Professional quality photographs are fast becoming an essential element of real estate marketing.
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According to research from the National Association of Realtors, 98% of home buyers who searched for a home online said photos were among the most useful features of real-estate websites. You have only seconds to grab the buyer's attention before they move onto the next listing.
Potential clients will more likely skim a listing with low-quality photos as it will not grab their attention. On the other hand professional real estate photos will make a listing stand and out, making them more likely to view the listing.
First impressions online can launch a property to many potential …show more content…
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Researchers tracking the eye movements of subjects who looked at online home listings found that more than 95% of users viewed the first photo—the one that shows the exterior of the home—for a total of 20 seconds. After that, their eyes tended to flit all over the screen, according to Michael Seiler, founder and director of the Institute for Behavioral and Experimental Real Estate at Old Dominion University at Norfolk, Va.
Overall, when viewing an online real-estate listing, home buyers spend about 60% of their time on photos, 20% on the property description and 20% on the real-estate agents' remarks section, Prof. Seiler says.
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In 2010, a brokerage firm called Redfin surveyed MLS systems around the U.S. and discovered that listings with professional photography sold for higher prices than their counterparts. Properties sell for anywhere from $900 to $116,000 USD more when they are marketed with professional photography.
On the low end ($200k to $300k asking price) these listings sold for an average of $935 more. On the high end ($1m and above) the average increase was $116,076. Listings in-between these extremes typically saw an increase of