Professional Real Estate Photography Sells Listings Faster
Reasons, facts, and stats why you should use a professional real estate photographer to create content for your listings.
We live in a world where content is king, and the emphasis on quality content is more important than ever. Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions a person can make, which lends to the belief that creating a powerful visual and emotional story about a listing is more important than ever.
95% of potential homebuyers view photos first before anything else on a listing page website. With this fact in mind, you’d think every agent would use a professional photographer and create high-quality photo content for every listing. Yet, despite the fact that more than 9 out of 10 agents believe in the importance of professional photography, only half always use third-party professional photographers.
For those who argue they can “DIY” with a nice camera, I rebuttal with this thought; as much as I’d like to be a professional chef de cuisine, owning a beautiful Wolf range will not allow me to jump in line at French Laundry with Thomas Keller.
Quality photography shot by a professional real estate photographer is essential to create the best possible foundation of listing content to appease sellers and attract buyers. We researched past studies and sought out to find facts surrounding the benefits of professional real estate photography, collected below.
The Importance of Professional Real Estate Photography
Journal of Real Estate Research:
95% of homebuyers view the photo first before anything else on a listing page website.
- Listings with high-quality photos sell 32% faster.
- 44% of recent buyers looked online for properties as the first step they took in the home buying process.
- 99% of Millennials search on online websites
- 87% of buyers found photos the most valuable feature on a website
- Photos and online information about properties were more important to Millennials
WSJ:
Homes with high-quality photos receive 47% higher asking price per square foot.
- On average, hiring a professional listing photographer costs 0.09% of the median U.S. home price.
- When the typical buyer looks at an online listing, the first thing she does is look at the photo. 40% of all participants don’t even look at the agent remarks section.
Agents who always use third-party photographers earn twice as much commission as those who don’t.
- Agents who always use a third-party professional photographer earn $8,683 per transaction, more than double the $4,292 that agents who never use third-party photographers rake in per transaction
- More than 9 out of 10 agents are passionate about the importance of professional photography, but only half always use third-party professional photographers
- For homes listed between $200,000 and $1 million, Redfin found that homes with listing photos taken with DSLR cameras sell for $3,400 to $11,200 more relative to their list prices.
- In the $400,000 to $500,000 price range, 64 percent of homes with DSLR photos sold within six months, compared to 46 percent of homes with point-and-shoot photos.
Homes in the $400,000 range sold three weeks faster than their counterparts with amateur photos.
- Homes in the $200,000 range sold two weeks faster than their counterparts with amateur photos.
- Homes in the $300,000 range sold 19 days faster than their counterparts with amateur photos.
