“If 90% of the homes in your market are not selling, then your home needs to outshine the top 10%. I’ve written articles before about taking great pictures that will help sell your home, and its entirely possible for a non-professional to get a good shot.
But its much more likely that an experienced professional will know which shots will help your home to get noticed.
Elizabeth Weintraub, a Realtor with more than 30 years of experience selling in the Sacramento area lists badly shot photographs first in reasons why your home might not be selling.
“Homes in MLS that have one photo are passed by. Homes with dozens of photographs get noticed. Take quality photos or hire a professional photographer. Shoot wide angles with plenty of light showcasing your home’s best features. For goodness sake, keep the toilet lid closed.”
There’s a common misconception that hiring a photographer might only make sense if you’re selling a $1,000,000+ home. Hiring a photographer will cost somewhere between $75-250 unless you have special requests. If that helps sell your home in an even slightly shorter amount of time, or helps bring in more offers, or makes it possible to sell at all, its worth it for a home at any price. Almost any other kind of marketing effort will cost more.
Linsey Planeta, Orange County Realtor, and a big help for consumers in selling their homes has this to say about hiring a professional photographer, “There is no listing that should ever be without them. I am a Realtor – I am not a photographer.” She provides a great example on her website of the difference between shots she took and the shots her photographer took.
A few years ago, when the housing market was booming, professional pictures might have made much less of a difference. In todays market, it might be your only hope.
