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In my neck of the woods, professional photography expenses seem to be a standard cost of doing business for good realtors.
If you as a realtor can take excellent quality photos, more power to you. The realtor I was going to use snapped a few on their cell phone for one of their listings. No thanks.
I don't get the "standard cost of doing business" line.
It either is an expense, or it is not incurred.
How many thousands of dollars will you spend on photos?
No money spent out of my pocket, just my time; however, I think I am entitled to value my time financially.
I am an excellent photographer and have all the necessary photographic equipment to get perfect pictures.
On the other hand, since it would be a legit expense, I may upgrade my camera and and get some new and better photo software and write it off (at least in part) as an expense in selling my home, in the same way that someone who itemizes on their returns can write off the expense of a professional photographer's pictures for the sale of their house.
That's just the thing. For a lot of people, time is limited. It's easier to use the internet to narrow down the pool a bit before going and visiting. Seeing 4-5 houses takes a full day.
Lots of people too who are "Upgraders" they probably have a house they're ok in, but like to keep tabs on the market and see if anything really good comes up. They don't really want to spend a ton of time going and looking at stuff, not to mention being a tease with the realtor.
I guess people are different. When we've bought houses, coming from out of state, we've seen at least 10 per day. We know what town(s) we want, and the geographic area isn't all that huge. You don't have to take all that much time in a house -- some you can tell right away aren't for you. Yeah, it's tiring, but when we're buying a house, it's because we need to buy a house. I guess if you're moving locally and have no real *need* to move, but merely a desire to maybe move, and you're looking casually, but don't want to spend much time seeing the house, the marketing would make a big difference.
It makes sense that there would be different sorts of buyers -- ones who are moving because they really need a house to live in fairly soon, whether they're moving from out of town, or need a bigger house, or smaller house or whatever it may be, but also casual buyers who don't really need to move, but could be enticed. I suppose that's where a big marketing effort would make a difference.
Your chosen line of work is reflected in a lot of things you do. I love the house sites with acreage/view that don't show anything outside but includes several blurry shots of empty rooms. Even then it looks like the carpet or drywall has stains. You just wanna connect with this professional, eh? Especially when you looking at a 400,000 dollar asking price.
Cons (house for lease) I think are sometimes deliberately using vague photos, though. There are sites like C. and K. that are basically being used by scammers.
I saw a house for sale in the most prestigious part of the Chicago burbs (Kenilworth) and oh my, you would think that a hoarder lived there. The clutter and gross things lying about in the photos was ridiculous, and this house was several million dollars, but looked like a dump.
When I was looking through houses online the other day, I saw one that looked like a hoarder most live there. Then in the listings it stated that the owner and her three large dogs would be present during showings. As if she thought someone would be coming to her house to steal from her piles of junk. All I could think was good looking finding someone to even look at that house.
That's funny, because the HDR photo on that website looks awful.
Sellers might easily be sold on it, though, because in comparison, they're a whole lot better than the average realtor's photos.
Still, the problem with using automated software to mash exposures together is that you get dirty looking white window frames and dirty walls/ceilings. Look how dirty the HDR photo looks around the skylights in the kitchen.
The single-shot photo has blown out windows, but at least it doesn't have dirty window frames. Yes, I know the outdoor view is the most important part of the photo.
The best photos are the ones that take exposures WITH and without flash, and blend the best bits into one final pic. This requires some Photoshop skill.
I know, I know. I can't expect the $150-$200 photo package to do all that.
I noticed a listing today that I know has been on the market, just happened to look at the photos which I had not done previously. This condo is in a beautiful ocean front resort with a huge ocean front pool, and lots of other amenities. A stunning exterior as seen from the street. There was one crappy photo of the "view" from the lanai where you could barely tell there was an ocean out there because it was blurry. Not one photo of the pool, the entry, the beautiful landscaping and water features that meander thru the middle of the complex from entry to ocean. The interior photos literally looked like they were taken from a cell phone and not a good one either. (My husband's Samsung takes amazing photos actually!)
No money spent out of my pocket, just my time; however, I think I am entitled to value my time financially.
I am an excellent photographer and have all the necessary photographic equipment to get perfect pictures.
On the other hand, since it would be a legit expense, I may upgrade my camera and and get some new and better photo software and write it off (at least in part) as an expense in selling my home, in the same way that someone who itemizes on their returns can write off the expense of a professional photographer's pictures for the sale of their house.
forget it , there are no taxes for a couple due if you made less than 500k profit and 250k as a single as long as it was your primary and you owned it 2 years .
writing off camera gear you use all the time and not your business would likely raise a big red flag . you may swing a wide angle lens but even that is questionable .
That's funny, because the HDR photo on that website looks awful.
Sellers might easily be sold on it, though, because in comparison, they're a whole lot better than the average realtor's photos.
Still, the problem with using automated software to mash exposures together is that you get dirty looking white window frames and dirty walls/ceilings. Look how dirty the HDR photo looks around the skylights in the kitchen.
The single-shot photo has blown out windows, but at least it doesn't have dirty window frames. Yes, I know the outdoor view is the most important part of the photo.
The best photos are the ones that take exposures WITH and without flash, and blend the best bits into one final pic. This requires some Photoshop skill.
I know, I know. I can't expect the $150-$200 photo package to do all that.
i i bet those photos on that website sell a whole lot faster than those cell phone photo's would .
i can get perfect see through windows with hdr or clean walls . it is simple ,, i do it all the time where i don't like the hdr effect .
all you need to do is layer the hdr photo under the single original photo with the best exposure and in photoshop wipe away the effect of the hdr for the area's it has adverse effects and let the single well exposed photo show through .
i do the same with blurred people moving in my hdr's . while the photo is hdr the section of the photo with the person is the single well exposed shot of that person showing through .
it takes me less than 2 minutes to do that , it it just depends how much time you want to take in processing .
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-08-2015 at 03:13 AM..
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