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Real Estate Photography is an Investment

When professional real estate photography is of a high quality, then it is no longer an expense.  It's no longer just money being spent, but an investment that is almost guaranteed to generate a return in terms of a higher sales price for a property.

How could that be?

It's because marketing is an investment.

I should probably correct that and say good marketing is an investment, because bad marketing can be a waste of time that doesn't work.  Unfortunately, low quality real estate photography can create that reputation, because the photo quality simply isn't good enough.  However, good high quality real estate photography will always make you a winner financially

This is what I mean...

According to the experts, every marketing initiative should be assessed for its potential to provide a return on investment of money and perhaps time.  Whether it's a tv commercial, a newspaper ad, or junk mail, if it'g going to cost more money going out than any money coming in, then it isn't an intelligent decision.

So what is meant by ROI (Return on Investment) in regards to photography and the marketing of a home for sale?  Basically, homes which are marketed with high quality photos will sell for a higher price than if the agent used low quality photos.

This video helps to explain marketing ROI:

So to determine the ROI, we do the following calculation:

ROI = Profit - Marketing Cost / Marketing Cost

...and then multiply that number by 100 to determine the percentage value.

Therefore, if the profit on the sale of a home as a result of using high quality professional real estate photography (i.e., the higher cost that was gained above what would have been possible without those photos) is $3,000, and the cost of photography is $300, then

ROI = 3000 - 300 / 300

Therefore ROI = 9

Convert this to a percentage = 9 X 100

= 900%

Here's another example:

There was a rental property which was rather messy, and the initial photos which were used were of a low quality.  The first agent had the property listed for approximately four months, and received one offer for $326,00.

The owner wasn't happy with the photos or the way the property was marketed, so they listed it with a different agent.  The second agent requested that a high quality real estate photographer create new photos of the home.  Remember that the first agent had the property on the market for four  months.

Using the new photos, the second agent received an offer of $346,750 - an increase of over $20,000 - within three days!

In addition, given the cost of the photos, that generated a return on investment of a whopping 3544%!

What was the difference?  The photos created by the professional real estate photographer made the home look like it had a higher value because the home appeared cleaner, brighter, and more like something that would be seen in a home magazine.. The buyers thought that if they didn't act quickly then they would miss out, and they were probably right!

Would you be able to go to your bank or financial planner and tell them, "I'd like to invest my money, and I'd like an interest rate of 3544%."  Once they finished laughing they would suggest you look someplace else.  However, this is what can be achieved when you use high quality real estate photography. 

What can you expect to pay for high quality real estate photography?

The cost for high quality real estate photography varies depending on your location, but in general you should expect to pay somewhere between $150 to $500.  Given the value of most most homes, and the return on investment that is possible, this is a very low sum to pay.  And if the quality of the photos is high, it's practically impossible to lose money when investing in high quality real estate photography.

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