How You Can Use Photos to Tell Your Property's Story (And Make a Record Sale)

If you want buyers to remember your name, then don't just tell them. Show them. And when you do, you're leveraging how people react to your message. Make it a positive one.

Essentially, buyers are visual, and communicating through illustrations is certainly something we have been doing naturally for a millennia. Still, words are what we're often turning to, to communicate the message, and that's certainly missing a major opportunity.

Studies show that humans aren't only faster at processing information when it is visually presented to them. We're also better at remembering it long-term when it is visualized. But what is it worth for professionals in the real estate industry? When has curb appeal been so crucial to selling properties? 

How do you still care about curb appeal in a world where 89.7% of buyers are researching the web for their purchase?

Today's homebuyer is not driving through their favourite neighbourhood to decide if they are interested in a home. Convenience is the key. They are more likely to scroll through their smartphones to see what's striking on the internet or the latest listing platform like Zillow, AirBnb, Realtor.com or even OpenDoor. The challenge for expert realtors is still to incite curiosity through clever online tactics.

In their online searches, 87% of homebuyers say that photographs are especially useful decision making factors when find their next home. Clearly, appealing photos, videos, and other interactive content is critical to attracting homebuyers.

How Do You Use Photos to Tell Your Property's Story?

Here's what you need to know about how you can use photographs to tell your property's story and make a fast sale.

Know Your Business or Brand Identity

Pros in the real estate field can borrow a trick or two from leading brand marketers who are experts in creating an emotional connection with homebuyers. They already know that establishing a brand is more than just pretty packaging. Picture this:

A successful brand has a personality: This is often a story about who they are and their place in this world... That story certainly creates an emotional connection. Now translate that to property buying—we already know that people don't just buy a house. What happens is they invest in their future and, say, a lifestyle. 

Now think of that lifestyle as the brand, or simply the story of that property. How would it feel or look like, to live there? What kind of emotions ignite when someone's viewing the possibilities of life on that property? The best source for getting the answers to such questions is your seller (the broker). 

Go ahead and ask them what they admire about your home, including the neighbourhood, community spirit, and the climate in that area. Now configure how videos and photographs can capture images that convey those emotions. Always provide visuals and info that bring depth and richness to the info in your listing.

Showcase the Potential of Your Listings

You can view every room as a chapter in your buyer's life and make use of modern technology to establish a storyline. Visual staging tools or software can add or reduce elements to top-quality images of the property to digitally show how your property would look with repainted walls, new lights, different furniture, and greenery, for instance.

Further, a real estate pro can create a fascinating story of the space's potential purposes. If there's a vacant basement—this could also be virtually redecorated to something else, such as a second family room. A spare bedroom could also become a striking home office or even a workout room. Virtual redecorating can as well appeal to buyers' varied tastes and style preferences. 

Various tech tools make it possible for professional realtors to withdraw the one-size-fits-all approach to advertising their listings. Besides, staging provides the flexibility to showcase a variety of styles for various rooms, from minimalist to industrial to contemporary, and traditional. This, however, depends on the buyer's taste.

The idea is to help your clients to truly envision their lives on your property. Also, by appealing to more preferences, you can attract a huge set of prospective buyers—and this can definitely result in a record sale and even a greater sale price.

Take Your Listing's Story to New Heights

When it comes to offering a high-level view of life in that new property, quality videos, including aerial photography can convey a story that ground-level still photographs alone would never have captured. Show off elements of a home that a buyer might otherwise miss: an elegant setting, and community features, such as a tennis court or a pond.

Also, if done well, dronography is also very remarkable for making that sense of story that gives a property the feel of a brand, or personality. For instance, it helps potential clients to picture that white sandy beach and ignites the excitement of family outings on the shore. 

However, there are certification requirements and FAA rules that guide the usage of drones. And although many hobbyists have assumed drone piloting, beware of the traps of taking a DIY approach. It usually takes time, money, and talent to pilot a drone and exploit the camera to get high-quality videos. 

Similarly, piloting the drone alone, you still need an eye for knowing what exactly you should focus on and capture the best shots. Realtors and homeowners who're looking for a productive time investment may be better off hiring a pro who understands how to exploit the drone and capture the views that inspire that emotional connection.

Broadcast or Publish Your Story Elsewhere

Your finished products (photographs and videos) can be used in several ways. One way is to upload them on websites. Another way is to use them on your ads and printed brochures. The most successful realtors know how to leverage their visual content to entertain and inform clients anytime and anywhere. 

An Alberta agent, for instance, explained why he likes posting aerial videos on his site. He explained that aerial videos often attract a steady stream of web visitors. Likewise, some professional agents also use real estate photography to improve a specific Facebook page that's been dedicated to one real estate listing. 

On another hand, some others would publish their content on Pinterest, which is known for sparking decorating ideas and building a community that's so beneficial for referrals. Lastly, just as the old saying goes; a picture is worth a thousand words… Whenever it comes to presenting your property(s), having the right images or impressions might just as well be worth multiple thousands of dollars.