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Are you getting the best bang for your buck from your real estate photographer?
Knowing these few tips could save you thousands!
Tip 1: Don’t purchase the rights if you don’t need to. The rights to a photo can cost hundreds if not thousands depending on its intended use. Instead, have the photographer draft up a contract with a temporary release of the images based on the terms you have agreed upon. If you only intend to post them on your MLS or Website. Why pay the same as a print or magazine ad. Draft a contract for a limited license stating you will only use the images on the MLS. Just be sure to stay within the limits of the agreement.
Tip 2: No contract, no deal! A photographer has to actually sign over their image rights to you for it to be a legal transfer. If you are just purchasing the image or just have a temporary release, get it in writing and signed. This will prevent any business deals that go bad from going REALLY BAD. No contract and you could get hit with a Copyright Lawsuit costing you at least five grand per photo or more.
Tip 3: Read the fine print! Most contracts stipulate that the photographer owns the rights to all photos taken of your listing. In other words, the photographer can use them professionally (on their website or blog, submit them for publication and even use them in ads). That also means that you can't just post the digital proofs they send you—most photographers have a policy that you can only share watermarked images or images with their credit on them. Also, unless you negotiate otherwise if you want to print the images, with most photographers you'll have to buy the rights to the images.
Back Away From the iPhone and Hire a Photographer
Are you really taking photos of your listings with your iPhone? As Dr. Phil says, how’s that working for you?
You caution your sellers about the importance of curb appeal. You counsel them to clean up and maybe even stage the home’s interior. Then you come along, snap some quick photos on your smartphone and slap them on the MLS.
While curb appeal is your client’s responsibility, web appeal is yours.You have one chance to impress – a scant two seconds to grab a buyer’s attention without a photograph and 20 seconds with one. Do iPhone listing photos or those you take with a point-and-shoot camera make optimum use of those valuable seconds?
What Professional Listing Photographers Brings to the Table
According to a 2010 Redfin study, homes that are professionally photographed sell for at least $934 and as much as $18,819 more than homes photographed by an amateur. The study also shows that homes photographed by a professional garner 61 percent more online views.
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Professionally-photographed homes sell for up to $19,000 more.
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The key to getting these results is in creating inspiration, according to real estate photographer Jay Groccia. Effective marketing photos are inspirational. If homebuyers perusing the Internet get inspired by a photo, “they’ll click through to the agent’s website. If they don’t, they click “back” to view the next result in the search list,” Groccia explains.
“That was it – right there – that was your opportunity to grab that buyer’s attention, and if they clicked back, you’ve lost them forever,” he cautions.
“But I Own a Really Good Camera … “
Many agents fancy themselves photographers merely because they bought a high-end camera and taught themselves how to use it. There is an art, however, to good photography. The skilled professional knows how to use composition, color and lighting to make a photo more appealing. Owning a great camera makes one no more a professional photographer than owning a Wolf range makes one a professional chef.
Be the Agent – Not the Photographer
Deep down inside agents understand that they can’t wear all the hats in their real estate practice and still adequately serve their clients – especially while simultaneously trying to grow their businesses. It’s the agents who delegate that typically move to the next level.
Even if you fancy yourself a budding photographer and have all the high-end equipment necessary, your time is better spent drumming up new listings and growing your business.
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Real estate agents are hired to sell homes, not take photos.
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“I used to believe that a good product sold itself,” admitted Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike, Inc.
Lots of real estate agents fall into the same trap. A good house will not sell itself without your assistance. Even in the best of markets, advertising your listings is essential. Your clients expect it and they’re paying you to do it right.
The next time you’re tempted to pull out your iPhone to snap listing photos, ask yourself this: Would Phil Knight whip out his point-and-shoot and snap random photos of a pile of athletic shoes to be used in Nike’s print advertising?
Your main objective is to “make them dream.” Jaw-dropping photos do that.
Anyone can take a photo, but not everyone can take the best photo to sell your home.
How good is your photographer?
Bell Real Estate Photography was Voted 1 of the top 10 photographers in Tampa Bay by linkedin.com
With competitive prices and top quality in both photography and design, Bell Real Estate Photography knows how to get your listing to stand out! If you are selling a home or renting a vacation condo, Bell Real Estate Photography knows what you need.
