Your photos are good for my business

Last week a prospective home seller contacted me by e-mail. She had her home on the market last year and it didn't sell. I looked the listing over and asked a lot of questions. I think the home's list price was too high, which is fairly common -- especially last year, when prices in some areas were dropping.

The seller adjusted the price to what I think is just right and then took it off the market a couple of weeks later because of the holidays. It looks like her agent did a good job, except for one thing: The pictures of the home were not good. They were not taken with a wide-angle lens, and the lighting was poor.

I sent this prospective seller links to the marketing materials I had on the Internet for a home that I recently sold in her area. I would describe the home as modest. It was small and inexpensive. The marketing included a slide show with 15 photos of the home.

She immediately sent a note back saying that her home is not nearly as nice as the home in the photos. I replied by saying that her home is at least as nice as the home in the photos, probably nicer.

When she sees the pictures of her home that I will use for marketing she will agree, but we have not reached that stage yet. I got the appointment by showing her the marketing for another listing, and the appointment is a critical step in the process.

Photos make a big difference. It is possible to get great photos of the most modest homes. Most buyers look on the Internet for homes, and in many cases the images they see are pathetic, especially when it comes to the modestly priced starter homes.

Yet it is the demographic looking at those starter homes who will spend the most time looking on the Internet, and chances are they will have the greatest number of homes to choose from.

Listings with great photos get more showings. They get noticed by real estate agents, too. We all like to do it ourselves, but there isn't anything about having a real estate license that makes us better photographers, and interior photography is the most challenging kind of photography. ...CONTINUED

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