A real estate transaction can involve many professionals, whose role is not always well known.
It’s often said that you buy with your eyes, and that a picture is worth 1,000 words. The real estate sector is no exception to this rule, and is even more often the norm than the exception, especially since 85% of future buyers store first on internet platforms such as Centris The photographer’s job is to give your home a “WOW” effect… while respecting reality.
Why hire a photographer?
Real estate brokers are the ones who use the services of a real estate photographer. Their goal is to take images that will sell. Why don’t some brokers do this themselves? “It’s not because it’s easier than ever to take photos that the results will necessarily be up to scratch. There are notions of light, framing and angle that need to be taken into account. It’s the old classic “to each his own”. At the real estate broker’s request, the photographer contacts people to make appointments and gives recommendations. The photographer always visits the seller’s home in daylight, to get an idea of the ambient lighting. When he enters, he knows where he’s going and what the problems will be.
On the field
The photographer is adamant that his job is not to take magazine photos, but to present a home so that people can project themselves into it and imagine themselves living there. The aim is to show as much space as possible, to maximize angles. What we want to see is the size of the rooms and the floor, not the small details.
In his practice, the photographer recounts that he can classify customers into two categories, the tidy and the messy. “There are people who haven’t tidied anything up before the photographer arrives on the scene. Photos shouldn’t show how you live, but how people might live in your home.” “It’s not the photographer’s job to move everything around a house or clean up.” Even so, he is sometimes obliged to improve the situation… Obviously, the professional has to be diplomatic when it comes to asking for religious signs and more personal items to be removed. “It’s delicate, you don’t want to inconvenience the customer, but at the same time, it may offend some possible buyers.”
Tips from the pros
A photographer can’t change the divisions of a home and has to make do with the seasons. “A Tempo shelter isn’t pretty, but he’s not going to ask to take it down. There are things he has to live with.” What the professional does recommend before his arrival, however, is, for example, to remove entrance rugs, clear countertops and floors, make beds, open curtains, remove pictures and personal items. Basically, to purify and declutter the home to make it as neutral as possible. “Make it clean and beautiful. We don’t want to see dirty walls, spaghetti sauce on a backsplash, or a bowl of cereal on the table. The worst distraction, the tissue box! If you have too much stuff, why not store it for a while? You need to be able to move around easily. Sometimes, home staging can pay off, and the photographer can suggest solutions to your real estate broker. To warm up the atmosphere, the professional suggests paying attention to the lighting and making sure there are bulbs in every lamp and ceiling light, and turning them on.
Finally, in this country of four seasons, the professional points out that if the images were taken in winter or summer and that season is over, it is necessary to use current images.
Source : La presse