Home : Groups : Photography

Horrible Real Estate Photography

I'm not an agent, but it confuses me so much to see and/or hear about listing agents taking bad photos of homes. I worked as a graphic designer for a local real estate company about 2 years ago and I would design hundreds of flyers for many different agents. Some of these photos were absolutely horrible beyond belief. And I have read here about photos with rear-view mirrors and/or trash in the photos. I got really good with photoshop. One time we had to remove an entire painter from an elevation photo, he was in the middle of working and couln't step out of the frame I guess.

I have a question...

Whats up with that? I thought the whole idea was to present the house in it's best light. Is there anything I'm missing that a listing agent does that is more important than uploading photos to MLS and making a flyer? Is it purely because they dont know any better, or is the photo not as important as I thought? Oh yea, and the sign in the front helps but that is easy... It seems to me that the photo is the centerpiece of the listing wherever it is.

Posted by Carson Coots on 12/11/2006 09:13 AM

Comments (12)

12 Comments on Horrible Real Estate Photography

DEC

2006

"Is their anything I'm missing that a listing agent does that is more important than uploading photos to MLS and making a flyer?"

I certainly hope there are things which an agent does that are more important than "uploading photos and making a flyer." Things like counselling, negotiating, protecting the sellers interest all come to mind, but your point is very valid. Given the importance of marketing in getting a client to a point where these other services can be utilized, agents should be embarrassed to produce such terribly poor images. Photography is not as simple as all of the point and shoot ads would lead us to believe and it takes a fair bit of effort to learn principles of exposure, lighting, composition, post-processing, etc. Even agents who are not lazy and have a sincere desire to do a good job can have problems taking good images. Agents who are unwilling to learn should strike up a relationship with someone who knows how to ensure that their listings are professionally represented in photos and marketing material.

I am so with you that something needs to change. I recently wrote an article on my Saskatoon Real Estate Blog titled, "If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words What Are the Photos of Your Home Saying to Prospective Buyers?" in which I posted a VirtualTour of bad images that I scraped off of an MLS® website in about 30 minutes. The bad stuff is everywhere. At least we're starting to understand the importance of photos. For a long time it was a struggle to get agents to acknowledge that. I expect that things will change as sharp agents begin to realize that there is a marketing opportunity which could be expoited by being somewhat better than average in this area.

DEC

2006

Carson, You are so right on the money! Agents spend a huge chunk of cash marketing and it would seem that, particularly now when many people pre-screen homes online, pictures should be at the top of the 'do right' list. Unfortunately, that does not always seem to be the case. I'm with Norm, though, on the marketing opportunity this presents; the sharper agents have begun to use this to their advantage here already and stagers (which I am) have a unique opportunity here as well.

This isn't a real estate question - it's a photography question. The problem is simple: people don't know.

You could just as easily ask yourself "why do people take such horrible pictures of thier kids." Look at the average snapshot and you'll see a bullseye photo w/ the kid's head dead center from too far away; clutter in the background; a flat, flash-lit exposure. So why not get closer, arrange an interesting composition, use a flattering light source (like a window) and turn the flash off? Because...drumroll...the photographer doesn't know to do these things.

The market for real estate agents is crowded out there. Basic photography is a bit of knowledge that most agents could pick up that would help them add some value to their clients. It's not about buying a better camera - for web photography an cheap digital that gives you control over exposure and flash is fine. Add a twenty dollar tripod and you're in business.

I listed some of my personal pet peeves here. And check out Craig Schiller's excellent post as well.

Christopher,

You make some excellent points. I guess the bigger question is, how can agents review the obviously poor photos they've taken and be satisfied with them? You don't need to a photographer to recognize images which should obviously be sent to the trash can. My "pet peeves" are photos which are grossly underexposed or those which really don't show anything other than the corner of a small bedroom, or the top one third of a toilet and bathtub.

Norm, I've looked at literally hundreds of thousands of photos real estate agents have taken over the past few years. I can honestly say that for the most part, they are all "good enough." They are not award winning, but they'll get the job done. The lighting is fine and the scene is entirely in the photo frame, to the extent possible.

A smaller percentage take decent photos. And an even smaller percentage take great photos. But there is a higher than expected percentage that take horrid photos. And there is no excuse. They are obviously not paying attention. Most digital camera's show you the shots after you take them. You can look at them and say, "that was too dark, let me try again" or "that was blurry, let me hold still."

Christopher, I'm not talking about just poorly framed photos from an artistic standpoint, that is exactly as you say, they don't know. But when I see a photo of a living room and the couch looks like it was taken during an earthquake, that's just carelessness. A truly bad shot is not about knowing how, it's about not taking the time to get it right.

DEC

2006

Well, if an agent is going to list a house and take thier own photo, I think it should be top priority to learn photography basics and spend a few more minutes on-site trying to get the best angles and/or exposure.

My original point is that any advertisement or product "listed" online or in a magazine is driven by the photo. I'm sure after a while, agents consider the home "just another one" but to the buyer, when they find the right price in the right location, the decision to go take a look might be buffered or hindered by the photo. And later, when they have collected a stack of flyers or printed a list of homes online and visited, they will be referencing to the photo you originally took. A great photo could mentally sway the buyer to look on that property in a favorable light (or unfavorable) even after it has been visited. I could be wrong though. I'm not an agent.

The bottom line is, Agents need to step up their photography game - for real.

Your points are valid. Some of the worst photos are certainly a disservice to the seller.

DEC

2006

Not everyone has the "gift of photography".... it does take a special eye to capture a shot - a picture tells a thousand words and it should reflect that!

Thanks for making some of us aware of our gifts - of lack there of.....

Your welcome... It was my great pleasure to shed light on peoples shortcomings. But hey, if only one photo is improved because of this post, I'd say its a job well done. Case closed.

DEC

2006

As a photographer who specializes in Real Estate and Architectural Photography, I have asked the question many times of 'why such bad photos of real estate listings' can be acceptable to so many realtors. Occassionally I will ask that question of the realtors who use my services and I've gotten a variety of responses from 'cheap' or 'lazy' or the market is so good (that's changing) that realtors think good photos hardly matter. Some realtors do consider it to their advantage that they offer professional photography of their listings to their sellers. Aside from the marketing advantages, it frequently earns them big points with their sellers and happy customers equal future referrals and repeat customers. If the listing doesn't sell quickly, at least the seller can see the kind of effort their realtor has put into marketing their property. I've received emails and appreciative comments from happy sellers, so I know it really matters.

I recently participated in a workshop on staging and real estate photography in which I sat across from a realtor in attendance who has a $3 million+ listing with horrible photos. Go figure! You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. : )

One realtor told me that she predicts within a few years, most realtors will be using professional photographers to shoot their listings. It's just going to take some time for some to catch on. BTW, I can tell you that shooting 15-25 good photos of a listing in short time span is not all that easy and I've had to do a considerable amount of work to learn how to get good at this. If a realtor wants to make the investment in equipment and time to shoot their own listings well, then more power to them. But I've seen few who have done so.

DEC

2006

+1 to what Mark said!

SEP

2007

I have to agree, it is amazing what some people take and call a professional photo for the MLS and to advertise a listing!!!!

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?