There's a growing awareness among home sellers (and real estate agents) that the bar needs to be raised when it comes to online home listing photos. Here's a good example of how using the right camera can put you miles ahead when it comes to online photos that make sellers happy.
I personally like this example because the before shot is not all that bad - I took it with my old 35 mm camera, which is what I used to take all of my home photos with, and the house itself is newer, with high ceilings and an open floor plan. Here's the before shot:
In addition to the 35 mm lens width, there are a few other problems we needed to fix:
The clunky chair in the foreground and the blue futon in the bottom right corner take up a lot of space and make the room look smaller. The keychains hanging to the left of the photo are distracting, and the lamps and tables at the far end of the room look cluttered - plus, the whole photo is a little on the dark side. However, you have to admit it's pretty much in line with a lot of run of the mill photos you'd see online anytime.
Here's the after shot, taken with a 24 mm lens camera:
We took out the futon and replaced with the blue chair that had been blocking the main view, added plants (my usual workhorses) as focal points at the far end of the room, and a stager (Leda Buller, of LCB Design in Kirkland, WA - great at minimalistic staging) added a few small items.
But notice the change in how much more expansive the room looks! The 24 mm lens really shows the size and high ceilings that make this a great living area. I also used editing software to lighten the photo since it still turned out a little darker than the room actually was.
Comparing these two photos, isn't the second one much more inviting? Most importantly, it makes obvious the features that add MARKET VALUE to this home - high ceilings, large size, open feel, and good light. (Just for the record, this home sold in less than 2 weeks for 99.4% of list price - my point being, people who saw the photos were not disappointed when they visited the house, the photos just did a good job of representing what was actually there.)
Here's another thing to note: When you're dealing with all kinds of competition for listings, this is where you can really stand out. Sellers who see the first photo just think, "Oh, there's a photo of our living room, it looks fine." They don't know what they're not getting. But when they see the second photo compared to the first they think "Holy *&@!" Suddenly the bar has been raised, and you raised it. It's much easier for them to understand what they're paying for when they can see how your skills increase the market value of their home.
By Irene Dorang
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