We live in a digital age that has changed much of the way we do business, and real estate is no exception. According to the National Association of Realtors, 97% of buyers use the internet in their home search, and 51% of those actually find the home they end up buying on the internet.
Working with an agent is still essential in home buying because it’s a complicated process that requires expert help. However, before the advent of websites like Zillow and Redfin, real estate agents were virtually the only way to find and view homes; buyers couldn’t find out what was for sale by simply looking it up! And to view a home, buyers needed to either attend an open house, or schedule an appointment with their agent to walk through the home in person.
Buyers still attend open houses and absolutely should go look at homes they’re interested in with their agent, but today’s buyer can see new homes as they come on the market, look at photos of the home, do a 3D virtual walkthrough, view the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and more all from the comfort of their home. This naturally leads to why high quality, professional photos of your listing are so important: if you have beautiful photos of a clean and staged house, buyers will be more attracted to your listing.
Many sellers are hesitant to pay for photos and staging because the real estate process is already expensive. But take a look at the two photos below, and think about which home you’d rather live in:
These are photos of the exact same room, one is obviously not staged, cluttered and the photo was taken with an iPhone camera or similar. As you can see, professional staging, cleaning and bringing in light with professional photography makes a room look larger, brighter, and more livable. According to the National Association of Realtors, Eighty-two percent of buyers' agents said staging helped their clients visualize the property as their home; Buyers want to see homes that look move-in ready, both in how well intact the home is, but also in the potential it has to become their own.
Another thing to note that you may have noticed - most of the furniture is the same in both of these photos! Staging doesn’t always have to mean moving all of your stuff out and replacing it with staging furniture.
In addition to attracting more buyer interest, professional photos and staging have been shown to help sell a home 30 times faster than similar competition, and sell for 20% more on average according to the International Association of Home Staging Professionals. The numbers speak for themselves: if you put your best foot forward with beautiful photos and staging, buyers will see a high quality investment.
