Realtor: need advice

Storx · Sep 19, 2016

I am a fairly new real estate realtor, i am trying to separate myself from my peers to market myself as being the better service in regards to buying and selling of homes. I have been taking pictures with my cellular phone (Note 4) without any complaints, but i'm not sure if i can maybe improve the quality of the pictures some and still use the phone or take advice on maybe a budget setup to improve my view.
My current setup is a 60inch adjustable tripod that i mount my phone to using the phone holder and i use a bluetooth button to activate the shots.

Here is an example of a photo i took with my Samsung Note 4

From talking to some other realtors, i found that most of the high-end/experienced realtors use professional services to take pictures for them, but they get hugely discounted services for the pictures because they are having them take pictures for them 7 days a week for listing, i am still fairly new and have a long road till i reach that point, so the cost i have been quoted locally is literally like 10% of my commision check to have the pictures taken for me.

tirediron · Sep 19, 2016

The unfortunate reality is that quality photography costs. You can do a decent job on your own if you're willing to put some time & effort into learning, but it will come at a price. The major cost is going to be in lighting. To do a GOOD job of this, you will need a DSLR body, a good (low distortion) wide-angle lens, and a LOT of lighting; either speedlights or studio lights. If you live in/near a major center and don't mind buying used, you can probably get a set-up that will do what you need for around $1500.

Light Guru · Sep 19, 2016

It's only going to be worth it if it's a high end big $$ home.

Photos don't sell houses. Photos just need to grab interest so people will come see the house.

Storx · Sep 19, 2016

Light Guru said:
It's only going to be worth it if it's a high end big $$ home.

Photos don't sell houses. Photos just need to grab interest so people will come see the house.

Ya, but after looking at stats of my listings, the few that i did get the sellers to pay for professional photos out of their pockets have way more traffic vs the ones i took photos for.. so its apparently making somewhat of a difference..

Storx · Sep 19, 2016

tirediron said:
The unfortunate reality is that quality photography costs. You can do a decent job on your own if you're willing to put some time & effort into learning, but it will come at a price. The major cost is going to be in lighting. To do a GOOD job of this, you will need a DSLR body, a good (low distortion) wide-angle lens, and a LOT of lighting; either speedlights or studio lights. If you live in/near a major center and don't mind buying used, you can probably get a set-up that will do what you need for around $1500.

Would an older model EOS 20D be any better, i have one of those from YEARS..... ago when i took a photography class in college.. ive not touched the thing since because the factory batteries wouldn't hold a charge very long and i just sat it down and have not touched it in years, it's wrapped up in a case in foam. i just looked into getting it out and making it usable again because,but its only 8.2MP

tirediron · Sep 19, 2016

The body will do the job; the lens likely isn't wide enough however.

Dave442 · Sep 19, 2016

I think good shots can make a difference. Often the people look at the pictures and then the price and a poor shot can have that house eliminated before they look at the price.

You could pick up the Canon 10-18mm lens for you camera, and a couple batteries without setting yourself back too much. It is a big step from picking that camera up again to getting shots like you paid for, but you might as well give it a shot and see if your customers like the results.

pgriz · Sep 19, 2016

I suspect that the really good killer shots have much more than "photography" behind them. There's lighting, staging, decorating for maximum visual appeal, etc. There's postprocessing to make small defects disappear, improve the dynamic range, and enhance the shadow detail. Even with such basic things as using a wide angle, there's a lot to learn about keeping the verticals vertical, preventing the walls from caving in, etc. In short, there are some very good reasons why that kind of expertise costs money.

Furthermore, figure out if having a wider exposure through better photography will bring in a wider range of prospects, and if so, will your sales opportunities increase. At 10% of your commission, if you make just 1 additional sale over your usual 10, you've recouped your money. People need some emotional involvement to go out to see the listings, and great visual are one of the quickest way to get that emotion.

photo1x1.com · Sep 20, 2016

Storx, the 20D is a good start. Get a decent wideangle as suggested and try to level your camera on your tripod as good as you can. Do some reading on HDR photography - not the exaggerated one, but the natural looking. We've sold our appartement much easier than our neighbours around, and we didn't use any flash for our photography (even though we have quite a few

). Use the window lights combined with the lights in the room (don't worry too much about mixed lighting) and don't be afraid of overexposing windows except you absolutely need to capture the fantastic view. More often than not the view isn't all that great, and overexposed windows give a feeling of a well lit, warm room.

ClickAddict · Sep 20, 2016

Consider your market. If 90% of the homes in your area sell for 100000-150000 vs 60% of them over 1000000 then it changes how much you should be willing to give up of your commission. Also the number of houses in the market. I'm from a small town. If you are buying here it's easy to visit EVERY house in the price range you are interested in, in 3-4 nights or 1 weekend. Photos don't really matter a whole lot. If you live in an area with way too many houses on the market, the photos will draw people to your listings instead of others and are crucial to the sale.

Designer · Sep 20, 2016

Storx said:
Would an older model EOS 20D be any better, i have one of those from YEARS..... ago when i took a photography class in college.. ive not touched the thing since because the factory batteries wouldn't hold a charge very long and i just sat it down and have not touched it in years, it's wrapped up in a case in foam. i just looked into getting it out and making it usable again because,but its only 8.2MP

Take it/send it to a Canon service center for a general cleaning and tuneup. Never mind the seemingly low pixel count, but make sure they are all in good condition. If Canon says it's shot, then get another camera. If they give it a clean bill of health, then buy one or two new batteries, one or two new SD cards, and as mentioned above, get a decent lens.

table1349 · Sep 20, 2016

Light Guru said:
It's only going to be worth it if it's a high end big $$ home.

Photos don't sell houses. Photos just need to grab interest so people will come see the house.

Well since I am in the process of selling a house I will add my two cents to the equation. Photos very much sell houses these days. The house I am selling is a well maintained 50 year old house in a highly marketable area right now. Lots of buyers and not a lot of inventory in a very large city. My realtor brought in a professional photographer to photo the house the minute it was ready for the market. Just hours after the first listing we had 12 prospective buyers tour the house and within 5 days we had a signed contract, within 1 week we had two contingency contracts in case the first contract fell through. More than 30 prospective buyers have toured the home, many since the initial offer/contract.

Buyers like everyone else are short on time and realize that homes go quickly. Photos very much give the buyer the ability to find the homes they are interested in, in a more timely manner allowing them to pair down the homes they go look at to the ones that fit their needs.

goodguy · Sep 20, 2016

I am not a specialist in real estate photography but I did do some work at that.
While I am sure there are photographers who will do a better job then me I can tell you I used 4 things to get the job done
1.DSLR with bracketing
2.Wide lens
3.Tripod
4.Lightroom/Photoshop for HDR work

I did not use flashes
You can press my site link and check the real estate shots I got, you are welcome to send me PM with questions if you have any.

Storx · Sep 20, 2016

Hmm, i really need to learn how to use photoshop, i think i still have it installed on my laptop from back when i took that photography class years ago

goodguy · Sep 20, 2016

Storx said:
Hmm, i really need to learn how to use photoshop, i think i still have it installed on my laptop from back when i took that photography class years ago

Well this is not just photoshop, its a process, not extremely complicated but you need to know what to do and how to do it.
You need some equipment and the knowledge of how to do it.
If you like photography then its great as you can incorporate your knowledge into your work but if you don't then you either have to invest in some equipment and then the time to learn how to use it to achieve the results you want or get someone and pay them.