Febuary 11, 2007 NY Times article: "Making Every Pixel Count"
In real estate, a picture can be worth more than a thousand words. Much, much more. When selling properties online, agents and Web designers say that the pictures buyers see of houses and apartments for sale are often the first — and sometimes the only — chance for a seller to make a good impression. Less-than-flattering pictures can turn buyers off and lead to lonely open houses.
“Good photos will grab people’s attention and help you sell a home,” said Jacky Teplitzky, an executive vice president of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York. “Bad pictures will absolutely give you trouble, because you won’t have any calls on it, and nobody will come to see it.”
Eighty percent of people across the country who bought a new home last year used the Internet while house hunting, and they rated photographs as the most useful tool in their search, according to a survey of buyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors. The survey also found that 24 percent of home buyers got their first glimpses of their new homes on the Web, up from a mere 2 percent in 1997.
May 27,2007 from the LA Times: "Shoot -- it's for the Web
For potential home buyers surfing the Net, first impressions are lasting. Make your listing photos sparkle." By Ann Brenoff, Times Staff Writer
A picture may be worth a mere 1,000 words in other circles, but in real estate, it enters the realm of deal or no deal
With an estimated 80% of home buyers starting their search on the Internet, photos are to home sales today what curb appeal used to be: the place where first impressions are made.
According to a National Assn. of Realtors survey of the Web features that buyers found "very useful," 83% mentioned photos, 81% liked detailed property information and 60% named virtual tours.
Every day, decisions about which homes to see — and which to skip — are made based on what a buyer sees online.
"If you can't get them in the door," said Coldwell Banker agent Kenny Bellini of Santa Monica, "you can't sell the house."
Bellini and his wife, Izumi Tanaka, generally shoot their listing photos themselves, as do many other realty agents. And, as he is quick to admit, photography skills aren't part of an agent's training — even though posting quality photos on the Web has now become one of the services an agent must offer clients to stay competitive.
Increasingly, agents and sellers are turning to professional photographers to do what they themselves cannot: Take those jaw-dropping glamour shots even when the home isn't a mansion or an architectural gem. When a professional photographer is brought in, it's most often the realty agent who pays for the service as part of the marketing plan.
Quoted from Larry Lohrman's "Photography For Real Estate Site": Statistics That Drive Real Estate Photography
Posted by larrylohrman on 13th June 2007
A recently released study of the California Association of Realtors use of Technology by Leslie Appleton-Young, Chief Economist of the California Association of Realtors (CAR) reaffirms the trends in the Real Estate that are driving the demand for good Real Estate photography. Here are a few of the report’s findings:
- About 3 of 4 (73%) adult American in the US were Internet users in April 2006, an increase of 66 % from January 2005.
- REALTORS with high-speed Internet access increased from 71% in 2003 to 95 % in 2006.
- A digital camera was the most important technological purchase or upgrade considered by most respondents this year, because it could provide Realtors an electronic version of pictures and could be used for marketing of listings.
- Communication via telephone continued to be the primary means of communication, as indicated by 69% of all respondents.
- Online marketing has become increasingly attractive because of its low cost and efficiency in attracting the attention of would-be buyers and sellers.
- 76% of Realtors use multiple pictures and/or slide shows for their online listings and 37% use virtual tours.
Another study, also by Leslie Appleon-Young, that analyzed the Real Estate market in California for 2006 also indicates that home buyers are using the Internet much more that in the past.
The bottom line is that, as one would expect, home buyers are moving more towards using the Internet for home buying. This trend is the underlying driving force for real estatephotography.
BLOG.FranklyRealty.com
REALTOR® Myths, Tricks And Truths from a VA Broker.
I painstakingly reviewed 268 Sold listings in Fairfax since 5/1/07 from $400k to $500k.
24% had NO ADDITIONAL PHOTOS!
This is embarrassing! Also note that 57% of FORECLOSURES, Bank Owned, REOs etc had no extra photos.
Only 12% of agents posted the maximum 20 photos. This amazes me (FranklyRealty.com Requires All 20). Note that the local MLS just went to 30 photos, and now they are free. So if the $12 was too much for your agent, now they have no excuse.
I also found listings with more photos sold faster (duh). Here are the photos to Days on Market (DOM, not the champagne) analysis:
* 1 Photo = 70 DOM Avg
* 6 Photos =40 DOM
* 16-19 = 36 DOM
* 20 MAX= 32 DOM
The Closed NET Price as a % of the Original Price also showed a direct correlation.
I scrubbed the data to find the REAL Original price. I manually adjusted the 20% of listings that were relisted (see my best of 2006 blog on MLS DOM data fudging), and I adjusted for seller subsidy.
Listings with fewer photos sold for less.
* 1 Photo= 91.2% of Original Price
* 6 Or more= 95% of Original Price
Therefore on a $400,000 home, Photoless listing sells for 3.8% LESS.
(Now one can argue that a sucky listing agent also might suck at proper pricing, but come on, you get the point)