Are your clients' brains fried after looking at 10 homes?
Well, take your digital camera (get the Kodak v570 wide angle camera for under $200) and set your camera to the LOWEST resolution. When you are in the place start firing away like a mad man. Put it on motor drive if you can, and turn OFF the flash (faster photos). If you know how to change your ISO put it to 1600.
The point of these photos isn't to be pretty, but to be fast. Many look like this:
Start with an exterior photo of a photo of the house number. That way they know that you have moved to a new home. Make sure to take photos that show where the walls end giving the buyer a better idea as to the size of the room. The listing agent's job is to take photos that look great and huge, your job is to get photos that look more realistic.
Also hit each closest. Take everything. Sometimes I'll have 50-100 photos of a house.
At the end of the day, upload them using Picasa's free software from Google and with one click, you can upload it to a public or private photo album. Then you send them a link to the album.
They will be very impressed and they will refer to it many times.
What do you do as a buyer agent to stand out?
Update March 13 2008. Now add your albums to a Wiki MLS, FranklyMLS.com Watch the 2 min video below.
29 Comments on Buyer Agent Photo Albums. Otherwise they forget!
FEB
12
2007
I love Picassa, and i also take a lot of shots, took 125 at my last listing. Only used a handful, but then I usually only get a handful of truly special shots, the rest I keep in case the buyer wants them, if not I delete them eventually.
P.S. Picassa is FREE from Google
Put de lime in de coconut and shake it on up.................
This is a great feature for the clients because it's impossible to remember every house. I would only take pictures of those they are interested though...
Thanks for the tip Frank, I'll check PIcassa.I agree that having a wide angle lens is the way to go. Even our eyes see much wider then the regular lens so it is more realistic.
I'm not sure how webshots works. Picasa is from Google and it is also a great software to view and maintain your images in a super fast organized way. Then in one click you can upload to either a Picasa web album (either public for all to see or private for just your client) or you can upload it to Ofoto (for ordering or sharing).
Good tip. I was pretty excited about Picasa when it first came out and I never did anything about it. Will definitely revisit that service now. Thanks.
This is a great idea to do. I have taken pictures for clients before and emailed them but that takes a lot of time. I'll have to try uploading them as an album next time.
I now have a Kodak and have been testing it. I took a client out last week and she loved the idea that I was taking extra pics for her. She wanted all the good and bad, which I gladly snapped away and set up in Ofoto. The excitement on her face alone made the camera worth it!
Great idea---what a way to make the client love the way you do business! Had to subscribe to your blog after reading some of your tips. I don't want to miss anything!
Frank you should consider a career as a professional "thinker"
every once in a while I will grudgingly take a few shots for a client but never looked at the long term perspective of doing them routinely. Downloaded Picasso a while back but never used it. I will revisit.
Hey Sharon, you are trying too hard to make pretty photos.
I can spend 2 or 3 hours taking a nice photo album for a listing. But for a buyer, I can take 30 photos in under 5 minutes. I turn off the flash and I just snap away. Nothing pretty, just informative. Each closet, up close of carpets, granite, etc. It saves you time in the future and the clients LOVE it.
Great idea. I have always been a "photoshop snob", though have taught agents how to use picasa before. Never saw much use for the web albums. But now I do!! This is one heck of alot faster than sizing and sending via email. Much easier for the client also as it is easier to view. Thanks again.
Hi Frank; Had to stop back by and say I just uploaded to picasa albums and sent the link to a new buyer I am working with. It is so much easier for someone to go see an album rather than just click on each attached photo. Simplicity is key! Thanks :)
Excellent. By the way, for agents who eventually do BPOs, this will be a great habit. For the BPOs, you also need to get pictures of every major appliance, e.g., water heater, electrical panel, A/C, heater, etc.
Great idea. I take lots of pictures of my listings and take pictures when the prospect looks like they are settling on a house or from our of town, but if you don't need them you can just delete.
We're the first we know of that is developing a web site for Buyer's Agents. How about 7 minutes to tell me what you think of this concept. In a nutshell, aren't buyers that found you on the internet going to continue to use the internet? With a one-time selection of you as the Agent-4-Me the whole web site looks like it's yours! All requests go to you. And all links when they send favorites or properties go to you. And then when those links get sent to others? You, and on and on and on.
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I love Picassa, and i also take a lot of shots, took 125 at my last listing. Only used a handful, but then I usually only get a handful of truly special shots, the rest I keep in case the buyer wants them, if not I delete them eventually.
P.S. Picassa is FREE from Google