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Photographs tell a thousand words or so they say

By Rod Pierson

Real Estate Agent with Wilson Realty Inc DRE# 01460245

March 27, 2008 04:07 PM

Last year I spent many nights looking thru other mls sites looking for properties in TN, thinking we might be relocating, I found that most agents like to upload photos of kitchens, dining rooms, not all would show master bedrooms, in door laundry rooms, garages elevations, bonus rooms, inside the garages, I know most of the secondary beds and second baths don't usually have anything exciting to take a photo, and the rooms are usually too small to take a full photo.

I was hoping to find more photos showing the front of the garage, photos on the inside of the garage and if their was a shop on the property to show photos of the shop. I would usually only find two to four photos which showed the front elevation, maybe twice, and the stairways, kitchen, nook and dining. I did find several homes that looked interesting from the detail page, and then was disappointed when I went to look for photos.

When an agent is representing a half million dollar plus house that boasts of a four car garage, indoor laundry area, huge master bedroom with fireplace, entertainment room, you would suspect to see photos of those areas.

When I list a house, I find sometimes it is difficult to take photos of all the rooms, because they are generic, but I always try to take a photo of the side load garages, indoor laundry rooms, foyers, along with the back yard, and especially if it has a pool. If the hosue has a large enough walk in closet and or the closet is orderly I try to take photos to show the size of the closet.

Maybe if I wasn't on the other side looking in I wouldn't have required the photos, but from what the statistics say most of our buyers come from the internet, so let's give them as many photos as we can load. Virtual tours are nice too, since they show from a perspective view walking into the home.

Another good feature which isn't always available is to put the floor plans up on the photo page too. Now that we are in the digital age I think we should all help each other and upload as many large photos as we can, afterall you might be looking for that special home someday too.

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Mark Hawley

Keller Williams Realty - Indio, CA

I often am upset when they say "Gorgeous Mountain Views", but not one picture of them. I have a client who is REALLY interested in good views so he can relax outside and enjoy them. I would find listings for him that stated great views, but no pictures. He lives out of state, so I would have to go to the property and take pictures just to send to him.

Mar 27, 2008 04:15 PM

Linda Lipscomb

Linda Lipscomb RE/MAX Lexington Henderson County TN - Lexington, TN

731-695-1118, Lexington TN Homes

Rod,

I agree.

I have cleaned homes in order to take pictures.

New construction is sometimes a challenge.

Linda Lipscomb, Homes for Sale with Photos, Lexington, TN.

Mar 27, 2008 04:16 PM

Ray Nellum

Envision Real Estate Group, LLC. - Fort Smith, AR

Fort Smith Real Estate

Rod, our photo's can be a work of art. Telling perspective buyers the true beauty of a home. We have a job to do that shouldn't be taken lightly. No matter the price of the home.... I agree..

Mar 27, 2008 04:16 PM

Pam Pugmire

Silvercreek Realty Group - Meridian, ID

Meridian Idaho Real Estate

Rod, I agree...

With the advent of the 'digital age' we are becoming used to certain things, like photos and Virtual tours. I know as an agent, if a listing doesn't have good photos, I may not even preview it for my clients because I probably found 20 others that do have photos. With the high cost of gas, I don't like to drive around any more than I have to. I will definitely take the time to preview listings that caight my eye from the photos.

Mar 27, 2008 04:36 PM

Rod Pierson

Wilson Realty Inc - Redding, CA

Northern California - An Agent you can trust

I am not saying that I am perfect, but it makes me feel that we are all on the right page. The digital camera has made it so easy to take so many shots that you can look more professional and you never know if another prospect is viewing your photos and thinking about giving you a call to list their home.

You are so right when the listing says beautiful views and then you look and or go to send the listing to your client and they ask you where are the views. I have like many of you call the agent for more photos and or just go out and take my own and put them on a CD and mail them to the client and or put them into a word program and convert it to a pdf file in order to transmit higher resolution photos.

One of you guys said about having to drive out and take photos, this would be eliminated if there was a format everyone followed, not saying I agree with being told what to do, I know we can always deviate from a format and or upload the basic and then upload more photos.

We had very successful agent, who only has two years as an agent, but know how to market, he has hired a professional photographer to take his phots both day shots and night shots..... his clients love it and advertize for him. I like taking my own photos just get a little annoyed at times waiting to upload the photos.

We had an great virtual tour program that I would use to upload all my photos and then I would email the link so my clients could view all the photos. But now they are using another program that is slow and less user friendly I am sending my files using PDF format, does any one have any good ideas to send large resolution photos?

I appreciate all your comments. Like one of you said we have a job to do and the price of the home shouldn't reflect how we percieve thier home when taking photos. I know I still have alot to learn. I even try to take photos looking across the street. When I actually go to the property I take photoes while driving to the property. I have included the photoes on the virual tour so the prospective client has an idea of the surrounding since they are not from the area.

I think maybe I will start a group on how we should shoot our photos and gather up tips and ideas, would that be something someone would be interested in? Photography is an art for some and I find it fun to take photos to sell a property, I know I have alot to learn.........

Mar 27, 2008 06:05 PM

Anonymous

Rod:

Check out www.http://HomeScenes.com - Search the state of TN and select a city! Outstanding complete virtual tours of listed properties!

Good Luck!

Mar 28, 2008 04:04 PM

Rod Pierson

Wilson Realty Inc - Redding, CA

Northern California - An Agent you can trust

Thank you the web address should be http://www.homescenes.com. I checked out the site, and was diaappointed not to be able to search for properties in Knoxville. Some of the listings have many photos, no photos of the inside of the garages. This site appears to have the right makings but just can't entertain many locations. I did a spin off on one of the agents site and found where they had many photos of the properties, probably in the neighborhood of forty plus photos. I could not find any listings in Chatanooga that had virtual tours.

I do understand that most sites are slow to upload and to up load forty plus med grade resolution photos took a little time.

When I was looking in the Knoxville and Memphis area I found several sites that I could few the homes and the general site was better than most and it only had a few photos, after looking at a couple of hundred homes I never found any photos of the laundry area and or of the garage or some of the special rooms they highlighted in the listing.

One of the houses that we really liked I contacted the agent and ask for her to go out to the property and take photos that I specified she took alot of photos, I also asked her for a floor plan, She was extremely accomodating.

When we made a trip out there we had the same agent show us the house and with her photos and the floor plans I had an excellent idea what it was going to look at. Had it not been for the photos and the floor plan she mailed to me I would have never contacted her to preview the home.

When I found listings with no photos Iwould just go to the next one. I was looking in the 500- 800K range and I would think the agent would have uploaded photos to represent the sellers.

Thank you again for your response and I will check out the site again in about a month and see if it has expanded to more locations.

Mar 28, 2008 04:50 PM

Anthony Saunchez

Campa Properties - San Bernardino, CA

How can we be of service

Rod,

I think the photographs should represent the home. If you describe features we should take the time to put them on display.

Mar 28, 2008 07:33 PM

Rod Pierson

Wilson Realty Inc - Redding, CA

Northern California - An Agent you can trust

Anthony,

Thanks for your comment, yes we have a job to do and with the technology we have at our finger tips we can take fairly decent photos and see the results instanly. In realty the whole house is on display, and with photos thru the eye of the agent we can promote the home. The era of realestate totally changed when the digital camera was brought into the industry.

Mar 29, 2008 05:35 PM