TIPS FOR REALTORS: Top 5 Tips for using your smartphone to photograph a property

Capturing great property photos with your smartphone requires some skill and attention to detail. Here are the top five tips to help you take outstanding property photos using your smartphone:

1. **Use Good Lighting:**

- Natural light is your best friend when photographing properties. Open curtains and blinds to let in as much light as possible.

- Avoid harsh sunlight, as it can create unwanted shadows and overexpose parts of the image.

- Consider shooting during the "golden hours" of early morning or late afternoon when the light is soft and warm.

2. **Use a Tripod or some form of Stabilization:**

- Shaky hands can lead to blurry photos. Use a tripod or a smartphone stabilizer to keep your shots steady.

- A stable shot will result in sharper, clearer images, especially in low-light conditions.

3. **Compose Thoughtfully:**

- Pay attention to composition. Use the rule of thirds to frame your shots. This involves dividing the frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically and placing the subject or key elements along these lines or at their intersections.

- Consider the angle and perspective. Shoot from waist height or chest height to showcase the room's features effectively.

- Make sure the lines of the property (walls, floors, ceilings) are straight in your photos. Avoid tilting your phone to maintain level horizons.

4. **HDR Mode and Exposure Adjustment:**

- Many smartphone cameras have an HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode that can help capture details in both bright and dark areas of the photo.

- Manually adjust the exposure if your smartphone allows it. You can tap on different areas of the frame to set the exposure for a specific part of the image.

5. **Edit and Enhance:**

- After taking the photo, use photo editing apps to enhance it further. Apps like Adobe Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed offer powerful editing tools. I personally love to use the AI tools from Luminar

- Adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation to make the image pop.

- Straighten and crop the image if needed to ensure it looks clean and professional.

- Correct any color balance issues to ensure accurate representation of the property.

Bonus Tip: Use the camera's gridlines to help with composition and leveling your shots. Most smartphones have this feature that overlays a grid on the screen to assist with alignment.

Practice and experimentation are key to improving your smartphone photography skills. Take multiple shots from different angles and lighting conditions to find the best possible image for each property. Over time, you'll develop a keen eye for capturing great property photos with your smartphone.

Is drone even important for a Real Estate listing?

Great Question, I’ll keep this short and sweet. Promise!

So “according to MLS statistics, properties with aerial imagery are 68% more likely to sell than those without it.” That’s a direct quote from the NAR website in reference to an article published in Millionacres Magazine.

Drone-attained aerial imagery can and will set you leagues apart from traditional photography, allowing the buyer to get a much better feel for the lay of the land. Even if you are concerned that the neighbors have a messy, unkempt yard, more often than not the drone is still a valuable asset in obtaining more views.
Also, your drone pilot should be experienced enough to shoot around the property in just a way so that the features are highlighted while the neighbors messy yard either doesn’t show or doesn’t appear to be mismanaged.

In my humble but obviously biased opinion, the probability of a 68% likeliness increase in my sales would be worth the cost of drone photos. Everytime.

unsure about drone? I know that sometimes we have sales here at The Tidwell Media Co and we often offer a discount on drone. Maybe there’s a sale on drone right now… Click Here to see our current sales and find out.

Lower-Priced Listings: Do They Deserve as Much Attention as Luxury Listings?

So, conventional wisdom tells us that a million-dollar listing deserves better marketing than a $200K starter home, right?

Actually… that’s wrong.

It’s easy to fall into that ever so commonly backwards thinking that higher-priced listings deserve better marketing with a higher budget and actual professional real estate photography.
Your clients (and you) deserve to have the best real estate listing images possible to market their homes, no matter the perceived property value. Additionally, with 96% of home buyers looking at houses online, the way you visually market your listings is critical to stand out from the crowd. As a result, the best way to differentiate yourself and get more showings and potential buyers is with top notch professional photos. When taken by a professional photographer, real estate photos can significantly help real estate agents sell listings faster and for far more money when negotiating with a prospective buyer.

Did you know that agents who use professional real estate photography make double the average gross commissionable income when compared to agents who don’t?
So let me go over three benefits to hiring a professional photographer for your listing and while you read, ask yourself if you agree or disagree with the statements I am making.

1. - Stand OUT
   
   You want your listing to stand out in a lineup of listings! No matter what you’re selling. Look at your favorite online retail store. Now, the first thing you’ll notice is that they’re using professional photography for every product. From a $5 pair of socks to a $300 pair of designer boots, the product photos they are using are high-quality and consistent.

   This is by design. They know that professional photography is a powerful marketing tool that can lead more consumers to click on a product and make that purchase. Also, these companies understand that the images you see on their site directly represent their brand.

   Note: Homebuyers are looking at dozens of real estate properties online. So, if your thumbnail photo doesn’t draw them in, you could be missing out on clicks, showings, and a fast close.
   In addition, if a seller sees that you’re only using professional real estate photography on higher-end houses, they may not trust that you’ll use the best tools to sell their home. As you know, great brands deliver a consistent message and product. Additionally, image quality, virtual tours, and floor plan visualizations can help with your real estate brand.
   

2. Build Your Brand
   
   Using the same real estate photography company or real estate photographer for all of your listings will create brand consistency. Additionally, a consistent and professional brand image gives real estate agents, new and seasoned, the confidence to go to a listing presentation and demonstrate their worth to prospects. As a result, successful real estate agents tend to have a developed marketing strategy. You may be surprised by the vast difference that high-quality photos can have on your brand. Agents who began using professional real estate photography for their listings stated that they experienced an increase in referrals, they attracted better buyers, they won more listings and they really grew their brand.
   

3. A useless tool.
   
   Your smartphone camera or DSLR may have all the bells and whistles, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to take a great real estate photo with it, much less any magazine-quality images. You need to understand the rule of thirds and how it applies to estate photography, using natural light or making sure you use the proper lens for each shot. Essentially, it takes more than having a means to take a high quality photo. A professional photography service saves you both time and money.

   Additionally, a professional real estate photography service can provide quality content using real estate drone photography. Aerial drone photos can be excellent marketing materials for your brand. Nearly every property needs aerial images, drone photography could highlight those features for prospective buyers if the property has a unique layout or outdoor quality, and if there are mountain views, or potential mountain views pending the removal of a couple of trees. (I know a guy)

   Great real estate photography begins with composition and a proper understanding of visual story-telling. Some real estate photography tips can get you a head start, but a professional photographer understands the following:

   • The time of day to shoot to get the best natural light

   • The angles to shoot from to highlight a room’s best features

   • Skipping rooms or features that will not help market a home

   • Which camera settings to use that bring out the best qualities of a photo

   • How to scan space to make on-the-fly changes, boosting the appeal

   • The order in which they shoot spaces to enhance the flow

   Without professional training, it will be difficult for you to achieve successful results. Professionals use this bullet point list countless times a month to shoot real estate listings.
   Let them show you the difference their professional images make! Don’t settle for real estate stock photos or shoddy exterior photos; hire a photographer who understands how to use a light source and best market your listing.

Professional Real Estate Photography is for every agent and every listing. If you’re relying on the state of the market and catch yourself saying things like, “it’ll sell fast” then you’re not thinking of your brand. And that means everything when the market shifts. Realtors who have adequately built their brands, are the ones who find themselves successfully navigating a market that is down or in crisis.

But that’s a topic for another blog…