To Post or Not to Post

....THAT is the question!

Search any standard MLS site and you will soon find exactly what I'm talking about. You will come across photos of rooms which are, in a word - disastrous! No, no, - this is not another blog about being "photo ready", - let's call this one "photo necessary?" - this is a about using discretion. 

Every home has them - the spare bedroom that's been turned into a storage room for all things you keep meaning to put in a yard sale. Or the garage that's been packed to the hilt with more boxes, cars, mowers, lawn care, toys, old paint cans, and sporting equipment then it can possibly hold. That’s just life; we have “stuff” and it needs to be stored somewhere. But the question is should photos of those rooms be included on your MLS listing? Are they "photo necessary"? A wise sister of mine put it this way. Think of the MLS listings like your work resume. You want to bullet point all your best skills and attributes, you want the viewer to have enough information to be interested, but still wanting more so they will schedule an interview. Show off the best conditioned and primary rooms of your house, which should entice the viewer to want to see the home in person.  

Let's take a look at some photos and ask yourself if they would represent your home well to a potential buyer.  

In the above photo, we have a child's play area. Anyone who has kids has experience with a room in the house that looks like Toys R US has exploded! But the question is, should this photo represent your house on your MLS? Would a home buyer look favorably at this room? Would they be able to see beyond the toys to notice the great amount of light the room gets? Or notice that it has a full size window which indicates it's a walk-out basement at grade level? Did you? Or did you just see the toys? Besides just the visual mess, this room has now been "labeled" in the viewers mind as a play room for children. Will home buyers who do not have children be able to see past the toys to the rooms potential for their needs? Maybe they will classify you as "that toy house" and instantly cross you off their list. Can you afford to minimize the amount of people who are looking at buying your house?  We know that when it is time for "viewings" and "open houses" you will have this room cleaned up; but as I've said before, MLS listings are a 24/7 open house - if this photo was in your MLS listing online, this is a potential home buyers first impression and are already deciding on whether they want to see your home in person. 

Garages. 

Do you have a spotless garage, with amazing built in storage? Or a 6 car garage in showroom condition? The average home's garage is probably not "photo necessary" and should not be posted on the MLS. Chances are your viewers know what a garage full of trash cans and recycle bins look like, so this photo does not benefit your homes "resume", and should be left listed as a feature on your MLS, but not photographed. 

Ah, storage! 

We all have piles and piles of "stuff", and it needs to go somewhere, but will photographing this storage room boost your home's views? From this photo we can see that there are built in shelves in this storage room, which is a great feature, but is it really necessary to photograph? Imagine you are scanning through an MLS listing and as you pass the inviting bedroom and spa like bathroom photos, you then see this photo! Are the first words out of your mouth, "why would someone even put this in here?!"  If they are, then we have made our point.   

I think we have fairly concluded that sometimes less, is more. Showing every single room in a house on an MLS listing is not necessary. Leave them interested, and wanting to come and see more!

FullHousePhoto.com

Empty Room Photos

I have been grappling with a dilemma lately about marketing our business.  I have seen a ton of houses on the MLS listings which are vacant, so there are a lot of unattractive photos of empty rooms most likely taken with a point-and-shoot camera. Charissa and I have been debating whether anyone would hire a professional to shoot a home which is primarily filled with empty rooms. I personally questioned whether anyone would feel it necessary or beneficial. So I decided to put this debate to the test and, even I, am amazed at the overwhelmingly obvious results!

Normally I would show you the “point-and-shoot” photo first. But in this case, seeing the professional photo first and then the others will provide a more clear distinction.

Below is the professionally photographed empty master bedroom suite. 

Professionally photographed empty Master bedroom suite

Notice that in this photo we have really good clarity, a nice sharp image. We are also being shown a large expanse of the hard wood floor which gives us a good feel for how big the room is, and shows that the floor looks to be in very good condition. Starting in the left hand corner of the photo you will see a peak into the master bathroom, and then moving to your right we see the entry door, next to that we see a walk-in closet door, and to the right of that we see another walk-in closet door. Although we do not see any windows in the bedroom, we can tell by the feel of the photo that this room is light and bright and must have windows. This photo has revealed a lot to a potential home buyer, which is exactly what a good real estate photo will do.

Note that the professional photo was taken with a wide-angle lens, which mostly only real estate or landscape photographers would own for their trade. Even the average amateur who has an SLR camera would not typically own a wide angle lens as they are not sought after for general photography, especially due to their limited use and expense.

Now lets take a look at the average point-and-shoot camera shot of the same master bedroom.

  

Point-and-shoot of empty Master suite

HUGE difference right?!  I must say even I was shocked! I was standing in the same spot when taking this photo, and believe it or not, this is as wide of an angle as this camera allows for. So, right off the bat, the biggest and most glaring difference is in the visual range. The point-and-shoot just cannot take as wide of a shot as the professional lens. Pointing the camera directly at the entry door does not allow me to see any of the bathroom, nor very far down that wall to get a better sense of how large the room really is.This is representative of a typical shot seen on many MLS listings. It is impossible with this camera to get all of the room's features in one photograph. We would have to take several photos (which is excessive for an empty room). By taking several photos a viewer gets a chopped up feel of the room, it’s very hard to get an understanding of the flow and size of a room when you have 3 parts of it you are trying to stitch together in your mind. As far as quality and clarity, the point and shoot pales in comparison. As always, the professional photograph is also professionally edited for color, clarity and contrast, something that can not be taken advantage of currently with the point-and-shoot format (at least not to the extent of a DSLR).

Below are photos of a spare bedroom, also empty and taken with both cameras and the same conclusions are obvious. From the same vantage point of the room the photos are vastly different. The professional photo by far allows for a more expansive view, and a more clear and vibrant photograph.

       

Point and Shoot -  bedroom #2

 Professionally photographed - bedroom #2

I think we can safely conclude from this test that there are a lot of MSL listings online which are under-representing the actual size and features of a room and home. A point-and-shoot camera was likely used because the rooms were empty and they felt that was "good enough".  Keep in mind that MLS listings are like an around-the-clock "open house". Potential buyers are seeing that house for the first time online and making immediate decisions based on the photos representing that home. How many potential buyers are passing on a house based on miss-representative photos? Would you have been captivated by the photos taken here with the point-and-shoot camera? Did they tell you anything important about the room? Would they have enticed you to go see that house in person?

I hope that I have proven to you, as I have myself, that the amount of information a potential home buyer can get from an empty room makes it very worthwhile to hire a professional photographer. Surprisingly, from a good quality photo, you can get a “feel” for the room – even when it’s empty. First impressions matter when it comes to home buying; many may not give you a second look if you don't capture their interest the first time!

FullHousePhoto.com