Everyone knows that taking excellent pictures of a real estate property is vital to the success of its sale. As explained by Virtual Lens, who takes professional Real Estate Photography in Brisbane, this is the reason why most real estate photos are taken by professional photographers in order to make sure that its best features are highlighted and showcased properly.
However, even though it has been determined that professional photos are beneficial to selling a property, some real estate agents are complaining about shouldering the fee. So, the real question that bothers a lot of people nowadays is that who should pay for real estate photography, is it the agent or the homeowner?
Who Should Pay for Real Estate Photography?
As far as we can remember, realtors have always paid for property photos that are featured in their real estate listings. Besides, if you are the homeowner of the property, you have acquired the services of a real estate agent to advertise and promote its sale.
This means that you are paying him a commission in exchange for all the work and expenses that he or she may incur for advertising the sale of your property which includes producing and paying for the photos.
Alternatively, if you are the real estate agent, then according to article 12 of the NAR’s 2020 Code of Ethics and Standards, you are obliged to present a true picture of the property in all your advertisements, and marketing promotions. This means that you are responsible for producing the photos either by taking them yourself or by paying someone to generate them.
As a realtor, you should remember that you need to spend money to create money. Paying for the property photos is part of your duties as a representative of the homeowner.
Now, some of you may argue that you can take the photos yourself to save money. This is not advisable because in reality, hiring a professional photographer to take the pictures of your property listings is more cost-efficient and beneficial to both you and the homeowner.
Why Real Estate Agents Need to Hire Photographers
According to a real estate article featured in The New York Times, a picture is worth much much more than a thousand words in the real estate industry. It is not just something that we can take for granted. It is practically the most important factor on our real estate listings and here are some of the reasons why:
Listings with Professional Photos Get More Inquiries and Offers
Gone were the days where buyers are solely dependent on realtors to find properties that they could buy. Nowadays, people are proactive when it comes to looking for real estate property that they can purchase.
Most buyers today use the internet to look for properties that are for sale and a lot of them don’t even look at the description but rely heavily on the photos that they can look at.
This is one of the reasons why it is critical for you, as a real estate agent, to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of your property listings. Professional real estate photographers can enhance the beauty of your properties which in turn can produce more inquiries and offers for it.
Professional Photographers are Equipped with the Proper Skills and Training Needed to Produce Exceptional Photos
Special camera equipment, like the Canon EOS 400D DSLR camera, can be easily purchased on Amazon nowadays. However, without the proper knowledge and skills that are acquired through photography training, it will be difficult for you to capture the best appearance of the property that you are selling.
Professional photographers are trained to examine and visualize each room on the property. They know how to apply the best light and capture the right angles in order to produce stunning photos that can enhance the interest of buyers.
Hiring a Professional Photographer Can Make Your Property Listings Sell Faster
Some real estate property listing agreements are not exclusive to a particular real estate agent. This means that it is in your best interest to secure a competitive offer and sell the property as quickly as you can.
One of the advantages of hiring a professional photographer is that it can enable you to secure an offer much faster than when you use amateur photos for the property listing. A PR Newswire report conducted proves that property listings that feature photos taken by professional photographers sold 32% faster than those that do not.
Professional Photos are Synonymous to Bigger Commissions
Based on a 2013 study by Redfin, listing properties that have photos taken by professionals using DSLR cameras were sold quicker for much higher sale prices than those property listings with amateur photos. This means that having good professional photos of your listing properties is basically equivalent to having a bigger commission on every property that you sell.
Conclusion
To summarize, the one that should pay for real estate photography should always be the real estate agent. It is not only your responsibility as a realtor but it is also your legal duty to represent your client to the best of your abilities and resources whenever you sign a property listing agreement in exchange for the commission that you will get for its sale.
Besides, hiring a professional photographer to take photos of your listings is not only beneficial for you and your client but the many advantages that you can get from it will practically pay for itself.
