We know that 90% of home searches now start online (National Association of Realtors), and that professional photos generate 61% more views for your listings (Redfin).
Additionally, NAR research shows that 85% of buyers and sellers prefer to work with an agent who uses video marketing, but only 15% of agents are actually using video.
Our Realtor clients (the best in the business!) use professional photos and video to attract buyer attention and to sell listings.
But, delegating your listing photos and videos to a professional photographer also has other – sometimes less quantifiable – positive effects on your business.
Professional photography products brand you as a Realtor. When buyers and sellers are considering working with you, they are likely evaluating your past marketing materials and your online presence. When they see you consistently use a professional photographer, they know you invest in your marketing and know how to market real estate effectively.
This week, one of our clients said she went on a listing appointment at a home she’d want to list for $235,000. The sellers had met with two agents they knew through their social and school circles. They contacted her when they went online and saw photos of a listing of hers in their neighborhood. The sellers said she was the only one who showed them professional photos of past listings. They signed her listing agreement, and she called us from the appointment to set up their photo session for that coming week.
Another client of ours shared this story: At an open house, a neighbor visited and confided in the Realtor that she and her husband had been quietly interviewing agents to sell their neighboring home. When the listing she was visiting went live and they saw that our client had hired us to produce a professional video (“even with a voiceover!”she exclaimed! – that’s my fave part of the story), they decided they wanted to interview her, too. (She visited them the next day and got the listing.)
Professional photos and videos can be used to generate more listings. Another conversation I remember well was this one from last year: I got a scheduling request from a Realtor for whom we had photographed about ten homes in the previous few months. She said her listing had just gone under contract on its second day on the market. She wanted us to take pictures before the closing (and this was pre-TRID, so it was happening soon :).
“Of course,” I said, “but I’m confused. It’s already under contract and you want photos now?”
“Yes of course!” She replied. “I am going to do a ‘Just Sold in Your Neighborhood’ postcard.”
Brilliant! (And we’ve since photographed three other homes for her in that neighborhood.)
I love hearing from our customers about why they choose to invest in professional photography products. Their success stories are about selling houses faster and for higher prices. They’re also about how they grow their spheres and their businesses!