Picture,
Picture on the Net - How Many Glances Will You Get?
By Jennie Norris
Pictures don't lie. The eye of the camera is
a truth tool.
Photos online need to be of Staged houses in
order to get a second glance.
It is amazing that in this day and age of
digital photography with all the enhanced devices and services available there
are still poor quality photos (or no photos) online to promote and market a
house for sale.
Photos need to be Staged
too. Presentation matters.
Over 90% of buyers in most markets are searching
online FIRST before even deciding which houses are candidates for purchase.
Gone are the days where all houses are previewed via open houses or showings
with an agent. Virtual Showings are the new buzz phrase - and in a virtual
showing, the photos are king.
Staged houses show better in photos and in
virtual tours online.
It's not just about clicking the camera and
posting any photo to promote a house. Today, the savvy seller better make sure
that the photos of their house - their product - are good ones that really
showcase the space and selling features of their house.
Consider the scenario with a large framed
painting found in the dining room of a very high-end $2M house that has a nude
woman reclining on a bed. Do you think Buyers would find this appealing? Is
this something they would expect to find in a dining room? No. And the buyers
touring this house online or in person would remember this house as "The
Naked Lady House."
Or how about another photo found online of a
Formal Living Room that shows only a cluttered room with ugly exercise
equipment and random pieces of furniture lining the walls, and the "focal
point" of the photo is the bare wall with an unattractive picture on the
ground. What are these people thinking? The agent marketing the house needs to
take a hard look at the photos and ask, "Is this photo going to help or
hinder the sale?"
Or lastly, how about a photo found of an
exterior of a house that shows more trees than house, and the lighting is so
bright, the part of the house that you do see is totally washed out. And worse
than that, this is the ONLY photo for the house - there are no interior photos
posted online. A buyer is going to pass right over the washed out photo with
trees that block the house and move on to a better presented, buyer-friendly
product.
The amazing part of this is these photos were
found when searching online on a prominent website where over 400 houses fell
within the criteria of $500,000 or higher for a particular city search. More
than half of them were featured with no photos other than the exterior photo
posted. Of the ones that had additional photos, 75% of them had photos that
were poor quality or did not showcase the house. Even a short-sale or REO needs
to have a best-foot forward in order to attract an audience of buyers.
Here are some Tips for getting the most
out of what is shown online
Staging Works and is a key marketing and
presentation tool for Houses.
Stage your Houses BEFORE they come on the market
- and take photos of Staged rooms to promote the house to the public!
1. Get a good digital camera that can capture
the entire room in a photo. If you have to, pay to have a professional take
the photos as this is the first image a potential buyer will see online.
2. Make sure the lighting in the photo is an
enhancement to the picture. If the lighting is too harsh, it will wash out
part of the photo and the viewer cannot get a good perspective of what they are
looking at in the picture. If the lighting coming from a window is too bright,
it will wash out the photo and become the undesirable focal point. You are
better off waiting for better lighting - either in the morning or later in the
afternoon.
3. Take some photos at night. Exterior
photos of a house lit up at night can be a fabulous way to showcase a house.
Pools or other water features can reflect the light at night and create and
artsy and attractive image.
4. LOOK at the pictures as you take them.
The eye of the camera shows everything - the dog bowl, the cat toy, the shoe by
the stairs, the random umbrella leaning against the house, the trash can, the
old car, the weeds by the door, the person sitting in a chair, etc. These
things we "filter out" with our minds, show
up with evident clarity in photos. Remove the eye-sore and re-take the
pictures!
Remember: You only have ONE CHANCE to make a
FIRST IMPRESSION - make it a good one!
Where to get Help: Work with a trained
Accredited Staging Professional (ASP).
They are the only nationally recognized
designation for Home Staging. They have been trained to specifically prepare a
house for sale and their goal is to help that house SELL.
On average a Staging Report Plan that provides
specific detailed information on preparing a house for sale averages about
$200.00 in most markets. When the seller implements this Staging Plan, the
house is ready to show. If the house is vacant, a trained ASP Stager can come
out at no charge to preview the property and then provide a Staging Proposal for
the investment to Stage the house for sale.
Whether Occupied Home or Vacant Home Staging -
statistics prove that: The investment in Staging is always less than a Price
Reduction.
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Jennie Norris, ASPM, IAHSP is an Accredited
Staging Professional Master (ASPM) and Owner of We Stage Sacramento, a
full-service Home Staging company serving the greater She is the Vice President of the International
Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP), the President of the local
IAHSP Chapter serving Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennie_Norris |