Get Your View is a Virtual Tour Company

What are real people saying about real estate photography?

Get Your View's selected blog responses from a Wall Street Journal article in March 2008 titled "Why Don't Real Estate Agents Use Better Photos?":

  • "Photography is essential to online property marketing. There is no better medium or method."
  • "If a online listing has no photos of the interior, I assume there is something wrong with the interior. Similarly, if there are no photos whatsoever, I assume the house is a dump. If you are a seller and your agent fails to take decent photos out of sheer laziness, I question why you would continue working with this person."
  • "I'm always blown away at how poorly the vast majority of homes are represented online. This is definitely one area where the few good real estate agents have the opportunity to set themselves apart from the rest . . ."
  • "Buyers are ELIMINATING properties based on the presentation online. They want photos (LOTS of photos), and virtual tours . . If they don't get it, they hit the NEXT button. Simple as that. Gas is too expensive to drive around to dozens of properties to see that they are "wrong"."
  • "I hate the "virtual tours" that are actually just slideshows of the photos already in the listing. Don't waste my time."
  • "Most sellers should FIRE their agents! The photos are blurry, crooked, dark. They subscribe to these slideshow programs (which I'm sure are inexpensive) to take their already BAD photos (which we just looked at) and zoom in and out and set them to cheesy music."
  • "We are in a house search right now, and I have to say we quickly pass over any house that doesn't have a good set of pictures. There are too many good houses on the market to waste time going to look at homes whose sellers and selling agents are too lazy to make a good visual representation of the property and its attractive features."
  • "Proper use of lighting, perspective, etc. can make any house look like a million dollar home. Unfortunately, there were very few Realtors willing to spend even a minimal amount on photography to market a property."
  • "We hired an agent based primarily on the way he listed other houses, including lots of well done photos, a video tour, a good brochure attached to the yard sign, and a multipage color booklet in the home for visiting agents/buyers to take with them. The house sold in 5 days for my "at the high end" asking price in cash. It's the same commission for a good one and a lazy one, so reward the hard worker. Each month it doesn't sell is money out of your pocket carrying the house."
  • "I am amazed at some of the crappy photos I see. Probably the Dark photos bug me the most. I wonder if the owners ever bother to look at their listing and what they think when they see photos so dark they can't see a thing. If it were my house I'd be on the phone screaming at the realtor in a second . . . Probably 30% come on the market without a picture at all. That just amazes me. This is your chance for me to see your house but you can't get a pic together in time to put on your listing??? As someone else said, there is so much inventory available chances are that was your one chance for me to check out your listing and you blew it."
  • "In Craigslist when I see a listing that I might like that has pics I click on it and immediately scroll down for the pics."
  • "If the house is not online with a listing that includes multiple good photos inside and out, I SKIP IT! I'm talking at least a dozen, preferably 20 or more: at a minimum 1 photo per room, plus outside angles from and back, yard front and back, garage, etc. What kills me is when an agent puts a glowing description in about a wonderful kitchen and then fails to include a photo of it. If it's so wonderful, show it! It makes me think that someone's not telling the truth."
  • "Was recently looking to buy a house in a large metro area. I don't have time to personally visit all the homes available on the market and I certainly don't want to waste my time on a house that's not what I'm looking for. Granted photos don't tell the whole story, but without photos there's no story at all. Bottom line, I booked follow-up visits with my Realtor for the listings I liked (with photos) and I never even took a second look at those without pictures. Pictures sell."
  • "All I can say is that my realtor and her team had someone professionally come in and take the shots when we sold our home. I didn't pay for it - my realtor offered it to me. And it made a difference - we were on the market for less than 2 weeks while our competitors remained on the market much longer. In a market where properties are taking longer to sell, good agents will always find a way to differentiate themselves in servicing clients."
  • "Bad photos = bad house."
  • "There are too many listings out there for mine not to stand out as exceptional."
  • "Photos are critical, and buyers can think something is wrong inside when they are only seeing one exterior photo."
  • "Good pictures are a must. Houses sell much faster with GREAT photos. Spend the money for the photos you will appreciate it in the end."
  • "The problem is, realtors are realtors, not photographers. Photography is something that takes time and skill. If you think about it, it's an art form, and not everyone can just pick up a camera and take a great picture."