Proposed listing photos

[hockeywife]

For a variety of reasons, mostly related to the ability to clean all rooms at once, lighting, and the fact that I think our realtor is partially incompetent, I'm going to try to take the listing photos myself.

This is my first go-round for the rooms at the front of the house. I will definitely crop or retake to minimize the amount of ceiling. Sorry for the pictures of pictures.

Please critique.

"Formal" livingroom (formerly the playroom). Does it look too bare? I could probably find some artwork if you think it's necessary.





DS's room



DD's room





Should I hide the "I dissent!" And "she persisted" books in the back??

And if you guys think that these look like crap and I should just leave it to the professionals I will do that, too.

[definitelyO]

I didn't even notice the books until you said something. but maybe...

the first few pics look a bit blurry to me - but could be the picture of the picture. I think the LR looks a bit bare - but I like that you can see how much natural light the house gets. I personally think these are just as good as most I've seen. so many I see these days has that "fisheye" effect (is that what it's called - where the edges are distorted - and I'm not a fan of that look.

[tres3]

Honestly what are you paying your agent for? My agent hired and paid for a professional photographer as part of contract with us.  I would use a professional. I can tell the difference when looking and good pictures can make or break whether people come to look at your house. 

[zarapipe]

Feb 12, 2018 19:42:51 GMT -5 tres3 said:

Honestly what are you paying your agent for? My agent hired and paid for a professional photographer as part of contract with us.  I would use a professional. I can tell the difference when looking and good pictures can make or break whether people come to look at your house. 

This. You are doing so much work that you really shouldn’t be doing. I would ask for a professional photographer. That almost seems standard now.

[hockeywife]

Feb 12, 2018 19:42:51 GMT -5 tres3 said:

Honestly what are you paying your agent for? My agent hired and paid for a professional photographer as part of contract with us.  I would use a professional. I can tell the difference when looking and good pictures can make or break whether people come to look at your house. 

If it were up to me, we would not be using this realtor, but it's a long story. So we're basically paying him for nothing, but we're stuck, so I'm trying to make the best of it and add value where I can.

Based on the listings we've seen, realtors are definitely not using professional photographers to take pics in our area, so I don't think it's the norm here. Maybe just not in our modest price range??

I would definitely pay for a professional, and may end up doing that, but figured I'd give it a shot first.

you make a valid point about listing photos potentially making or breaking a sale, though.

[hockeywife]

Feb 12, 2018 20:18:51 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Feb 12, 2018 19:42:51 GMT -5 tres3 said:

Honestly what are you paying your agent for? My agent hired and paid for a professional photographer as part of contract with us.  I would use a professional. I can tell the difference when looking and good pictures can make or break whether people come to look at your house. 

This. You are doing so much work that you really shouldn’t be doing. I would ask for a professional photographer. That almost seems standard now.

So let's assume that it's not an option. Then what?

Here are a few pics that I grabbed off Zillow from active or recently closed listings in my hood so you can see what I'm taking about. I didn't include any of the old/outdated homes:









(And yes, that one particular realtor always writes on her pics. It's so annoying)

[hockeywife]

Feb 12, 2018 18:49:30 GMT -5 definitelyO said:

I didn't even notice the books until you said something. but maybe...

the first few pics look a bit blurry to me - but could be the picture of the picture. I think the LR looks a bit bare - but I like that you can see how much natural light the house gets. I personally think these are just as good as most I've seen. so many I see these days has that "fisheye" effect (is that what it's called - where the edges are distorted - and I'm not a fan of that look.

I HATE the fish eye, but I think it would definitely be beneficial if I had a better lens (or really knew how to work my camera!)

I think the just look blurry bc they are a pic of a pic.

[Susie]

Do you have a friend/family connection or some reason that you feel obligated to use a realtor you have no faith in? Because if not, I'd be inclined to show them listings of reasonably comparable homes in the region and say, I want my photos to look like these. If you can deliver, I need to find someone else.  Buying and selling a home can be a looooong process to deal with someone whose work you're constantly doing for them or checking over with a fine tooth comb.

The pics you have aren't bad at all, and they're better than a lot that I've seen.  I've also seen some that are better.  You don't want fisheye, but a slightly wider angle lens might help you get a teeny bit more of the room into each shot, which helps give a better sense of the floor plan.  What are you using?  It will also help in small rooms (bathrooms!) to get a decent amount of the room in.

I do like that the pics were taken at a time of day with lots of natural light.  If you have someone retake them, do it at the same time of day!

In your DD's room I'd turn some lights on, so the room is a little less shadowy when you get away from the (is it a dormer?).  I would not sweat the books

[lilac05]

In our market with homes that would appear to be comparable to yours, those pictures would be fine. They don't stand out as amazing, but they also wouldn't be noteworthy on the negative side.

They make it look like your house gets a lot of natural light, which is great! Check with a local camera store to see if you can rent a wide angle lens. Or post on FB to see if someone has one you can borrow for a few shots.

If you feel stuck with this agent because you signed a contract, read it again & see where you can find your out. Selling a house is stressful enough with a trusted agent. If you can't trust them to take pictures, do you trust them to handle negotiations and all of the paperwork appropriately?

[Deleted]

We had a similar bad realtor. Crappy cell phone pics, just wanted he listing, encouraged us to take a low ball. I was doing all the work... I wrote a marketing plan after he looked at me like I had horns, took photos, etc. this was on a $1m house! Felt bad about dumping him bc he was a family recommend. But he was getting $$$$ from us! He can spend $500 on pro pictures. We canceled the contract based on failure to perform and went with a true professional. I have NO regrets. The listing sold for our asking (100k over the low ball...) and we felt like we got a professional package. Oh, and her commission was the same %.

[Deleted]

Oh and I agree- listing photos absolutely do make or break the sale.

[ellipses84]

I think they are fine and I’ve definitely seen worse taken by realtors, including the last house we sold for way more than we bought it for 😀. The spaces look roomy and like they have great natural light. I don’t think there’s anything that would deter people from coming to look at it in person. I would try some more angles of the living room and get rid of stuff in the foreground, like the railing, to make the space look larger. Try taking one from the stairs looking down towards the space. The example you posted has one like that. Turn lights on and off, and decide which version to use later. Use the best photos of each room. More pictures aren’t necessarily better - you want it to be enough to make people want to come see it in person.

[mrsemilys]

I see nothing wrong with your photos at a quick glance however I agree with the others. Pictures make or break the listing and I would insist on professional ones!

[ellipsis]

I think they look pretty good. If I had to give feedback, I'd suggest that you rent a wide angle lens and set up your tripod (hopefully you have one?) slightly lower.

Also the angles of the pictures are a little off to me -- you want to almost show how the rooms flow into each other. For example in the 1st picture I'd take 1-2 steps to your left and show more of the right side of the room and how it opens up to the kitchen. A wide angle lens will definitely help with this, but something to think about if you can't get one. Don't just take pictures of the corners of the rooms.

[hbomdiggity]

I get it. We originally had a pocket buyer, but when that fell through our realtor posted blurry cell phone pics. For a $850k house. I went through the roof. Thankfully he got the professional in ASAP, but as a realtor with 30 years experience I don’t know wtf he was thinking.

Don’t worry too much about cleaning. My sister’s house was stuffed to the gills (even after getting a storage unit) and the photographer had two other people there to help her move stuff and stage for the photos.

For actual feedback, it looks like you have 2 chairs in the formal living room. I’d rearrange to see them better or consider a different angle. Don’t worry about the books.

[mrs.jacinthe]

As a realtor, those aren't shameful. But they're clearly non-professional. Since using another realtor or a professional photog is off the table at this point, I'd restage the living room slightly so it doesn't look like you have all your furniture clumped to one side, move your angles down, and fiddle around with light and exposure times.

As regards the living room, do you have a rug? I'd do the rug in the center of the room with both chairs angled off it and facing the fireplace, maybe with a small decorative table in between them. The kids' rooms look great. Don't worry about the books on the wall.

And ladies, if you ever need a referral to a fantastic professional realtor, send me a PM. My company works within a referral network of *extremely* well-qualified realtors all over the country/world (not restricted to one company, either), and I can get you referred to a good one.

[thatgirl2478]

Feb 12, 2018 23:40:50 GMT -5 @akswartz85 said:

Oh and I agree- listing photos absolutely do make or break the sale.

I think it depends on the market really.

When we sold house A in our current town to buy house B in our current town, our agent only got to take outside photos of the house on a crazy gross February day (all the snow had melted so it was muddy, it had been raining so everything was soaked and the sky was gray because it's February in IL).  She was going to come back to get interior photos and better exterior photos, but we needed to get our listing up ASAP because of how our contract for house B was worded.  However, with in hours of the MLS going live, we had 2 showing requests and one turned into a 97% offer. So, no additional photos needed.

But yes, in general I totally agree with you!

[4speedy]

Can I be really honest? Your photos look like you are focusing on how nicely your home is decorated (and it really is decorated nicely) and not the architecturally interesting parts of your home. You’ve already indicated that you know a wider angle would help. Make sure you show windows, cabinetry, things that stay with the house, etc. stand on a chair or ladder if you have to. Also, take your photos on a cloudy day or at dusk, Let the light source come from warm lights inside your house, preferably from behind where you are standing to take the photo.

eta:  also, do you have a camera that allows you to change lenses?  Some camera stores will allow you to rent lenses for the day if you want to try something with a wider angle.

[pinkalicious]

Yes, hide/put away anything that shows political leanings.