Can Photos Make or Break Your Property Sale?
With technology at our fingertips and expert photographers on hand, we simply will not tolerate terrible photography, and it can certainly harm your chances of selling your home if you get them wrong. If your property photographs are dark, dingy, or taken from unflattering angles, a buyer will just keep on scroll past!
📸 Why We Always Use a Professional Photographer
In today’s competitive property market, first impressions matter, and for most buyers, that first impression is online. That’s why, as property experts, we always invest in professional photography for every home we market.
Too often we see listings let down by dark, blurry or poorly framed photos. Bad lighting, cluttered spaces, or missed key features can make even the most beautiful home look average. Our professional photographers know how to capture a property at its absolute best—using the right angles, lighting, and editing to showcase space, flow and lifestyle.
Think of your own property search or even searching through other websites like eBay, Facebook marketplace, or Vinted. If you encounter an item with terrible photography, you will just scroll past it. The item looks rubbish you are not going to fall in love with some sad, unironed garment that has been crumpled onto the floor and photographed, are you? But if that garment was ironed and styled correctly, on a mannequin or even a live model, with great lighting and shown at different angles, it would stop your scroll in its tracks, and you might just buy it. The same goes for property listings. If you came across a property online with over exposed or dark and grainy photographs, would you stop to look at it or discount it immediately?
And it doesn't just stop with photography. Property marketing has many facets, and they all need to be top-notch if you are to attract a buyer. Video footage must be filmed properly to really get the best response. A presenter led video, in particular, is not only highly professional but also engaging for buyers, thanks to the countless property TV shows. It allows your agent to highlight key points of your home and really make the most of those USP's to tempt a potential buyer to come for a viewing. it also connects the buyer with the agent, it starts the conversation and relationship before they have even met!
Here are 5 common mistakes people make when photographing properties for sale:
Poor Lighting
Dark, underexposed rooms or harsh lighting can make a home look uninviting. Natural light works best, open curtains and shoot during the day. Avoid relying on ceiling lights alone, which can cast unflattering shadows.
Cluttered or Untidy Rooms
Leaving personal items, mess, or too much furniture in the shot makes rooms look smaller and distracts buyers. Always declutter and stage the space simply and neatly.
Bad Angles and Composition
Shooting from awkward or extreme angles can distort room proportions. Use wide shots from the corners of rooms at eye level (around 5 feet) to give a true sense of space.
Using a Phone with No Tripod or Poor Camera Quality
Blurry or uneven images can give the impression of unprofessional marketing. Use a decent quality camera (or a professional in our case) and a tripod to keep images sharp and level.
Ignoring Key Selling Features
Missing out on photographing important aspects like gardens, fireplaces, views, or storage can mean buyers don’t see the full value of the home. Include shots of standout features and ensure they’re well composed.
Ultimately, there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of properties on the market in any town at any one time, and the average property buyer will usually only view around 10 properties before making an offer. So, the critical point of your property marketing is to stand out from the busy crowd of available properties to ensure that yours is one of the 10 that a buyer will view. The way to do this is to create top-notch marketing for your property.
Now, of course, we don't expect you to go out and commission a video or photo shoot of your home; that is all part of our job, but you must choose an agent that has moved with the times and understands this modern marketing element of an estate agency. It is true that some estate agency businesses have been around for decades, but the industry is almost unrecognisable from back in those days, and it is essential that your estate agent has progressed, too. They must understand the technological advances and how they have revolutionised the estate agency industry. It is undoubtedly a far cry from putting pages and pages of tiny photos of houses in the local newspaper, that's for sure.
If you want your home professionally photographed and presented by a team that understands the importance of first impressions click below and get in touch!
