Real estate photography. It can make the difference between someone considering it their dream home or not even giving your home a second look.
It cannot be stated enough how important having a good real estate photographer is to increase interest in your house. Your home can sell for up to $11,000 more with high-quality photos than without those photos.
So, with that in mind, you probably want to ensure that you have a professional photographer taking photos of your home.
How do you find the best photographer? What should you be looking for in a photographer?
These are seven things that you need to ask a real estate photographer.
1. What Is Your Experience With Real Estate Photography?
The first thing that you should ask a photographer is if they have any experience taking photographs of real estate. You may know someone that is a photographer, but it does not mean their style lines up with real estate.
For example, you could know a photographer that mainly does family portraits or someone that takes close-up pictures of smaller objects. Homes are a whole different scale.
So, make sure that your photographer has experience with taking photos of real estate property. Then, ask how long they have been doing that for.
2. What Equipment Do You Have?
The next thing that you need to ask is what equipment they have and what they can offer. This is important because you may have photography visions in your head that cannot be executed without the proper equipment.
For example, say you want to take a few aerial shots of your home to give people an idea of the size of the house and the area that it is in. Well, the main way you can do that is by having a drone.
If the photographer does not have a drone in that situation, that can be a problem. You also need to do your homework and what the latest and most modern cameras are to see if you are getting access to the best equipment.
3. How Soon Can They Come?
This next question may be more of an issue with popular photographers or those that only do it as a second job.
As a real estate agent, you may run into a client that wants to turn around their house as soon as possible. Time may not be on your side, so you are going to want a photographer who can come shoot your home by the next day.
Depending on your situation, availability could be crucial in whether a real estate photographer is a good fit or not. Do they have walk-ins available, or are appointments mandatory?
Ask this to see if that photographer can work around your timeline.
4. How Soon Can They Upload Images?
Going along with the third question, you may need a photographer that can do this process as fast as possible. If you have a client that wants their house sold as soon as they can, you are going to need a photographer that can speed through the process.
So, to get an idea if that is possible with a photographer, you need to ask them what their estimated turnaround time is.
This does two things. The first thing is that it sets your expectations with them upfront. The second thing is that you are giving a photographer transparency and clear communication approaching it like this.
Do not be afraid to ask questions like this to try and meet your needs.
5. What Is the Range of Services?
One thing that you may need to consider is that you may need something more than the basic services that a photographer typically offers.
Do not be afraid to ask them things such as if they can help clear clutter, design a room, take aerial shots, do walk-in video tours, and more.
About 86% of marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool. So, you may be someone that needs video available from a photographer.
Use the responses from this to figure out if they are a fit for you.
6. How Much Do They Charge?
Like everything else in life, photography services are not free. Sit down and set a budget for what you are willing to spend on a photographer before starting to approach them for their services.
Know what you are willing to spend and what you can afford. At the same time, do not be too tight with your wallet. You want a photographer that is going to bring eyeballs to your listing.
Also, ask a photographer what their pricing packages are. Some charge depending on the size of the house, and others may charge for extra services.
7. Can You See Their Samples?
Finally, you want to get a good idea of how a photographer will make your house look. The best way to do that is to see what they can do.
Ask for samples of what that photographer has done in the past for real estate photography. Then, you can take a look at those photos and videos and figure out if you like it from there.
Hire the Best Real Estate Photographer
These are seven questions that you should ask a real estate photographer before hiring them. You need to know what their experience is, their availability, their pricing, and get an idea of if you like their work or not.
Are you ready for professional photography? Schedule an appointment with us today.