As anyone who has sold a home in the last few years will tell you, the process of selling a house is much different from how it used to be. Where previously, potential buyers might visit various agent’s offices, or drive around an area looking for “for sale” boards, these days the majority of house searches will start on line. The main internet portals for online search in the UK are Rightmove and Zoopla. These allow a potential buyer to, within a few clicks, view the bulk of properties for sale from all agents in a given area. From a buyer’s point of view, this provides obvious advantages in terms of time saved. From the point of view of a seller however, it means that a potential buyer is presented with a great deal of information very quickly, making it difficult to stand out in the search results. This is where specialist property photography can provide clear benefits.

Research suggests that visual information is processed 60k times faster than text. Properties with good property photography generally receive more viewings, and as a result sell more quickly. The secondary benefit to property photography is that it can improve the final selling price. The reasons for this are two-fold. Firstly, increased interest in a property at the selling stage puts the seller in a better negotiating position. Secondly, good presentation of a property both in photographs and at the time of viewing is extremely valuable in selling “lifestyle” to a potential buyer. It improves the perception of value.

From an estate agent’s point of view, there are a few additional advantages to using professional property photography in their marketing. The first and most obvious one is that the properties sell more quickly. This not only gains you the actual sale itself, but it also improves your reputation in your local market as someone who achieves results. There are the added benefits of the appearance of your marketing materials which will help you differentiate yourself from cheaper cut price competition. Contrary to popular belief, professional property photography isn’t something that is just restricted to larger high value properties. In actual fact it is regularly used on properties ranging from two bed terraces to country mansions.

What is involved with having an Estate Agent Photography shoot?

There is an old saying “you get out what you put in” and with estate agent photography this couldn’t be more true! A specialist property photographer will use a range of techniques including digital editing to replace skies on a dull day, and off camera lighting to show the rooms to best effect.

A critical factor to gaining the best results possible is preparation of the house (or staging of the rooms) prior to the start of the shoot. I always advise people to stage rooms so that when people view the pictures, they will look at the room rather than its contents. This is especially important and prior to every shoot I provide you with a complimentary set of staging guidelines containing advice on what to do. The staging guidelines are quite detailed, however in basic terms they include things like hiding away food packaging in the kitchen, loose items around the house, ensuring beds are made and that cars are removed from the drive for the front of house photograph. This may seem like hard work, but the results are clear! Agents’ estimate that room staging can improve the selling price of a house by up to 6%.

I always advise ensuring you allow sufficient time for the shoot. For a small to medium sized property I would typically expect a shoot to take one to two hours, depending on the size and features of the property. People are sometimes surprised by this, however taking time to light the rooms and do things properly always yields the best results!

For estate agent photography we generally shoot a range of images which are presented in a secure online gallery after the shoot. From this gallery the customer can select the images they want to use and these are then, where necessary, edited before being supplied as a final product. I offer a range of package sizes however most estate agents suggest that 10 to 15 images are suitable for most small and medium sized properties, dependant on their features. We aim to turnaround to final images within 24 hours.

How to book a property photographer

You can see further examples of property photography on the portfolio pages of this website. If you would like to book a property photography shoot, the best thing to do is call in order to find the latest diary availability. From there, we can discuss your requirements and plan the next steps to help you sell your property!

01744 454 834 | 07917317908

Peter Drought – Property photographer