Real Estate: Importance of photography and marketing
Good photography and marketing strategy are very important pieces of the sales puzzle.
Sabrina Belleci
Since most buyers search online, great photos / videos are the best way to showcase your home or condo and generate interest. Because the prices of property for sale in the Lake Tahoe Basin are relatively high, sellers and realtors should employ a professional photographer and a well thought and planned marketing strategy to market your property.
Realtors generally view the cost of photography as just part of the many marketing costs associated with selling real estate.
However, when it comes to marketing your property, it is not enough just to have high quality indoor and outdoor photos. Choosing the right image types is absolutely crucial if you want to look your best.
The first photo buyers see on the multiple listing service or anywhere online should be either a great outdoors or a great indoors that will grab attention. A picture that shows just the front door (or maybe even just a toilet or light fixture) and nothing else is really not suitable if you want buyers to take a closer look at your property.
It is also important that the professionals you choose are an accurate representation of what you are selling. If your deck needs painting, the pictures should show it. The last thing you want to do is provide the buyer with a perfect home only to have them come to the property to find out that the patio needs replacing.
The goal of photography and branding is to tell a story and show the best features of your place. Pictures of an indoor staircase, fence, or garden gnome that looks like it’s been lying on the ground for three winters only invite buyers to jump to the next property. Inclusion of that converted kitchen or the elegant stonework around the fireplace will entice a buyer to seek more information about your property. It is equally important to take pictures at the right time of day so that you do not get shadows in the room or other defects.
Three hundred and sixty tours and high quality video reviews are extremely valuable when it comes to marketing your home. Still photos are nice, but they don’t really capture the taste of walking or looking around a room. They don’t catch the snow that falls outside, the flickering of the flames in the fireplace above the glittering crystals, or how the sun is reflected in time-lapse through the etched glass. You won’t really showcase or make your property stand out simply by putting a series of still images on a website.
Videos can create the impression that a shopper is actually home, toasting smores on your fire pit, cooking in your high-end kitchen, and relaxing on the deck overlooking the lake while a hawk flies by. 360 virtual reality tours allow shoppers to browse room by room and learn the floor plan as if walking through the property while sitting on their couch at home or on their phone in the local hotel lobby. These can be done either with special photo equipment or with virtual reality software (new staples in the real estate industry).
At this point in time, each property is expected to be presented in different ways on many different platforms. It has become mainstream in the world of real estate photography, helping your property stand out.
Many properties need to be photographed at two or three different times of the day to get the best pictures due to the angle of the sun. The best photographers are always ready to accommodate brokers and their sellers and take the photography at the optimal time for each property. It is important that properties are photographed at all times of the year. If a house was photographed in winter with snow on the ground and you still see those winter photos on the property’s listing in summer, it makes a bad impression on potential buyers that the property is undesirable or has been on the market for too long.
Every property has a story to tell which is the key component of their branding and online presence. When hiring an agent, make sure you hire professionals who can do more than just take vertical iPhone photos of your home.
Realtors should work with professional marketers, videographers, and photographers to brand and position your home to get the most exposure in the shortest amount of time that sells at the best possible price. Print and web advertising as well as social media marketing are no longer subjective, but mandatory for the marketing of all real estate in all areas and at any price.
Weekly real estate update
Incline Village Multiple Listing Service statistics as of May 26th.
Homes condominiums PUDs
For sale 27 49 5
Less than $ 1 million 0 33 2
Median Selling Price $ 3,400,000 $ 649,000 $ 2,750,000
YTD sales 2021 85 79 14
YTD sales 2020 41 81 9
New offers 17
In escrow account 16
Closed escrow account 10
Escrow range $ 419,000- $ 6,000,000