A lot of agents have asked me this question and I always have an easy answer. A Twilight shot will get you the MOST clicks when listings a home in any market. Either a 200k home or a 2million dollar home. It’s all going to benefit the listing and gets views to YOUR listing.

Why don’t agents do Twilight shots? Well mostly due to cost since it’s a separate visit for the photographer, unless they schedule a later shot in the day close to sunset. But through my experience some agents Love them and some don’t care about them. It’s kind of like using a Professional Photographer at all for your listings. It’s all about marketing yourself and your business and a lot of agents don’t understand this. I won’t go on a rant about that in this post though.

A Twilight shot will get more views, more eyes on your image, WOW the seller, WOW the buyers and get buyers to see Your Listing FIRST in a row of standard photos!

Think about a twilight shot like using video for your listings. In this internet age of marketing anything and homes especially you have to stand out from the thousands of other agents fighting for every listing. Yeah some agents have experience, some great marketing (minus photography, video, twilight lol..I know there is more to market a home other then these.), selling themselves, great agents in a team and more that help in getting business. If you look at it from a buyer or seller’s view then there are many things they all look for. Most of the time it’s “What makes you stand out and how can you sell my home different then the other guy/girl?”. So I ask you..

What are the Top 5 Things you can do RIGHT NOW to make yourself stand out over your competition and get sellers and buyers to see this online and call YOU for your business?

We have all heard about it over the last few years. Video blogging, Video testimonials, Video Video Video… Well it’s 2012 and Video Marketing is a MUST have in your marketing plan in Real Estate or ANY Business for that matter. Let’s talk about using it in Real Estate from an Realtor’s perspective.

You might be asking “How do I use Video in my marketing?” “Where do I begin?” “What is the best and easiest way to do it?”.  There are many ways to utilize video in your arsenal to get new clients and WOW your current clients.

So where do you begin and what’s the easiest way to start.  First you want to know WHY video is so important, this is so you feel comfortable letting your seller’s know why your doing it and how it benefits them when listing with you instead of anyone else.  YouTube gets over 4 billion views per day. ( yes that billion with a B! ) With buyers finding their new home online over 93% of the time, you as an agent need to make your listing stand out any way you can. Also you as the agent want to get buyers or new sellers to see this and get more business off your listings.  Using professional photography and professional video tours gives you the competitive edge over 95% of the other agents in the area of NH, Maine, Mass. The 95% is actually LOW in how many agents use a pro! I know this since I am one of the main photographers in this area and with thousands of Realtor’s around..a small hand full use a pro.

Ok, So how do I get more business with Video?  You want to make sure to include our services in your listing presentation. Show them examples of our work, tours, video etc.. Don’t just tell them – Show Them!  When a seller is looking to list their home, they look online to see who is selling in their area, they take notice to signs at other homes, they get referrals from a friend or family member. They also will most of the time interview a few different agents to see which one offer’s what. This is where you can really SHOW how different you are then everyone else!  Tell them you Hire a PRO just like they are hiring YOU ( the PRO ). You can ask for a high percentage in commission and they will pay it when they see your spending money on the important things in marketing the home. Your also going to most be the only agent they interview that offers Pro Photos and HD Video Tours!! In return now your the BEST in their eyes and they will talk about your like never before!

How do Buyer see a benefit?  Think from a buyers perspective. You look online at a bunch of homes probably ever day online. You are looking at a couple websites to see what comes up on the market as new listings. Some drive by a home and then go home to search for it. Almost all of the MLS websites will give the buyer an option to view a virtual tour. The MLS takes your photos and butcher them down in quality to be almost not view-able.  So the buyer will click on the tour link to view more info. This is where you can WOW the buyers and give them a “first showing” of the home. We provide a non branded tour with high resolution (full screen capable) photos and an HD Video Tour!  You get to show this buyer more about YOUR listing then any other homes they are looking at. They might not see your info on this tour since the MLS doesn’t allow branding..but they get a first showing and if they like it..they have a good idea of what the house really looks like. This will get you more showings and less time wasters.

So get out there and Let EVERY Seller know what you do better then everyone else! Stand Out from the crowd!

When spring comes around in New England buyers and sellers are itching to get out there and buy and sell. The market gets flooded with new homes and some homes that were removed from the market in the beginning of winter.    We all see the for sale signs pop up and the open house signs every saturday and sunday!

So Realtors… Are you ready for the Spring? What’s your goals for the year and how are you going to bring your business to a higher level this year? Maybe Photography or Video.. Or Both should be in your marketing this year.

• If  there are special features to your home that might not obvious please let me know so I can include them.

• Contain pets in the garage or out of sight.

• Remove all vehicles from driveways and do not park directly in front of the house.

• Move garbage cans out of sight so they cannot be seen from the street.

• Remove all garden tools including hoses and sprinklers.

• Mow and rake the yard.

• Sweep driveways, sidewalks and patios.

• Clear off counter tops in kitchen and bathroom areas.

• Remove photos, notes and papers from the refrigerator.

• Turn on all interior lights.  I’ll turn them off as I finish my work.

• Turn off ceiling fans and televisions.

• De-clutter rooms which may be excessively furnished.  They do not photograph well.

• Make all beds and tidy bedrooms.  Hang clothes or put them away.

• Remove piles of newspaper and magazines.

• Tuck trash cans out of view in a closet or cupboard.

• Let me know if your home contains valuable works of art that you’d prefer not to advertise.   I can edit the photos to make these items unrecognizable.

Don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions.    Good preparation before your shoot will be rewarded with the best possible photographs.

1. Price  and location are the most important factors in selling a home. If  the home is priced too high or in a location no one wants to live in, awesome photos make little difference. Price is a key issue in todays down market. Home sellers having a hard time wrapping there mind around how much their home has dropped in value the last couple of years. Getting home sellers to price their home at market value is a big struggle for some agents.
2. Once a home is priced near market value and there are a bunch of other homes in the same price range and location, the importance of photography kicks in big time.
3. Now days 90% or more of home buyers use the Internet start their home search and they are faced with deciding which of all the hundreds of available homes they are going to go look at. Home searchers are faced with choosing which homes to physically go see and photographs play a major part. Any one can appreciate this by simply going to any real estate website and pretend they are looking for a home. As of right now if I go to zillow.com (zillow is not unlike most home search sites) and do a home search there are 163 homes within a couple of miles of where I live between $200k and $300k and I live in a small town (just below 350,000).
4. As I browse through these 163 homes the  initial selection must be by a handful of facts like year built, number of bedrooms and a small thumbnail photo of the front of the home. The importance of this thumbnail are unmistakable! A compelling thumbnail is like the bright flashy piece of metal on a fishing lure. It attracts home searchers attention to look at the listing details.
5. Once you click on the thumbnail to get more detail the importance of the photos increases. The text descriptions in listing details are legendary for their sparseness. One agent or home owner in a thousand will take the time to write good compelling marketing copy so photos pretty much take over the home searcher’s attention, even if the photos are awful. It is easy to see that good photos give the home seller a distinct advantage in the selection criteria. Even though Zillow allows an unlimited number of photos very few homes have over 20. I believe 15 to 20 photos gives a listing a clear advantage over one with less.
6. Why are “good” photos more effective than “bad” ones? Because at this time in history even a 65 year old person has grown up with TV and magazine advertising that uses strong compelling images. Even though most people can’t tell you what makes a strong image, they know one when they see it. Strong images work at an intuitive, emotional level. You don’t need to understand how the image works to see and feel it’s strength. Strong compelling image can be created for exteriors and interiors of homes just like other subjects!
7. The end result of this online search process is getting on the home searcher’s short list of homes they want to see in person. A home will never sell if no one physically comes to see it and it’s easy to see from the steps above that photos play a key role in getting home searchers to come look at a home and thus selling it.

So to summarize, when homes are priced near market value, photos become a key factor that causes home searchers to come look at a home. A home can’t sell if no one physically looks at it. Even though it’s not easy to prove scientifically because market conditions vary even with in the same zip code, it’s easy to see by stepping through the home searching process illustrated above that strong marketing photos will have a significant effect on selling a home faster. Every home seller client we’ve met had understands the power of marketing photos immediately.

(credit from http://photographyforrealestate.net/2010/08/08/why-good-photography-sells-homes-faster/)

With a large supply of homes currently for sale, a buyer will spend countless hours going through hundreds of online listings searching for homes that catch their attention. This ease of access to information is both a blessing and a curse to the real estate professional. While no one would make the argument that the internet has hampered real estate marketing, it has become increasingly difficult for agents to get their properties noticed.

When a user is browsing listings online, what is the marketing ingredient that will draw them to your listing above all others? Pictures! Buyers love pictures, the more the better. However, while a great picture will set your listing apart from the others, a bad picture will turn away potential buyers.

Sellers are also becoming increasingly demanding as to how their properties are marketed. When listing agents are competing for a home, why not offer the seller more than the standard pictures taken by most agents? Taking the time to hire a professional photographer will make you stand out from the competition. I guarantee that your seller will appreciate your efforts to do more to sell their home.

While most people think that taking pictures of real estate is very easy, it actually requires more equipment, more skill, and more time than other forms of photography. Today’s point and shoot digital cameras, while good, will just not do the job of real estate photography.

As an agent, why waste your valuable time traveling to take images of your properties only to have those images do the opposite of what you would hope to accomplish? Pictures are the most important ingredient to any successful real estate marketing campaign, so why not ensure that you are getting the best? To really put your best foot forward, hire a professional and get the images you need today. As a Realtor your job isn’t to take pictures, it is to SELL the property and get more listings.

Here are some examples of what most Realtor’s present and what you could be doing!