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Photo editing is the post-production process of digitally altering or enhancing a picture using special software. Once a photo shoot has taken place, the work of editing begins in order to ensure that the images representing a home are of the highest quality. Any agent who wants their real estate business to stand out in a crowd knows that important details cannot be ignored. That is especially true when it comes to real estate photography . A picture is what first draws the attention of the more than ninety percent of people who begin their home searches online. And pictures are what keep their attention the longest. Those agents who pay attention to the details and provide their customers with premium pictures are able to set themselves apart as a premium business. And yet, not every photograph is a work of art. Ask any teenager who snaps dozens of selfies to find the perfect shot to post online. Truth is, even professional photographers take dozens or even hundreds of photographs during a photo shoot and cull the very best photos from the batch. But they do not stop there. Once the best photos have been selected, the hard work of editing serves to enhance those images. The color may need correction. The light may need to be balanced or the exposure adjusted. These and a host of other alterations are employed to help a home to look its best. (Read also about “ What Goes Into Video Editing ”) Beyond some of the more standard edits, a photographer or photo editor may also perform more advanced modifications, such as object removal to get rid of unwanted items in an image, or blue sky replacement to make up for a shoot that took place on a cloudy day. From simple resizing to full-blown virtual staging , a professional photography service can offer up the highest quality photographs for your customers’ listings. Of course, you may choose not to seek the services of a professional photographer. You may prefer to take pictures yourself. Either way, it is critical that the pictures you provide your customers be first rate. And that means not only taking great pictures – and plenty of them – but careful editing to boot. So, what editing tools and tricks should you use with your real estate photos ? Well, that all depends on what your photos need and what your clients request. Here are some of the more common photo editing elements along with a few advanced services you can employ. Cropping and Resizing. Photos that are taken at a distance often leave the subject looking small or insignificant in the background. Narrowing down the field of view can help to focus a viewer’s attention on what matters. Color Correction. Raw images taken of a room or a yard often appear dull or drab. Or the colors captured by the camera just don’t look quite right. Maybe the blues look too much like purple, or the whites came out a little too white. Color correction adjusts the color in a photo to make it look as accurate as possible. Light correction. White balance is the process of removing unrealistic colors cast on objects or walls to make sure that what appears white in real life renders as white in your photos. Other lighting corrections can change the contrast, deepen the shadows, add highlights, and more. Straighten Lines. When horizontal lines in a picture are not level with the horizon and the vertical ones are not straight up and down, the whole image seems distorted. Sloppy. Unprofessional. Fortunately, the lines in an image can be corrected to align with a grid so that the picture appears straight and true. Object Removal. Sometimes an object makes its way into a photo unintentionally. A lamp cord sticking out from under an end table. A cup left on the counter. Other times, personal information or images are captured in a picture, such as family portraits, framed diplomas, or computer screens. These unwanted items can be removed during the editing phase. Blue Sky Replacement. Photo shoots cannot always be scheduled for perfectly sunny days. Good news is, a grey sky can be replaced with a blue one by a photo editor. The background of exterior shots can have a blue sky added to them. So can the views through the windows from inside a home. A similar process can be used to make the lawn appear greener or improve the reflection in the water of the backyard pool. Twilight Conversion. There is something altogether captivating about an image of a home set against the eerie backdrop of a sky at dusk. It is a little dark, dramatic, and a bit extraordinary. Photographing a home during the “golden hour”, the period of time just before sunrise or just after dark, requires precise timing and near-perfect conditions. Virtual twilight conversion does not. An ordinary picture can be converted to have the same appeal. Virtual Staging. Staging is an effective way to showcase a home at its best. An empty home is often slow to sell; a disheveled one even moreso. But physical staging is time consuming and expensive. Virtual staging, on the other hand, can transform an empty (or nearly empty) home into a fully-furnished and professionally-staged model in nearly any decorating style – at a fraction of the cost. While this is not an exhaustive list of photo editing options, it does emphasize the range of opportunities (and responsibilities) to make your clients’ photographs the best they can be. And not just that; the better the quality of your photos, the better your brand identity . Your customers – and anyone else who views your listings or visits your website – will judge the quality of your business by the quality of the photos that represent your product. Those images reflect how hard you work to sell a home. Once upon a time, curb appeal was king. While that is still true to some extent, the way that people see a home from the curb is mainly through a photograph. Whether those pictures are uploaded to the listing, posted to social media , or featured in your postcards or brochures , your customers expect a professional product, regardless of who snaps the shutter. And while excellence begins behind the lens, it ends with professional photo editing.
Any agent can benefit from a partnership with a photo editing service for real estate photos . It really doesn’t matter if you tend to contract a photography service , or if you prefer to take pictures yourself. Handing off the job to a professional photo editing service, whether that is a simple touch-up on a batch of photos or a full-scale virtual staging , just makes sense. The truth is, you probably know that already. After all, there are certain responsibilities in the process of listing and selling a home that you would probably not consider to be yours. You might coordinate most of the items that need to get done, but you don’t process the mortgage, perform the title search, or facilitate the closing. You don’t dig up the septic tank or test for mold in the basement. Those responsibilities naturally fall at the feet of other professionals. And yet, when it comes to a task like photo editing, many agents feel like they simply cannot sublet the responsibility of photo editing to someone else. “I can’t afford it,” they say. “I don’t want to give up that much control.” Or, “What would people think?” What is included in a professional photo editing service? Most people understand that photo editing is a process of altering a digital image after it has already been taken, during the post production phase of photography. Really, almost anyone with a mobile phone is aware that photos can be edited after the fact using an on-board app. For serious editing, though, digital image files are uploaded into editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, where they can be cropped, adjusted, and altered. But those editing features are merely the beginning of what is possible in post production. Lighting, color balance, and other image modifications are included, yes, but so are advanced services. Here are some examples of the types of edits that might be done to real estate photographs : Basic photo editing. This can include anything from adjusting contrast, exposure, lens correction, color adjustment, resizing and cropping, and more. Object removal. Any unwanted items that were missed when preparing for a photo shoot, like a wayward sock on the bedroom floor or a cat that took an untimely walk in the background, can be erased from a photo. Virtual staging. Vacant homes have a tendency to sit too long on the market. And yet, traditional staging is costly and not always feasible. A home can be virtually staged after it has been photographed using this editing service. Twilight conversion. There is something stunning about a home photographed at the “golden hour” just before sunrise or after sunset. But that “hour” is only about fifteen minutes long – not too convenient for every photo shoot. Twilight conversion can take a regular photograph and make it look like it was taken at dawn or dusk. Blue sky replacement. As with twilight conversion, this service makes up for less-than-ideal conditions when capturing images of a home or property. A dull and cloudy day can be turned into a bright and cheery one with blue sky replacement . Green Grass. If the sky can be turned blue, why not green up the grass at the same time? Some of these services come standard when you send you photos to be edited. Others are add-on products to help you showcase your properties. Photo-editing myths Clearly, there are many things that can be done to enhance the images for your listings. Still, many agents choose to go it alone when it comes to photo editing. Why? Probably because they believe things that are not true about the service. For instance, some people believe that it costs too much to send out pictures for editing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Think about it. Photography takes time. Time to declutter. Time to prepare the kitchen and other parts of the house to make them photo-ready. Time to take the pictures. But the most time-consuming part of the process is post production. Editing. After everything else is done, someone has to sit at a computer and make ready the pictures for publication. If you, the agent, are the one sitting for long hours at the computer, you are not doing the one thing that actually generates revenue for your business: selling homes . It is like a commercial fisherman who finds himself cleaning, processing, packing, and shipping his own fish. All of those chores done on the land take away from his time on the water where he actually catches fish. That is where his time is best spent – in the boat, not on dry ground. Is it not the same for an agent? Your time is best spent building and nurturing relationships with people, not with a software program. Another myth that agents fall to is that they will lose control of the process if they hand it over to someone else. But is it really true? In order to “be in control” of the editing process, you need to have a thorough understanding and knack with each of the editing tools and techniques available. That takes more time and more money. Handing off your photos to a professional editing service does not mean that you give up editorial say in the process, only that you do not need to be the expert of all things editing. Not to mention, the turnaround time for a professional editor is probably a lot faster than what you can do anyways. Leave the photo editing to the professionals. Finally, some agents want to project that they are in control of every operation, and so the idea of outsourcing is perhaps a bit unpalatable. What would your clients think if they knew you were sending their photographs out to an outside business? Actually, they would probably be comforted. As long as you frame the discussion the right way, your clients will appreciate that you are providing the best service possible for their home. Remember, a professional photographer or photo editor understands not only the technical process to achieve an adjustment to a photograph, but also possesses the artistic ability to make it look natural. Remarkable. Professional. Benefits of professional editing Besides the fact that you can trust your photos to a professional photographer or editor who knows his or her craft, there are other benefits to professional editing. Better your photos. Since photos are the number one draw for a property – that makes them pretty important – the higher their quality, the better your sales Build your brand. Your photographs will also be a hallmark of your business. Again, the better their quality, the better the perception people will have of your business brand. Increase your credibility. Many listing photos reveal that agents across the country do not place the importance on photography that they should. Poorly framed and lighted cell phone pics do not lend a sense of credibility to a business. Professionally edited photos do. Re-purpose and multi-purpose your photos. Today, your listing photos need to do more than accompany the listing. You should be able to include them in your social media posts, on your website, and in your postcards or brochures. A professional editing service can optimize your digital photos for each platform – and for viewing on mobile devices. With these benefits and more, it should be clear that, whether you take your own pictures or hire a pro, the job of editing those photos should be left to a professional editing service to save you time and money.
What is Blue Sky Replacement? Sky replacement is a photo editing process using digital tools to alter or replace the sky background in a picture during the post-production phase. It is often used to enhance real estate photographs that were shot in less-than-ideal conditions. Why replace the sky? The late Ella Fitzgerald sang, “Blue skies smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies do I see.” Those are fanciful words for sure, but they certainly do not ring true in the world of real estate photography , where a photo shoot often needs to be completed when the sun is in hiding and the skies are dull with clouds. And yet, image quality is one of the most important factors that leads to customer engagement with a property listing, social media post, or web page. In the highly competitive world of real estate, where nearly ninety percent of homebuyers who search online place photos at the top of the list of useful features on a listing website, it is essential to present not only the highest quality, but the most compelling images possible. After all, viewers spend only about twenty percent of their time reading your property descriptions – and about sixty percent of their time viewing your real estate photos . What’s more, studies show that seventy percent of agents believe high-quality photography helps them to win more listings and improve their business brand . Plus, those photos garner sixty-one percent more views online and help homes to sell faster. And yet, even the most competent photographer using the most sophisticated photography equipment cannot control every condition during a photo shoot. A perfect picture is not always possible. That is where photo editing comes into play. A Blue sky replacement service can enhance your photographs after the fact, when conditions were not ideal during a photo shoot. What is involved in blue sky replacement? As you probably know, post production and editing take place after a photo shoot has been completed. Digital files are uploaded into editing software where they can be cropped, adjusted, and altered. Like twilight conversion or virtual staging , a blue sky background is one of the services provided by professional real estate photographers and editors. Blue sky replacement can be done to both outdoor and indoor images where the sky can be seen through the windows. To perform the service, a photo editor will select the sky background section of a photo and swap it out for a vibrant and cheery blue alternative. But the editing does not end there. To make sure the altered photo looks natural, the rest of the image must be enhanced to blend with its new horizon. For instance, an editor must pay careful attention to highlights and shadows, or to the color effect that a brighter and bluer sky might have on objects in the photo. A background that is too bold or saturated, or one that includes colors that are inconsistent with the rest of the picture can look fake and unrefined. Likewise, if an editor fails to consider where the light falls on trees and buildings and other structures, a picture can appear unnatural. Photo editing is as much an art as it is a science – and that includes sky replacement. Blue sky replacement photographers and photo editors develop a keen eye, a sense for composition and color in a picture. An understanding of how light affects a subject. That holds true when framing an image through the camera lens and when enhancing that image on a computer screen. Why hire a professional for blue sky replacement? In today’s technological world, there are advances made almost every week. New cameras . New mobile devices . New software packages. Open houses are now online and real e state videos are taken from flying drones . Not only are the tools getting better and smarter, they are getting cheaper. If there is a downside to the advances in technology and the decreases in cost, it may well be that there are a good many people, agents included, who are attempting to perform “professional” services without professional skills – or results. Sure, some agents are skilled photographers and editors . But that is not the majority of agents. The evidence for that can clearly be seen in the plethora of poorly framed, lighted, executed, and edited pictures that accompany property listings on the MLS. Many agents would be better served if they considered professional photography for their customers. And while some agents undoubtedly possess the skills to take care of their own photography (some might also have a staff photographer in house), the sheer amount of time it takes to set up a photo shoot, assemble the tools, take the pictures, and do all of the editing (including sky replacement) can take a serious bite out of the time left for other responsibilities. Interestingly enough, most agents agree. According to one study, more than nine out of ten agents are passionate about the importance of using professional photography, and yet only half actually do so for all of their listings, and fifteen percent do not hire a professional photographer at all. And yet, those agents who rely solely on professional photography tend to earn higher commissions. And those who have the finest images available for their clients boost their brand identity to boot. A professional photographer will take hundreds of photographs, cull them down to a select series of shots, edit them according to your conditions, and make them available to you in short order – usually within 24 hours. Professional photographers and editors have a faster turnaround time for a finer product. Blue sky and all. So, handing off photography responsibilities to a professional service can not only free up time, but it can offer a good return on investment. Photography services are remarkably affordable, with packages starting below two hundred dollars. The main goal of blue sky replacement and other professional editing features is to attract buyers to your listings, your print ads (like postcards and brochures ), and your website. Unless your pictures pop with vibrant color and vivid detail, and yet with a natural look, they will not have the impact that you desire and your sellers deserve. So, maybe Ella had it right: “Blue days, all of them gone. Nothing but blue skies from now on…”
Twilight photography is just one of a number of real estate photography trends taking place today. But what exactly is twilight photography and why might you offer the service to your customers? Other marketing strategies, using, say, 3D virtual tour technology or aerial drones , allow home buyers to get a more accurate or intimate look at a property. Viral v ideos can tell a story and create a buzz online. And print ads, like postcards or brochures , put pictures in a customer’s hands. But perhaps no other marketing tool attracts a buyer’s attention like a shot of a home at dusk. What is twilight photography? Most real estate photos are shot during daylight hours. That is a great way to take in full detail and bold colors. But traditional daytime photography does not always make for an interesting image, especially when picture after picture, from one property to the next, all show similar scenes. Twilight photography , on the other hand, captures a subject at the “golden hour,” either just before sunrise or just after sunset. Actually, the term golden hour is a little misleading, since it sometimes lasts for only fifteen minutes or so. But in that coveted window of time, when the sun is low on the horizon and casting a warm and mysterious glow, a photographer can create stunning pictures. Of course, just as an array of real estate photographs can consist of more than mere pictures of a home and property, the same holds true for twilight pictures. You can add impressive images of other outdoor spaces, waterfront views, landscapes, city skylines, and more. What are the benefits of twilight photography? Photography is arguably among the most important real estate marketing strategies at your disposal. Homes listed with quality photographs – and plenty of them – tend to sell faster than other listings. Across some price ranges, they even sell for more money. Why? Well, consider what a twilight photo might do. Twilight photos are alluring. Appealing. Eye-catching. With an air of mystique, majestic twilight shots set themselves apart from the crowd when buyers are scrolling through thumbnails, browsing through listings, or searching across social media . Elegant twilight images also allow an agent to showcase features of a home that are not visible during the day, or that might be less-than-impressive without some help. For instance, accent lighting does not show well in the sunlight, but when matched to the level of the interior lighting of a home and the level of light from the sun just before it goes dark, the exterior lighting can cast eerie and enticing shadows to add an element of interest. Many features – a deck, a pool, or a patio fire pit – can come to new life in the light of the rising or falling sun. At the same time, defects are de-emphasized in a twilight photo. Nearly ninety percent of homebuyers who searched for a home on the internet (according to the NAR) found photos to be among the most useful features of a realtor’s website. That means, not only will your listing photos garner more views for a home, but they make a wonderful addition to your portfolio and boost interest in your business as well. How do you prepare for a twilight shoot? Because the “golden hour” lasts for such a short time, it is essential that a home be prepared in advance so that, once the time has come, the photographer can start snapping pictures. Everything happens very quickly once the shoot begins and it is easy to underestimate the time it takes to get everything set up, especially if the homeowner will not be home to show you where all of the switches are. Here are some helpful hints to help a homeowner get ready for twilight photography: Turn on all of the interior lights Turn on all of the exterior lights and landscape lighting (you might need to cover up the photocells on any solar lights in the yard so that they come on before dark) Reduce lighting that is too bright by unscrewing select bulbs that throw off the balance Have a ladder handy so that adjustments can be made in a flash when the photographer arrives Consider staging various areas of interest – the patio, pool deck, etc.- with the house in the background If your photographer prefers, have a hose handy to wet down the driveway or cement areas so they are set for a twilight shoot If you are doing the shoot yourself (as opposed to hiring a professional real estate photographer ), make sure to use a tripod and a quality camera. Use a low ISO setting and shoot raw; you can edit your photos later What is virtual twilight? Sometimes referred to as a day-to-dusk, or twilight conversion , virtual twilight is when a photographer or photo editing specialist uses exterior photos taken during daylight hours and digitally alters them to appear as if they were taken at twilight. It allows an ordinary photograph to be transformed into a dramatic representation of a house at dusk. Why might you opt for virtual twilight instead of the real thing? Well, the tight window of opportunity required for twilight photography might not fit into your schedule with every client. When you do not have the time for a twilight shoot, or when you have restricted access to a property, virtual twilight may be the answer, since you can use existing exterior digital images. Once you have selected and submitted a photograph to be converted to twilight, a photographer or editing technician will add light in all the windows, add a brilliant dusk sky, and fix minor imperfections – ready to go in a day or two. Yes, twilight photography is trending in real estate, but that does not mean that everyone is doing it. You can help your listings – and your business brand – to stand out when you offer a bit of twilight photography as part of your marketing mix .
Virtual tours have risen in popularity in recent months, largely due to COVID -19 . While they have been around for years, social distancing and stay-at-home orders around the globe have made virtual tools an essential element of real estate. Really, 3D tours may have become just as popular without coronavirus on the scene – indeed they have been on the rise for some time – nevertheless, one thing seems certain: virtual tours are here to stay. That’s a good thing, since 3D virtual tours are loved by buyers, sellers, and agents alike. Companies such as Matterport have been working tirelessly to produce products that agents can use to market and sell homes faster and at higher prices . Virtual tour technology has also become more accessible, putting powerful tools within reach of any marketing budget. Some agents choose to hire a professional 3D virtual tour service that employs the latest and best in 3D camera and editing technology. Others opt to scan homes with their iPhone (which is also an option with Matterport ). With all of the choices available, it only seems natural to offer virtual tours as part of your marketing mix. But just how might you use those virtual tours to reach your audience effectively? Think about it. A fisherman needs to know where the fish are hanging out, go to where they are, and cast the bait the right way in order to bring home dinner. When it comes to marketing your virtual tours, how and where are you casting? Consider the following ideas to use virtual tours effectively. Include virtual tours with your listings The first and obvious choice for placement of a virtual tour is in a listing. You can link your virtual showcase to the MLS and real estate sites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com – or rental sites like Zumper or VRBO . Including a virtual tour in a property listing gives it the greatest exposure and puts it in view of the more than ninety percent of buyers who begin their home searches online. Post virtual tours to social media Social media sites, the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Clubhouse , YouTube, LinkedIn, and others all offer opportunities to showcase a home with a virtual tour. Matterport’s teaser videos, included with every digital twin , are a great way to show off the best parts of a 3D tour through your social media channels. You can also feature a virtual tour in your social media ads. Feature a virtual tour on your business website When you include 3D home tours on your business website, you accomplish several things. For one, virtual tours make for quality content for your site’s visitors. 360 degree photos and videos on a website significantly increase traffic and produce higher engagement rates. That is good for your visitors – and it is good for you, since Google recognizes when your content is relevant and useful. As a result, Google boosts your site’s rankings in the search results. So, not only do virtual tours attract and keep attention, they also help with your SEO strategy . Embed a tour on your homepage or create a landing page to which you can send customers from other places in your marketing campaigns. Publish a virtual tour of your business on Google Street View When people search for products and services on the internet, frequently they turn to mapping products, like Google Maps. If you want consumers to engage with your business, you need to have a solid search listing for your business. One way to accomplish that is to add a virtual tour of your own office to Google Street View so that your business is recognized and promoted in your market – showing up in search results, on Google Maps, on your Google Plus page, and your Google local page. When you do, you control the content that appears when people see your business online. And a 3D virtual walkthrough of your business gives you a stronger presence than a simple photograph or panorama. Send virtual tours through email Email campaigns, as you well know, allow you to maintain tighter control over who receives your messages than, say, YouTube or Instagram might. While you usually cannot embed a virtual tour in an email, you can create a thumbnail image with a link to your Matterport showcase and share the tour with whomever you like. Or, place the thumbnail in your email signature and include a tour link in every email you send. Direct customers to a virtual tour through direct mail and other print ads In this digital age, you might find it ironic that many of your younger buyers, often drowning in a sea of digital messages, find print advertising to be a refreshing reprieve. Direct mail of postcards or brochures , of course, has not lost its importance, especially when customers have been forced to spend so much time at home in recent months. But print ads also have other advantages. Many consumers like the touch and feel of a printed page, and many find them to be a more authoritative source of information. There are probably not a lot of people pinning their tablets to the refrigerator or saving home pics as their desktop wallpaper. They will, however, pin up a postcard and hold on to your hard-copy real estate flyer longer than a digital ad. So, use those printings to your advantage by including high-quality professional photography and QR codes linking to your virtual tour landing pages on your website. ________________________________________________ At a time when in-person gatherings are few, 3D virtual tours have become a go-to tool to showcase a listing. They are the “ new open house ”, and may remain so for the foreseeable future. So, if you are going to lean on the technology, make sure to get your virtual tours in front of as many of your potential customers as you can using a good dose of your imagination sparked by some of the strategies listed here.
Before you add a drone photography to your real estate marketing mix, it is important to consider how you might go about capturing those aerial images for your customers. Do you simply buy a drone and shoot them yourself? Or do you look to a drone photography service to get the job done? Perhaps your best bet is to hire a professional real estate photographer who offers drone services. Read on for three reasons why. The not-so-professional approach Surely you have seen them: poorly framed pictures and ammeteur shaky-cam video clips. From family photos to vlog videos and anything in between, a camera in untrained hands will usually yield less-than-desired results. That may be okay for a family photo album or a vlogger’s fifteen followers. Not a great idea when it comes to assembling an assortment of real estate strategies to market a property. (Learn about the Real Estate Photographs You Need to Get Right ) Oh sure, advances in technology have made it easier to get quality images from a digital camera or even a mobile phone. The new iPhone 12 Pro Max, for example, boasts a 2.5x zoom lens, 12 megapixel resolution, 4K video quality, and LiDAR scanner. Many smartphones today, including the iPhone, also include image stabilization to aid with steadier image capture. And yet, there are plenty of property listings filled with pictures that look like they have been taken by a child who did not bother to clean up his room, let alone figure out how to properly light and frame a photo. Having capable camera equipment is only one piece of the photographic pie. Other slices include the time it takes to learn the craft and work each photo shoot (not to mention editing the videos and pictures after the fact), along with the talent needed to produce top-notch results. So, real estate agents have two general options for photography. Those who have the time and talent to achieve professional results – and who have a desire to provide their own photography services – can go th e do-it-yourself route. Others will opt to contract with a professional real estate photography service. What about drones? When it comes to drone photography, agents face a similar choice. Offering drone photos and videos to your customers does a few things. First of all, bird’s-eye views of a property add a unique perspective to a listing. They give prospective buyers a look at features that cannot be viewed from the ground, such as the roof or the chimney. Large properties or wooded lots often cannot be seen in their entirety without aerial images. Drones can solve that problem. (See how Drone Photography Can Help You Sell More Listings ) Next, drones allow you to add other unique elements to a listing. You can take your buyers on an aerial tour of local hotspots or area attractions. You can fly them over their child’s path to the neighborhood school or park. You can show them comparable listings or properties that have recently been sold. Finally, drone photography becomes for you a powerful marketing tool to help your business stand out. Along with other strategies you might offer – an exceptional print advertising campaign, 3D virtual tours , and walkthrough video services, for example – drone photography helps you to build and improve your brand identity . But the question remains: who performs your drone photography? The case for contracting a professional real estate photographer Two things are true: drone technology is improving, and drone prices have been falling. Those two truths can make it awfully appealing to invest in drones for your real estate business. But is that the best choice for your business? Maybe the answer is yes. But if you are unsure whether you should go it alone or hire a professional, consider the benefits of a professional real estate photographer who offers drone s ervices . Any professional drone photographer for real estate should… …be licensed and insured. While use of a drone does not require a commercial pilot’s license, in order to pilot a drone for commercial purposes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that drone operators be certified under FAA Part 107. It is also important that a drone operator be insured. Drones can crash and cause damage or injury. A drone pilot should be insured and be able to show proof of insurance. …have an eye for real estate photography. There are a lot of drone operators these days, both professionals and hobbyists. Many are quite skilled. But having the skill to operate a drone does not immediately equate to having the ability to take quality pictures and videos from that drone, let alone having a keen eye for the unique needs of real estate photography. Make sure that any drone service you consider is able to provide a portfolio of real estate photographs for you to evaluate. …offer additional services. A real estate photographer who offers drone services (as opposed to a drone operator who takes pictures) can often provide an array of related services, such as digital editing and twilight photograph y . To maximize the benefits of a partnership with a real estate photographer, look for a business that can also help you with 3D home tours, HDR listing photography, virtual staging , print and design services, and more. If you are going to add drone photography services to the list of real e state marketing strategies you offer your clients, you have a choice to make. Either you purchase a drone and learn how to fly it, get licensed and insured, practice shooting pictures and video, and become proficient with digital editing tools yourself, or you hire someone else to do it for you. For most agents, a relationship with a professional real estate photographer is the answer.
Virtual staging is a process that allows you to digitally decorate and furnish a home without the time and expense associated with traditional staging methods. When performed by a qualified professional, virtual staging can transform a vacant room into a realistic and artful space. Or it can empty out a fully-furnished home while the homeowner is still in residence. Virtual staging is cost-effective and works. That is the opinion of the majority of real estate agents. But is it worth the cost? Well, according to the NAR, for every one hundred dollars spent on staging, the potential return on investment is four hundred dollars. That is not insignificant. But traditional staging for a home can run into the thousands of dollars, and many real estate marketing agency budgets simply do not allow for that big an expense. The cost of virtual staging is a fraction of what it costs for traditional staging, and it takes less time than trying to stage a home yourself . Save money, save time, and close deals faster with Virtual Staging… Virtual staging, sometimes known as “virtual styling”, costs less than traditional methods, to be sure, but that is not the only reason that the service has been growing in popularity with home sellers and their agents. Consider these 5 cost and time saving advantages virtual staging can add to your next listing: Virtual staging allows you to optimize for the internet. Most buyers in today’s home market, certainly those younger buyers who make up its majority, begin their home search online. That fact makes it really important to get your real estate photographs right. What’s more, since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more buyers are making their home visits virtually. Many are even purchasing properties sight-unseen without physically stepping foot inside a home until the walk-through – or after the closing once they have the keys in their hands . In order to capture and hold the attention of prospective buyers, your real estate photos need to portray a property at its best. That is especially true in the digital realm where viewers can zoom in to see every detail. Virtual staging helps you to do just that. Virtual staging helps when the seller is still in the home One of the first recommendations an agent makes to a seller at the beginning of the selling process is to clean up and clear out. To declutter the space. Buyers want to envision themselves living in a house. They do not want to see someone else’s personal effects everywhere. Besides, a clutter-free environment makes the entryway more inviting, makes the living room (and every other room for that matter) appear larger, and makes the closets look like they can hold more stuff.Of course, minimizing the amount of stuff already in the rooms and closets when the seller is still living in the home is not always an easy assignment. Virtual staging can help with that. While it does nothing to prepare for, say, an in-person open house , it can go a long way toward cleaning up the pictures you print and post. With virtual staging, you can clear out the clutter, rearrange the furniture, clean a mark off the wall, or pick up a stray sock that made its way into the photo shoot – all after the shoot has been completed. Virtual staging lets you target the appearance of a home to your audience With virtual staging, designers have a huge array of design elements that can be digitally added to a home. They can help you to craft the decor to reflect different decorating styles or color schemes. Depending on the customers you are targeting, you can switch from traditional to modern to mediterranean. Or you can empty out the home completely.You can do the same with the exterior of a home. Tailor the look of the yard to your audience: patio furniture, playset, or nothing at all. To enhance the effect, you can add other editing services to create a blue sky when the photo shoot took place on a cloudy day, or to green up the grass when it hasn’t rained in a few weeks. Virtual staging makes it easier for your buyers to imagine One of the most popular aspects of home improvement shows on television is the reveal. Viewers anxiously await the unveiling of the newly renovated space, clean and clutter free and professionally staged. Notice, the producers do not leave the rooms empty, nor do they just drag all of the homeowner’s old belongings back in. They make the house look as inviting as possible to draw viewers in.Staging has long been used as a tool to help people envision what a home could look like if they were living there. How might the living room be arranged? Or the kitchen ? In fact, more than eighty percent of buyers’ agents responding to a NAR survey said that staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. An empty house might be great when it comes time for an inspection or walk-through, but it does not always lend well to sparking the imagination. And having someone else’s belongings all over the place makes it hard for a buyer to imagine having their own items arranged in the space. To help buyers imagine themselves living in a home, your best bet is to help them to visualize what it might look like if they did. You can do that with virtual staging. Virtual staging can help a house sell faster According to the NAR, nearly two-thirds of sellers’ agents report that staged homes spend less time on the market than non-staged homes. Ultimately, that is the goal, right? Well, along with selling for more money. Fortunately, staged homes also sell at higher prices on average, at least according to more than half of the agents responding in the NAR study. In today’s virtual world, where COVID-19 has reshaped the real estate market, maybe for good, it makes sense to transition toward the use of digital strategies like virtual staging. Among buyers’ agents, having photos, videos , and virtual tours available for their listings has become increasingly important since the start of the pandemic. The truth is, the trend toward virtual engagement was already underway before shutdowns and social distancing were household terms. The coronavirus added momentum. That is not to say that tried-and-true real estate marketing strategies, like postcards and brochures are no longer necessary. They are. Virtual staging impacts not only the photos that appear in online ads and social media posts, but your pictures in print as well. Some agents stage every home they list for sale. Others only stage homes that are difficult to sell. Most agents, whether they stage or not, suggest decluttering or some sort of sprucing up. All agents should understand that the photographs they produce are their most powerful tool to attract buyers – the tool that grabs and holds their attention the longest, and has the greatest impact on their imaginations. Virtual staging amplifies that impact.
Anyone who has tried to make a video and upload it to the internet knows that the toughest and most time consuming part of the process is often post-production. That is where you edit your raw video footage so that your final product flows seamlessly and looks professional. Post-production is when you add music, voice-over, or other audio effects. It is when you insert transitions between various video clips. You place all of your individual media items along a timeline and render everything into a single video file. Shooting video footage may take minutes; editing video for a polished presentation takes much longer. While some adventurous agents choose to create their own real estate videos , others prefer to put their confidence in a professional videographer and avoid common photography mistakes . At Hometrack , we offer a range of services to help you craft high quality walk-through videos from start to finish – planning, staging , filming, and editing. Your completed videos are uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and are available to embed on your website or other online destination. You can even add them to your 3D virtual tours . If you are new to the realm of video editing and post-production, you might wonder what goes into editing video. Today, virtually all video capture and editing is done digitally, using digital c ameras and editing software suites. Regardless of the software used, whether it be Adobe Premiere, Pinnacle Studio, Photoshop, or even iMovie (or another of a host of video editing software programs), the basic concepts and techniques are essentially the same. Each platform features a similar workflow: import a video clip, image, or audio file; cut and crop; edit; add it to a timeline; export. What follows here is a bit more detailed description of each. Trim or Cut Used interchangeably, these terms describe changes to the length of your videos made by cutting them into chunks or pieces. Imagine rolling out a long strip of video tape from an old-school projector. If you wanted to use only certain sections of the tape, you would physically trim or cut pieces out of the larger scroll and splice them back together in the order you wanted them to appear. In a digital domain, trimming or cutting is done with a software command rather than a razor and adhesive. The trimmed pieces (or “clips”) are then arranged on the timeline. Timeline All video editing programs will include some sort of timeline. All of the individual video clips – along with still images, audio clips, annotations, and other effects – are placed along the timeline in the order they are to appear in the video. A timeline can have several “tracks” that run adjacent to one another. For instance, video footage featuring a panned shot of a large living room can be placed on the timeline alongside an audio track with background music and another audio track with a voice that explains certain elements of the space. The final product is a compilation of all these elements. Transitions When you trim video clips and place them end to end along a timeline, the result will be a continuous video moving from one clip to another. However, when each clip ends and the next one begins, a noticeable (and abrupt) change occurs. Think of it as a long blink of the eyes. The result is unnatural and distracting. The fix for the problem is to insert transitions between clips – crossfades, fades-through-black, and other effects – to make the switch from one clip or scene to the next feel more natural. Besides the common fades and crossfades, other transitions might mimic the turn of a page in a book, or a dissolve from one image to the next, or a spiral from one view to another. Transition effects are often misused by beginners, but their judicial application makes a video look professional. Crop Cropping adjusts the viewable dimensions of an image or video. You are probably already familiar with this operation, since it is used regularly when editing pictures for a photo album or social media post. The crop command eliminates unwanted views along the edges of a video clip and focuses instead on what you want viewers to see. Visual and Audio Effects In addition to adding video and audio elements to a timeline, other effects can be used. For instance, a video can be annotated with notes or symbols that appear at specific points. Clip speed can be adjusted to create a fast-motion effect, or to slow the video down. The volume of the audio clips can be evened out and automated, or faded out and faded in; background noise can be removed. These all are accomplished during the editing phase of post-production. Touch-up With digital tools, your video clips and images can be retouched to remove unwanted objects that cause distraction. A pet or a person that made it into a shot, power lines that hang overhead, a toy left on the floor – each can be carefully removed from an image. But touch-ups are not always easy, and, without significant experience, can become as obtrusive as the element intended to be removed. Lighting Effects A video editor also has a number of lighting effects or lighting corrections available to either make a video more natural or easier to view. They can also lend a creative twist as a special effect. For instance, highlights and shadows can be adjusted to tone down areas that are too bright and bring out areas that appear dark. Clarity can be adjusted to add or remove sharpness, while vibrance controls the intensity of the colors in your video. Contrast, exposure, and other settings also alter your images to make up for less than perfect lighting during the video or photo shoot. A video can also be colorized to give it the look and feel of, say, an old black and white movie or other effect. Frame Rate, ISO, Lens Profile Correction Other concepts that a professional videographer must take into consideration are known by terms such as frame rate (fps or frames per second at which the video is shot), ISO (light sensitivity setting), and lens profile correction (a setting that makes up for image distortion when a fisheye lens is used, for instance, during drone photography ). Save and Export When your project is finished, it must be saved, or rendered, into a video file in the proper file format to be sent to you, the client. The master project file is also saved in order to go back and make further corrections or edits later. What you can expect from Hometrack Our real estate video production team offers professional 4K videography along with all of the video editing features listed above – for any size location you need to capture. From start to finish, we listen to your needs, combine them with our years of experience and our state-of-the-art equipment and software, and deliver a walkthrough video that you can be proud to include as part of your real estate marketin g campaign. What you get with a video package is a one to four minute walkthrough video, completely edited and corrected. Included is one round of revisions (additional rounds can be purchased). Your video can come branded (for your website or social media) or unbranded (for MLS publication). You can add drone f ootage to your video, or include your video in a virtual home tour . And your completed video will be ready to post within one to two days. What you choose as the subject for your property videos is limited only by your imagination. How you choose to present your content – whether you do it yourself or choose a professional service – is up to you. At Hometrack, we promise a professional product that will add value to any listing.
Exceptional real estate photography is an essential component of any healthy real estate marketing campaign. After all, high quality photos help to sell homes faster and at higher prices . They attract more buyers and keep them engaged for longer periods of time. And top notch photography helps you to build your brand . Think about it. Photography runs through nearly every aspect of your marketing arsenal. Consider the most popular tools used by agents. Which of the following do you rely on regularly? Social media Email marketing Direct mail Listing videos Print ads 3D tours It is likely that you wield most if not all of these weapons in your marketing campaigns. What do they each have in common? Photography. Elevate the quality level of your photography and you automatically raise the bar for your entire marketing effort. With that thought in mind, consider these 11 trends in real estate photography and how they might impact your customers and your business. Online searches. Nearly all homebuyers today begin their home searches online, and most of them find photos to be highly useful. In fact, stunning imagery is the number one feature that grabs and holds their attention. Not only do quality photographs attract potential buyers, they keep them on the page longer, especially if there is an ample supply. Social media. In today’s market, the influence of social media cannot be overlooked. Forbes suggests that social media is “the biggest factor in the new real estate market.” And why not? Many buyers will search on social media for homes that match their preferences, using hashtags to help them find all the little niches in which they are interested. Mobile devices. Nearly three quarters of buyers use a mobile device – a cell phone or tablet – to search for properties online. That fact makes it important to ensure that your photographs are mobile-friendly, that they are optimized for the technology. Professional photography. In a hurried world, where there are far more responsibilities than hours in a day, many real estate agents are turning to professional photography services. That way, an agent can focus on cultivating leads and building relationships rather than on trying to figure out which photographs to get right and then spending hours editing for print and digital publication. Editing services. Of course, there are plenty of agents who prefer to take their own photos. Some are quite skilled. But snapping the pictures is not the end of the job. For a photo shoot to be successful – and professional – a considerable amount of time with tedious editing is still necessary. So, for those agents who have a knack with a camera, subletting that process to a professional photo editing service is a solid option. Virtual staging. Putting together a photo shoot begins long before the lens cap is removed from the camera. Time spent cleaning up the clutter, setting up a living room, or preparing a kitchen for photography gives the lens something worth capturing. Even better, home staging can put a set of images over the top. But time and budget does not always allow for staging. That is where virtual staging comes in handy, where an image of a relatively empty room can be digitally rearranged to appear fully furnished. Image enhancement. Sometimes a shoot does not go entirely according to plan. A stray sock is left on the floor. A mark goes undetected until it is too late. Or the sun simply refuses to come out when it is time to take the pictures. Image enhancements can allow images to be altered after the fact to accomplish anything from removing a scuff mark to creating a blue sky in the background to augmenting the view through a window. Twilight photography. Another emerging trend in real estate is giving some listings a boost. Photos shot during the “golden hour” (also known as Twilight photography ) shortly after sunrise or just before sunset can yield stunning images of outdoor spaces, waterfront views, landscapes, city skylines, and more. Drones. Videography from a bird’s eye view can capture the imagination of home buyers as much as any marketing tool. More and more agents are finding that they can not only use drone footage to feature a property, but also to highlight area attractions, update buyers on the progress of their new construction project, check out the condition of the roof and other property details that are not accessible from the ground. Walk-through videos. People love a good story. It is no wonder that three hundred hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and five billion videos are viewed every day! Real estate videos allow an agent to tell a story while highlighting a home – or the route to the neighborhood elementary school, coffee shop, or other attraction. 3D virtual tours. Agents are learning that homes sell faster and often at higher prices when their listings come with 3D t ours . Although the technology has been trending upward for years, services like Matterport have become the new open house in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Absent from the list, though by no means of any less importance, are print advertising products, such as postcards or brochures . Those simply do not diminish in significance as part of your marketing mix. And quality print ads have always necessitated quality photographs. So, as you can see and are likely aware, exceptional photography lies at the core of nearly every marketing move you make. Agents who are unable or uninterested in producing the best photo images possible will find it far more difficult to compete – and to service their clients with excellence. Moreover, every real estate marketing strategy that is touched by photography will suffer if the photography itself is not sound. Fortunately, it is easier than ever to achieve excellent results. The potential for quality photography has risen in recent years with advances in digital technology. Even the iPhon e in your pocket is a powerful photographic device when wielded properly. Likewise, a host of creative applications within real estate photography has made it possible to appeal to a wide audience. Whether you choose to take your own pictures or contract with a professional real estate photography service , remember that the quality of your product across all of these trending topics will be a hallmark of your business and a key to your success.
Like a glacier, COVID-19 is carving its way across the country and around the world, reshaping the landscape as it goes and leaving behind a new way of life. The world of real estate is not immune. It happens every so often, you know. Something comes along that redirects the course of history. We are in the midst of one such event. Like the citizens of the world a hundred years ago during another pandemic – or a depression, or a world war – we are experiencing a seismic shift in what we have known to be normal. So, what are businesses doing to remain alive and relevant through the coronavirus pandemic and beyond? What kinds of strategies can real estate agents take advantage of when in-person transactions are fewer and further between? And, maybe most importantly, what are some underlying principles that can lead to a successful real estate marketing model in the days to come? A metamorphosis of sorts For nearly a year, agents have adapted to the coronavirus out of necessity. Shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have all but eliminated face-to-face interactions. At least that has been the case for long stretches of time. And with COVID-19 and its variants still making rounds (and vaccines slow to follow), many buyers and sellers are reluctant to go back to business as usual. So, meetings with clients have gone virtual with tools like Zoom and Google Meet . Showings have gone virtual too, with 3D home tours becoming an almost expected offering. What a difference a matter of months can make. Emerging marketing trends were already in motion even before coronavirus became a household word. The uptick in out of town buyers and the preference of many young (and not-so-young) clients for digital media has been driving the industry toward online and digital solutions for years. The same is true for other technologies. Drone photography , HDR imaging, and even virtual staging . Each solution was making its mark on real estate prior to the health crisis. So were social media and video marketing . It’s just that the pandemic made these strategies necessary for survival. But not everything now is new. Interestingly, tried and true “old school” marketing strategies, like photography and real estate videos , are as relevant today as ever. Take print advertisements. Certainly they have a place in today’s marketing mix – even in a digital world, especially in a world of people who are staying at home. Print advertisements separate your message from a crowd of voices in a hyper-digitized world. More than that, they leave a lasting impression on your clients, provide a broader customer experience for the majority of customers who prefer the tactile sensation of printed paper, and are perceived as a more trustworthy source of information than online ads. So perhaps, like the Monarch whose shape is altered to something altogether new and yet in essence is made up of the same stuff it started with, the metamorphosis of the real estate market is more about the principles that undergird our decisions and our strategies than they are about the specific tools we choose to use. Stories from other industries Every industry has its challenges navigating the changing landscape. Take commercial airlines for instance. With travel restrictions and advisories in place all over the world, passenger flights have been at their lowest level in decades. To make up the difference after cancelling ninety percent of their scheduled flights, some airlines have begun to offer cargo flights to transport groceries, medical supplies, and all of the extra shipments necessary while people are ordering goods online. Hotels, too, are experiencing an unprecedented drop in bookings. One solution has been to give much-needed space to people who have been working remotely from home. For a reasonable price, remote workers can have access to a quiet room equipped with high-speed internet access for use as private office space. A “home-away-from-home office”. Grocery stores, pet supply stores, auto parts stores, and just about any other type of stores you can think of are thinking outside the box. Or rather, outside the building. Restaurants offer take-out and outdoor dining complete with geodesic domes to maintain social distancing. Retailers are offering curbside pickup. Some stores have even “gone dark”; they shutter their indoor operation in favor of curbside-only service. Whether it is a grocer who offers home delivery, a fitness company that has shifted to online workouts, or an office where all of the personnel check in from home each day, businesses have had to change how they operate in order to operate at all. Real estate enhancement opportunities When it comes to real estate marketing, you are likely aware of the tools available to you. Perhaps you have implemented some of these tools for your clients. Or maybe you have not taken the plunge on some of them. The changing topography of the industry is making it necessary to change and grow – or else grow irrelevant. Consider these opportunities that many agents have adopted: Virtual tours . The first and probably the most obvious strategy is the use of 3D technology, such as the Matterport virtual showcase that offers a “ digital twin ” of any space, indoors or out, that buyers can visit on any device, on their own time, and in their own homes. Matterport is even compatible with virtual reality devices for an enhanced experience. Enhanced photography. Not only is 3D imaging available, but today’s photography is captured with high-definition, High Dynamic Range (HDR) cameras and edited by experts. Add aerial or drone footage and twilight photography to the list of services that you offer to your clients. Viral video . Real estate videos are not new. But new technology allows an agent to create meaningful videos that work with any budget. You can contract with a professional videographer for storyline or home tour videos on your higher end listings, or you can shoot relaxed “impromptu” testimonials and walk-throughs with your cell phone. Some agents have even found that their videos have gone viral. Social media. Social media is rife with sensationalism these days. The pandemic has not helped in that regard. But you can also get a lot of miles from keeping in touch with your current client list and your previous customers via social media channels. It is also a great way to share your virtual tours, videos, and listing photographs. Website design. The most likely place to house all of your marketing media – an “about me” page with a video introducing you as an agent, client testimonials, links to your listings, photos, tours, and more – is your business website. Brand recognition. Running throughout all of your marketing efforts should be a clean and consistent business brand identity. That includes the look and feel of your communications. Color scheme, font choice, writing style, logo. These all are part of a professional business brand that communicates what your business is all about before you make your first personal introduction. Email. Still the most widely used form of communication – and cost-effective at that – email reaches large numbers of people in the shortest amount of time. Send individualized open house invitations, new listing announcements, holiday greetings, and more through custom email blasts . Direct mail. Whether postcards or brochures , direct mail remains relevant at a time when meeting face to face is not an option. Actually, it is said to outperform digital channels significantly. Guiding principles No matter what marketing strategies you choose to employ, new or old, they are really less-than-optimum if you do not have a cohesive set of principles to undergird their use. Why are you doing what you are doing? How is what you offer different than the agent down the street or around the corner? What makes you unique and how will you uniquely offer solutions for your clients? Where is your place in the market? Here are a few concepts to consider. Creative approaches that businesses have taken to set themselves apart. When you read each one, ponder how you might come up with a creative use of the tools at your disposal for your clients. Create your niche. One challenge you likely face is getting your message to stand out in a crowded market. E-commerce company Bonobos is among a number of businesses who, unable to compete with the likes of Amazon and eBay, have chosen to narrow their focus to a select group of customers. A target audience. A niche. They focus on getting one thing right: selling mens pants that fit. You might become the area expert in office, industrial, or medical spaces. Specialize in bankruptcies or short-term rentals. Conquer the neighborhood as the go-to agent for Air bnbs. Customer experience. Bonobos also decided to excel at customer service; so did Warby Parker, the online discount eyewear retailer who have harnessed the power of story to connect with their customers and engage them in the buying experience. How might you engage in service to your clients in a way that ensures you are the only agent they think of when it is time to buy or sell a property – or tell their friends? Create a community outreach campaign. TOMS has developed a rapport with their customers by making them feel good about buying shoes. Their strategy involves not only engaging their audience, but providing a positive social mission in which customers can participate. For every transaction, TOMS’ “One for One” campaign donates a good or service to underserved communities around the world. How might you develop a loyal customer base through community involvement and service? Quality. Too many businesses are interested in little else than driving up sales and profits with little concern for their customers or their interests. And consumers are taking notice. ModCloth is a women’s vintage-style fashion retailer decided from its inception that their e-commerce store would be a social experience. Customers are involved at every step of the process: they actively engage through social media, ask past customers to model their products, and involve the community in product design voting campaigns. But underneath every effort is a focus on quality. Anything from photos, blog posts, and listings make shopping with them a fun and engaging experience. Accessibility and authenticity. Providing a quality product is not always enough. You still have to find a way to convince customers that your service is worth its price. One way that apparel retailer Everlane did that is by creating products with radical transparency. They essentially reveal the entire manufacturing process behind their products and illuminate the true costs along the way. That way, consumers understand the quality and the costs attached to it. More and more, buyers and sellers are looking for agents who are accessible and authentic, who prioritize relationships over quick sales and look to the long haul rather than the one-and-done deal. Now that COVID-19 has made its mark on the way business is done, many companies are looking to the future and sorting through how to proceed. Some of the changes we have seen will revert back to the way things were done in the past. In-person showings will once again ramp up, and open houses will likely go live, at least to some degree. But just as some businesses that have sent their employees to work from home during the pandemic will keep them there once restrictions have been lifted, and other businesses that have closed will remain forever closed, some COVID-related real estate practices may go on for a long time. They have been a necessity for now. They will prove to be a benefit for years to come.
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