You Ought to be in Pictures

What could be more important than location when selling your home? Maybe the photographs, according to a new study by the National Association of Realtors.

Gone are the days of grainy black and white pictures on photocopies MLS sheets. Today's home buyer is internet savvy. Over 80 percent of all home buyers look on the internet for homes, either to find the home they are interested in or to find out more information on a specific home. Some Realtors may claim "Oh, not around here". They are wrong. I have heard that claim from Realtors in our community, yet I have heard the opposite from many of the buyers we work with.

If 80 percent of people are finding homes on the internet, the photographs are the first thing that will grab their interest. No photograph, the buyer clicks on to the next house. Show them something attractive, and they are start looking more. People are clicking on the photos of a house even before they click on the map to find out where it is. The photos grab them first.

An internet listing of a home with multiple photos may also sell your home faster. Research shows that nationwide, home with 1 photograph spend an average of 70 days on the market. Homes with 6 photos spend 40 days on the market. Up it to 16 or 20, and they sell even faster, 36 or 32 days on the market. Homes with multiple photos also sell for more. Nationwide, homes with one photograph sell for 91.2% of their asking price. Homes with 6 photos sell for 95% of their asking price. This difference is huge.

Is your Realtor taking multiple, good quality photographs of your property? Are the angles attractive? How is the lighting? Are the photographs good enough that you would buy your own home again? I have heard from more than one of my sellers that their house looks so attractive on the internet that it reminds them why they love their home and makes them consider staying. That is the power of good photographs in an internet listing.