Raise Your Standards by Setting Your Sites Lower

As a professional home stager I know what home buyers look at (regardless of where, when or how they see it) matters greatly. In fact, I believe in "SEEING" so much that I am ongoingly investing in and building an entire company devoted exclusively to improving what home buyers see and visually experience when they shop for real estate.

So to keep my eye on what is happening with technology and in the marketplace I often go out to realtor sites to research and SEE just what has been featured by realtors for buyers to look at and evaluate on the web. And I have to admit it surprises me to see so much sloppy photography that realtors use to market their client's properties.

One of the MOST common problem I repeatedly see is with photo composition. So often I see the interior room photos featuring far to much of the ceiling in the photo... and I don't know why. Seriously... when was the last time you had a client ask you to show you a house with the biggest ceiling? If you ask me, with digital photography being easy, quick and cheap, there is NO EXCUSE for this to occur in room shots. To me... in the not too distant future, bad photography this is going to be the sign of a lazy agent.

Now, there are times when ceiling beams, light fixtures, skylights, or some other feature or element on a ceiling should be featured in the photograph... but let's face it, this is typically NOT the case for the majority of the homes that are being photographed. Below are 12 of nearly 50 images I found last week when for about 1¼ hours I sat down to do some on-line industry research. I’ve posted these examples because I know SEEING what I saw will help SEE what buyers are SEEING.

TIP: Showing more of the floor is typically better then more ceiling. So the good news is it does not take expensive photo editing software or classes in photo composition to correct this common error. All it requires is that the realtor take an extra moment and look at what is in their camera's view finder and lower it if too much ceiling is being included in the shot.

I write about this VERY basic point about real estate photography because as more and more consumers rely on internet sites to prescreen and preview properties, the knowledge and application of BASIC photographic skills is going to be a simple yet critical competence that WILL distinguish the amateur from the professional realtor.

So remember, simply lower your sites and you will quickly raise your own standards and gain the marketing advantage shooting and posting good room photos will make in creating that favorable first impression of you are looking to gain for both you and the properties you are selling.

Stage it forward...
Craig (Me)
NOTE: While some of these photographs have other quality issues... for the purpose of this posting they were selected for how they featured ceilings.