laundry), as well as the bench at the end of the bed, creating more floor space which is an essential selling feature! 

In conclusion, I hope we have shown how just a small amount of cleaning and clearing can improve the look of a room, and make a much better photograph. Remember that your photos are the first thing potential buyers will see about your home, and you want to make a great first impression!

Click here to see a full list of "photo ready" tips. 

FullHousePhoto.com

  

Compare and Contrast

     As Real Estate Photographers we are always trying to impress upon clients that having professionally taken and edited photos of a home will give you better quality than you can get with your standard point and shoot camera or smart phone. But since photography is a visual medium, let's take some pictures to show the differences and limitations.  One pet peeve of mine is when articles say they are going to do comparison photos, yet they don't even take pictures of the same room or same angle!  How is THAT a comparison!? Here I have taken 3 photographs of an average looking room, in an average home. The photos are taken with 3 different cameras, from the same exact spot, at the same time, at the same height, and the same angle. Let's see the results!

Point and Shoot

     Photo #1 - was taken with a standard point and shoot digital camera. Don't get me wrong, those cameras can take some really good shots, and their appeal is that they are small and compact. But they have their limits, and when it comes to getting the best possible home photos, results are what matter. For the optimal real estate photos you are looking for square footage, clarity, brightness, realistic color saturation, and image sharpness.  In this photo the window is overly bright to the point of being a distraction, the wall hangings are softly focused, and the room colors are muted. 

iPhone

     Photo #2 - was taken with a camera on a current smart phone. Amazing photography right on our phones!  I know, as a photographer, I was thrilled at the idea of having a good quality camera on me at all times, imagine all the "in the moment" shots I could capture that I otherwise wouldn't have.  A glance at Instagram, Facebook, or Flickr will show you all the incredible photo's people can take with their smart phone - the talent is endless out there! However, for the purpose of real estate photo's is the quality there?  This photo is hazy, dark,  you can't tell exactly what the colors of the room are, and again the window is overly bright. My experience is that smart phones take much better pictures outdoors in natural light, then they do indoors. 

DSLR with editing

     Photo #3 - was taken with a digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera, and edited for exposure and contrast with software to enhance clarity and definition. One benefit of the SLR is that you can change lens sizes based on the photo wanted and the situation. In real estate photography this means we can use a wide angle lens to capture a broader perspective of each room, and the camera itself allows more control over depth of focus and light. In this photo the SLR has given us a much brighter image, it has very sharp focus, provides more detail, and the colors are true to the room. Notice that the wide angle lens has given us a larger and wider view of the room now. Overall this is a much more appealing, inviting, and eye catching photo! Now your potential home-buyer is paying attention to the expanse of floor space in the room, the great amount of light this room gets from the windows, and the spaciousness of the room for entertaining!  

     Keep in mind that just because someone owns a professional DSLR camera does not make them a professional photographer.  Just like owning a professional knife does not make me a Chef, just ask anyone who has eaten my food!  Professional photographers do it for a living, they understand light, composition, and depth of field, they practice often, and are constantly learning new techniques to improve their photography skills.

     So there you have it, 3 photos, taken with 3 different cameras.  I think we have clearly shown how having professional photos brings an increased level of quality to attract potential home buyers.  Beautiful photos grab your attention and create an emotional response and THAT is what helps sell a home...emotion!  A home buyer wants to envision their children having room to lay around on the floor and watch cartoons. They imagine walking through the home and the bright sunlight energizing the start of their day! Or see that the space has lots of seating room for family and friends for the next holiday or Superbowl party!  Capture attention, capture emotion, with professional quality real estate photos. 

Side Note:  Some of you may be crying "foul" since the 3rd shot was edited with professional software and the others were not!  You think I violated my own pet peeve - that I have not taken 3 EQUAL shots for comparison. HOWEVER, this is to show you yet another limit of the point and shoot and smart phone cameras.  Currently they shoot in a digital format that is unable to utilize the professional editing software to their fullest capabilities. That's not to say that editing software can NOT be used with those cameras, but the average person is not going to have that software, know how to use it, nor want to spend the money or time on it. At Full House Photography this software is just one of the tools we use to help us capture and create our quality photographs.

FullHousePhoto.com