Photos are truly the first impression someone will get of your home. The quality, number of photos, the amount of photos, whether you should use video or Drone Video all depends on the home.
There are homes that are being sold that need repairs, full renovations, or being sold for land. The quality of those photos do not matter. The idea for these types of homes are to show the potential buyer the best features of the home, and compliment them with the description.
However if you are looking to get top dollar for your home then photos and video will help generate interest in the home. And yes sometimes photos alone can sell someone on the home.
Just a general note, I recommend that you hire a professional to take the photos and video. There are enough freelance photographers that it is affordable and worth it to hire someone.
Before taking photos be sure to declutter and clean the home. This includes putting everything away in the kitchen and bathrooms so that nothing is on the counter tops, or in the shower or tube. Be sure to make the rooms look as large as possible so that means having as little furniture as possible. Makes sure the hardwood or file floors are shining and make sure the rugs are all freshly vacuumed.
Lighting is the most important thing, brighter is always better. So be mindful of the time of day when taking photos.
It is important to take photos at different heights. From very high up, chest level, waist level, and just above your knees. Rooms can look different from different angles.
Be sure to take photos of the best features of the home. If there are amenities in your development or community take photos of them as well.
Video is a great way to show a home to potential buyers. So when taking a video avoid doing an entire tour in one take. Although these types of walk throughs are good for short videos to promote your home, it is important to show the buyer how the home looks from walking in the home to all the angles around the room. Take separate videos of each area and use a free or cheap video editing software to put the complete video together.
Drone footage is good when there is something in the surrounding area of the home. For example if you live 2 blocks from a lake you want to highlight, it can be very helpful to have drone footage of the distance between your home and the lake. It also nice when the drone footage goes around your home to highlight the lot and what is one it, adjacent to, in front and behind it.
I am often asked if a smart phone is an acceptable device to take photos. They are. And you can easily edit the photos.
There is no magic formula to the number of photos needed. But generally around 15 to 20 are good. For larger homes more and for smaller homes less.
When posting your listing be sure to put the photos in order of what the potential buyer will see when they first walk up to the home, any thing special you want to highlight about the home, then the photos should be arranged in a way that mimics a walk though of the home. This way it is easy for the buyer to follow the layout of the home.
