Zig Ziglar once wrote, "People don't buy for logical reasons, they buy for emotional reasons." Marketing real estate is an emotional process, more so than many other industries. A survey conducted by the International Association of Home Staging showed that staged homes spend 88% less time on the market and sell for 17% more than non-staged homes. How can this effect be explained? The simple answer lies in the familiar phrase, "Seeing is believing". Buyers associate major decision-making factors with emotions brought upon by sensory perception. The beauty of sight and real estate is a seller or realtor's ability to modify what buyers see and in effect paint a vision of the property. Over the years, the practice of staging homes has become highly-accepted across the real estate industry. Therefore, if seeing is believing then the quality of sight must also be critical to the selling process. A recent analysis conducted by Redfin Corp. revealed that homes with a selling price above $300k are likely to sell better using SLR photography as opposed to point-and-shoot photography. The study concentrated on Boston and Long Island listings because the qualitative characteristics of listings provided sufficient information to perform the analysis. Many other reputable sources including the Wall Street Journal and Real Estate Scientist Tim Ellis also support the validity of the  relationship between real estate sales and quality real estate photography. Some of these relationship indicators include:

• Shorter stays on the housing market
• Increased asking price per square foot
• More than twice the amount of online exposure

The picture to the right is the same property as the one above. The building is tilted; the driveway is the most prominent item in the frame and it does not show the proximity to the most important feature, the golf course. 

Understanding the Psychology Behind Pricing Real Estate

One of the fundamental principles of pricing strategy across all industry verticals including real estate is the idea of value perception. Unlike unique proposition which requires a variant characteristic of the product or service and can be easily defined or implemented, perceived value is less quantitative. It requires buyers to form opinions or beliefs about an individual product as a home. These beliefs then determine value or worth of the home. High-end real estate photography supports the perception that a product is more valuable then less valuable because

• It communicates the value of home - Quality real estate photography puts the home in proper context in terms of expectations
• Caliber of the presentation - When compared to other average images, higher quality property photography is perceived as better
• It's comparable to product packaging - The better the packaging, the more valuable the product appears to be (Apple and Tiffany product's are examples)
• Characteristic association - If the photos are high quality the home must also be a high-quality home

Using high-quality real estate photography to list and market properties is an excellent method for managing customer value. Instead of decreasing the price of a property because it has a higher price similar homes in the neighborhood or has been on the market much longer then expected consider investing in high-end real estate photography and cultivate the buying experience your home buyers are so desperately seeking. 

Final Thoughts on Real Estate Photography

The beauty of selling a home or anything for that matter is that we have the ability to give people exactly what they are looking for, to satisfy the emotion to buy. As sellers we can either be shortchanged or highly compensated but to do so we must have the vision or foresight to share with our buyers. In the end the simple truth is, if you want to sell your home take better pictures.

About Michael Conway

I'm the owner and strategist at Means-of-Production. My firm builds Squarespace websites, Houzz profiles, and content marketing and advertising solutions for architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms. Our all-in-one marketing tactics attract the right clients with exceptional architectural photography and brand messaging that sets you apart from the competition.