In the movie “Tomorrow Never Dies,” James Bond says; “You forgot the first rule of mass media, Elliot! GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!” Well, knowing what they want is half the battle.
What Do Home Buyers Want?
Everyone has heard the saying that “A picture is worth a thousand words…” but realize this; the wrong picture will hurt you. It doesn’t even have to be a bad picture. If it’s not what the buyer wants to see, by default they will decide against even looking at your home.
I’ve surveyed buyers in the past, and have a good idea about what they want to see when they shop for homes online. To see if anything changed, I repeated my survey and added the ability for the buyers to leave comments. The results of the real estate photography survey were no surprise, but wow! We had no idea they felt so strongly about it!
Here are some of their unedited comments:
* PLEASE, store the everyday clutter away when taking your photos!!!
* clean it
* clean and declutter
* Clean up before you take photos.
* Clear out the clutter!
* PLEASE IF YOU TAKE A PICTURE, TAKE THE ITEMS OFF THE TABLE, COUNTERS OR MOVE THE DOG FROM THE SHOT.
* Depersonalize…photograph the areas you talk about in your ad.
* Pictures make a big difference in imagining the space, the best pictures are free of the clutter and personal possessions of the seller.
They make it sound like home sellers are a bunch of slobs. What are they talking about when they say”clean up the clutter”? If you go to the internet and look at pictures, you’ll find that most show tidy homes. What most of them are referring to by “clutter” are the items that personalize your home. Think about a hotel room. It’s decorated, but not personalized until you unpack your stuff. Items that are personal to you make it difficult for the buyer to imagine the home as being theirs. When they can see what brand of toothpaste you use and what magazines you subscribe to, that’s too much personal information. Things like the wedding invitation posted on the refrigerator and your framed family photo make them feel like they are intruding in someone else’s home. (Really, they are. But if you want to sell your home quickly, give the people what they want and make them feel comfortable imagining it’s their home.)
It used to be buyers would grab the Sunday paper and circle ads that interested them. They would use criteria like area of town, price and number of bedrooms to narrow down the selections. Now, most buyers get online to do their house hunting. They still narrow the field down with the same criteria, but now they are also basing their selection on the exterior picture of your house. In fact, many people look at the picture first and then move on to the written description if the picture “passes the test.”
Your main photo is critical. It may be the entire reason someone chooses to get more information or move on to the next home. In a lot of respects, you have what you have; but there are things you can do to try and get the most attractive real estate photo you can, even after the weather has turned cold and the predominant color in the yard is brown. First, take your photo a little off to the side rather than square on in front of the house. Also, to avoid having the house look like it’s “all driveway and garage,” take the photo from the opposite side. The best photos include a splash of color. A great way to do this in the off season is with a flag. Whatever your strategy, be aware of the importance of having quality photos that show the architecture of the entire room. It’s what the buyers want.
Jill McIntire has been active in Spokane Real Estate since 1998 and is an instructor with By Owner University, where you can learn more about real estate photography.
