When I moved to Chattanooga this past summer I wanted to know what local agents were doing to market their homes. I was surprised to find that few agents utilized the various real estate marketing tools many photographers offer; most agents relied solely on standard interior/exterior pictures. When I asked about other services, (such as virtual staging) several agents commented they didn’t even know those tools existed!
An Interior Listing Photograph by a Professional Real Estate Photographer
As a real estate professional, marketing homes is a big part of your job. Each home is unique and comes with its own challenges. I have read a lot of articles about marketing homes to better understand how pictures impact an online listing. One article, ‘Writing Listing Descriptions That Sell’, written by OutboundEngine, is an example of the types of well-written articles centered around marketing listings. The article strongly supports quality photographs but gives little mention to what else can be done to visually market a listing.
Seeing Is Believing
Most people are visual learners. They are drawn to visuals and remember images better than words. Its no surprise that 83% of home buyers report that pictures are an important part of their home buying process. But with advances in technology there are more ways than ever to visually market a property.
Now Chattanooga is a smaller city(one of the reason’s I have already grown to love it so much) so industries tend to be slower to adopt new technology and trends. This includes the real estate industry. Meaning there is still a big opportunity to take advantage of some of the newer marketing services available and stand out.
I have created two lists below to help you better understand your options when it comes to real estate photography.
Options for Getting Real Estate Photography Pictures
First it is important to consider how the property will be photographed. You will often have four options for getting images of your listing depending on your own personal needs.
- Take the pictures yourself with your own phone or camera equipment. (Most affordable | Lowest Quality | Convenient)
- Have the person who works in your office that is a part-time photographer take them. (Lower Cost | Quality Varies)
- Hire a photographer who does not specialize in real estate. (Higher Cost | Often Decent Quality)
- Hire a real estate photographer who specializes in photographing properties and understands the industry. (Higher Cost | Best Quality)
Agent Real Estate Photographer
Photographer Real Estate Photographer
It may seem backwards, but hiring a real estate photography specialist is often less expensive than asking your family portrait photographer to do the job. The reason is that real estate photographers will offer multiple real estate related marketing services, and can discount the costs if bundled. This will almost always be cheaper than getting one photographer for interior/exterior shots and another for drone aerial shots.
What Marketing Tools are Available from a Real Estate Photographer?
So, what can professional real estate photographers do to help their clients listing stand out? The following list breaks down nine services that are available to you as an agent to market your listing. (You just need to find a photographer who offers them.)
Drone Photography Offers a Unique Perspective
- Interior and exterior listing pictures – the bread and butter of any online listing
- Twilight and Detail pictures – for properties with a strong curb appeal or with unique features
- Drone aerial shots – show off location highlights and property lines with aerial photography
- 360 walk-through tours – these tours let potential buyers the virtually walk through a property without ever stepping foot on site. For a sample see: https://players.cupix.com/p/SdrVuUca
- Virtual 3D floor plans and 2D floor plans – these allow a buyer to see the complete layout of the property.
- Picture slideshow – show listing pictures with music and without having to click through each image individually.
- Panning video – A series of videos panning across rooms from a stationary point. These video’s give a better context to the flow of the property and make a listing stand out
- HD video walk-through – typically includes a 2-3 minute video showcasing the property with both drone and stabilized interior/exterior video shots. These are often costly and better suited for higher end listings.
- Virtual Staging – vacant homes don’t show as well as staged homes. If staging isn’t an option or isn’t within budget, virtual staging stages rooms of a listing with digital furniture to give a better context of the space
Vacant Room Virtual Staging
All-In-One Photography Solution
With technology today there are more options than ever for marketing a listing. As an agent, you have a multitude of opportunities to differentiate your listings. With all the options available its important to find a photographer who specializes in real estate. William Griggs is a real estate photography specialist who offers a wide range of photography solutions to take your listing to the next level.
For more information about which real estate marketing tools are offered by William Griggs, or if you have any questions, visit the services and pricing page. Also feel free to send William a message on Facebook @williamGimages, via email – williamgriggsart@gmail.com, or call 314-807-0727.
You can also find more samples of William Griggs’ work on the portfolio page.

0 Comments