PLEASE look at your photos before you post them on the internet or upload them into your local MLS!!! There is nothing that makes us look less professional then blurry photos or photos that are way too dark or way too light!!! This is our profession; lets show some pride in our work! All too often I go onto the internet and view photos in the local MLS only to find something that is so out of focus that I can't use it!
If you don't know how to take photos, take a class! Most boards offer classes for realtors! And invest in a digital camera that is at least 4.0 megapixels!!! The days of paper prints and developing at the store are past. You owe it to yourself and your clients to have a good digital camera. Keep it with you at all times! You never know when you are going to need it! And it is so easy to download directly into your computer without the need for paper prints!
And make sure you have a back-up battery with you! I went out today, took out my camera to take some unexpected photos and found out that the old battery was dead! So it is recharging, but a backup would have been great!!!
9 Comments on PLEASE look at your photos before you post them on the internet!!!
Thanks for posting this reminder! Every day I have a chuckle at the terrible photos I see posted on the MLS and real estate websites. And, you are right, it makes our profession look bad, which is an even better reason to post good photos. Our boutique firm (Lawton Associates in Berkeley) takes great efforts to post good photos, and have invested in a very high-end digital camera (with a wide angle lens for those tight half baths).
At the very least, I hope agents will stop posting pix of poorly lit messy bathrooms with the toilet lid up!
I totally agree with this post! Why do people neglect the photos?! They are so important, espeically for online listings. And so simple to do right!
I knew somebody who was trying to sell their beachside apartment, at the time it was listed it was the most expensive one in the area, but the photos...my goodness! As a buyer you would never have looked twice at the listing, the photos made it look dark, old and lifeless. But this actually worked out all right in the end, there wasn't any interest in the property and the seller decided not to sell...which means I still get to stay there when the sun shines! :-)
Pictures are key when it comes to listings. You need to have high quality and spend some time in doing so as well. A good photo can sometimes bring you showings where bad ones may detour someone from even looking at the property initially. Good post, good thinking.
I agree! I always have my camera in my purse. It is amazing how many times a picture did not come out good the first time, or something changed, like maybe the weather. Also with things staying on the market longer it is nice to keep your pictures up to date. Just today I sent some listing to a prospective buyer that was not interest in some nice homes due to the pictures.
Something that has helped my on a lot on a number of my listing where my camera simply was unable to pull out any good light is ordering a virtual tour from http://www.circlepix.com/
A bacis Virtual Tour is only $80-140 and that inlcudes having a professional photographer come out to take the photos. This has made a huge difference on a few listings for me. My camera does pretty well on most (it's 8 mega-pixels), but just like we tell our clients to trust real estate to the professionals, sometimes we need to take our own advise and hire a professional to take our photos.
Just another opinioin and point of view. Hope that helps.
DJ Breckheimer Real Estate Broker SW Mpls Specialist www.djBreck.com
Bill and Barbara, you are right, every agent should look carefully at all pictures before uploading them to the MLS. It's a disservice to our sellers not to do so, and it does speak a lot about ourselves. With the kind of competition we have today, where we have so much inventory, those properties that don't have pictures or have bad ones, don't stand a chance.
I agree. My area MLS photos are pretty generally terrible! That's why I am trying to break into taking photos for the realtors!
If you can't take good photos and don't have time for a class, hire someone, or contract out to an amateur who does a great job- I am sure a high schooler or college student would give you a bargain on their services and love the experience!
Excellent point about the photos. However, my biggest pet peeve when I look through our MLS, is the horrible spelling. Just as the customer will judge us by the photos, I believe they will judge even more harshly for bad spelling.
I have to agree with you, Jim! The spellng gets to me too...perhaps because I used to teach English overseas....but it is another pet peeve of mine too!!!
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Thanks for posting this reminder! Every day I have a chuckle at the terrible photos I see posted on the MLS and real estate websites. And, you are right, it makes our profession look bad, which is an even better reason to post good photos. Our boutique firm (Lawton Associates in Berkeley) takes great efforts to post good photos, and have invested in a very high-end digital camera (with a wide angle lens for those tight half baths).
At the very least, I hope agents will stop posting pix of poorly lit messy bathrooms with the toilet lid up!