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3 Easy Ways to Enhance your Listing Photos

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty- Red Stick Partners

I am not a photographer nor do I take pictures that are up to par to a professional photographer.  I do, though, have a duty to market my sellers home to the best of my ability plus some.  To them I have to be a professional photographer or willing to hire one. 

Pictures ARE worth a thousand words in Real Estate.  If you do not have enough listing pictures (or any at all) or your pictures do not represent the house well... an agent or their buyer may be uninterested in even giving your home a chance.

Think about how many times you've clicked the next button on a home that had one picture or pictures that were too dark to make out anything.  Do you want someone doing the same to you?

Here are three easy steps to clean your pictures up and make your listing shine! 
Think of it as Photo Editing 101!

12720 Roan Ave... This will be our BEFORE picture.

 

1)  Crop- Cropping is Photo Editing 101 but we sometimes forget about this easy tool.  It's a great way to cut out tall grass, bulky furniture, etc. and focus on the more prominent features of the house.  Take for instance the our before picture, there is too much driveway, sidewalk, and large trees featured so that a potential buyers eye is too distracted to focus on the beautiful house. 

See the difference Cropping can make?  We can now focus on what is important.

 

2) Brightness- Now that we have gotten distracting objects out of the way we have to worry about the lighting of a photo.  I see too many dark pictures and once again this is an easy thing to fix.  Using a photo editor (Look towards the bottom for a list of easy to use editors) simply brighten the picture to what you think is an acceptable amount.  You can play around till you find the perfect fix.  **Some more tips for perfect lighting BEFORE editing would be to try and take your pictures on an overcast day-- if time/weather does not permit be sure to have the fun facing behind you (not behind the house) and close blinds in the home when taking your pictures. 

 

3) Contrast- Now that you have cropped and brightened (or darkened) your photo to reach the perfect lighting, you will find that your picture looks oh, so much better... but a little washed out.  How do you return the bold color to your photo?  Contrast!  Just like you did with the lighting, play around till you find the perfect contrast.  Usually just adding a little contrast works perfect for me.

Our After Picture.

Which would you rather tour/buy the 'Before' or 'After' Picture?

 

 

Easy to Use FREE Photo Editors

Picasa

Photobucket

Snapfish

Picnik

 

Ginger S
Wilkinson & Associates, Wilmington NC - Wilmington, NC
Wilmington NC Real Estate & Relocation~

Toni, I always edit my photos. It kills me to see the awful photos agents post on their listings. I don't know why sellers are not up in arms!

Ginger

Aug 22, 2008 10:39 AM
Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

The brightness and contrast controls you played with on this one Toni very much sharpened up the image. Good tips.

Aug 22, 2008 10:44 AM
Eric Reid
Renaissance Realty Group of Keller Williams Atlanta Partners - Lawrenceville, GA

Good job on the 1,2,3, lesson ... will done .. and now that picture is worth a few 1000 bucks not words.

Aug 22, 2008 10:52 AM
Kathleen Buckley
STAR REALTY Hopkinton - Hopkinton, MA
Hopkinton Specialist

Toni-

I too find that increasing contrast is essential, especially if I'm increasing brightness.  On the default Microsoft picture editor that came with Vista, I like to use the "brighten midtones only" feature (at the bottom of the brightness/contrast page).  It behaves as if you threw a bunch of light on the shot without washing out the already bright spots.

Aug 22, 2008 11:30 AM
Tim and Pam Cash
Crye-Leike (Sango) - Clarksville, TN
Real Estate Professionals - Clarksville TN

Toni, very good lesson.  We are getting better at utilizing the features on photo shop to better represent our listings on the internet.

Aug 22, 2008 12:06 PM
Chip Holmes
Eagle Home Appraisal - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson NV Real Estate Appraiser

I love it. We need to see the home the good, bad, and the ugly. It is what it is and I hate to guess about the condition or structure.

Aug 22, 2008 12:40 PM
Charlottesville Solutions
Charlottesville Solutions - Charlottesville, VA

Excellent work on the before and after! I always enjoy your posts!

your friend in Charlottesville!

Aug 23, 2008 12:44 AM
Jeannette Kohlhaas
Keller Williams Jacksonville Realty - Jacksonville, FL
www.MoveFREEwithMe.com

TOni,

How right you are!! I wrote a blog before about agents not taking pictures...it irritates me, to know that they are not treating their sellers with respect enough to take the best pictures possible, so the home will get shown.

Pictures are worth MORE than a 1,000 words, in this market!!

MLS's are different around the US. Our's in JAX allows an unlimited # of pictures. THere should always be at least 4-5 pictures of the kitchen. taken from different angles. I like what you did to the picture of the front of the home. The front pictures should NOT be of the driveway....if at all possible, take the picture from the corner of the grass, so more front yard is shown. And ALWAYS turn on ALL the lights.

I'm also an Accredited Staging Professional, so when taking the pictures...take the stuff and clutter off the sellers countertops for the pictures. First impressions count and will get the buyers an appt to come see the home.

I've moved so much myself, so I know how important the pictures are, when buyers are first looking on the internet! We need to put ourselves in the buyers shoes....take pictures of what they would want to see!! I also do my own VISUAL TOUR's. Every home should have one!

Jeannette KOhlhaas- Keller Williams Realty JAX

"A Straight Shot to a Successful Closing!"

(904) 735-8666

Aug 23, 2008 10:41 AM
Toni House
Keller Williams Realty- Red Stick Partners - Baton Rouge, LA
Realtor, Baton Rouge Real Estate Expert

Ginger- I know exactly what you mean!  Especially since most are so easy to fix!

Gary- Thanks so much, Gary!  I work with the brightness and contrast daily and it usually gives me the sharpest image! 

Eric- Very true!  You have to think of that picture being worth your commission when you shoot it.

Kathleen- I do have that program and have never used that feature.  Thanks, I will have to go check it out!

Aug 25, 2008 04:27 AM
Toni House
Keller Williams Realty- Red Stick Partners - Baton Rouge, LA
Realtor, Baton Rouge Real Estate Expert

Tim and Pam- Many Thanks!  In this day and age it's more important than ever!

Chip- It is our duty to represent our listing in the best light- good, bad, and the ugly! 

Charles- Thank you! I always enjoy your posts as well!

Jeannette- That definitely irritates me too.  Even more so when it's the same people gripping about how horrible the market is.  Do something!  Thank you for the additional tips! 

Aug 25, 2008 04:35 AM
Greg Fox
Realty World Wichita - Wichita, KS
Techy Broker in Wichita Kansas

Good tips.  I've told my agents about Picasa for a while, taught it too.  I still use photoshop CS2, but for quick fix, Picasa is grand.

Aug 25, 2008 05:29 AM