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To market your property, you are going to need to have some choice photographs. Before whipping out the camera, however, you need to give some thought to the process.
Why Photographs for Your Listing Are Important
One of the most important things that will set your property out from others is photographs. When a buyer is looking in MLS, on the internet or in some other location, photographs draw their attention. Is this shallow? Well, yes and no.
Unless you are talking to a lawyer or psychiatrist, words are cheap. Indeed, the real estate world has its own lexicon of terms that don’t really mean what they say and are the basis for some snide remarks. For instance, a “cozy” home is a real estate methodology for saying a property is SMALL! The question, of course, is how small are we talking? This is why photographs are key to your marketing efforts.
In the view of most buyers, the initial proof in the pudding is in photographs. Almost nobody really believes any of the adjectives used in real estate advertisements. Frankly, they words could mean anything. Much like a dating site, however, photographs tend to shed a more objective light on the subject. Unlike a dating site, a property doesn’t tend to dramatically age over five years, change hair color, go bald or gain some unwanted pounds. Put in practical terms, buyers don’t believe your words, but do believe your photographs.
If you give some thought to what I just said, you will realize that I am suggesting that most buyers assume you will lie about your property in advertisements. Don’t take it personally. They don’t know you, so why should they trust you? Frankly, they should not. That being said, you can use this distrust to your advantage.
You would be shocked how many people put little or no effort into the photographs of their property. As an old commercial slogan stated – Image is everything. A shallow statement, but true. Your photographs represent the first curb appeal impression buyers will get of your property.
This means you need to strongly consider hiring a professional photographer to take the photographs. They understand lighting, angles and so on. It may sound like an unnecessary expense, but it can be the difference between a sale and sitting on the market for month after month.
Bill Manassero is the founder/top dog at “The Old Dawg’s REI Network,” a blog, newsletter, and podcast for seniors and retirees, that teaches the art of real estate investing. His personal real estate investing goal, which will be chronicled at olddawgsreinetwork.com, is to own/control 1,000 units/doors in the next 6 years. Prior to that, Bill and his family lived in Haiti for 11 years as missionaries serving orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children.
