6 Photography Tips for Real Estate Agents

Photographs are essential to a knockout property listing. The Washington Post reports that a home’s photos influence the majority of potential buyers—87 percent of them to be exact. 

So, if you’re a listing agent, you’ll want to polish your photography skills. The more attractive your real estate marketing content, the better shot you have at generating leads and turning them into successful home sales. 

Here are six photography tips any real estate agent should know. 

But first: Should you hire a professional?

Given the importance of listing photos on prospective buyers’ impressions, you want to use the best snaps possible. And who better to take flawless real estate photography than a professional? 

Hiring an expert photographer can be the right move if you have the budget for it. Professional real estate photographers tend to charge a few hundred dollars per home. 

The investment can be worth it for a few reasons. Professional photographers have the right equipment (including special lenses that capture a space’s angles correctly), so in the short term, you save on costs by not having to buy your own gear. Plus, these pros know how to use that equipment and advanced post-production editing software, guaranteeing high quality photos. Finally, having a professional take on this task can save you precious time. 

6 tips for excellent DIY real estate photos

Perhaps you want to save on professional photo fees, or maybe, you’re in a time crunch to upload property pics for a new listing. And you’ve decided to DIY your photos. Take the best possible shots using the following real estate photography tips. 

1. Tidy up

A quality image of a home doesn’t start in the lens of a camera. It starts in the space you’re photographing. The first step to a great photo is readying the space for its close-up. 

Begin by asking the homeowner to deep clean, organize, and depersonalize their space. Guide them on only leaving out the essentials and boxing up other items or putting them behind closed cabinet doors to reduce visible clutter. And have the homeowner remove their personal items, like family photos, artworks, and nostalgic knickknacks from the space. The home will look far less busy in photographs, and the viewer will be able to appreciate the beauty of the space (instead of focusing on clutter). 

2. Stage the space

Staging also helps get a home photo-ready. Buyers like the look of a turnkey property, and a staging company can rent the home seller trendy furniture and decor that’ll revamp the space. What’s more, professional stagers know how to make the most of a room by arranging furniture to maximize space and highlight the home’s best features. 

If you partner with Titus, you can offer your listing clients zero-interest financing for home prep, like staging.

3. Use the right lighting for the time of day

So, you’re ready to take your first shot. Show the property in its best light—literally. For interiors, that light is generally natural, as it illuminates rooms well, helping photos look crisp and welcoming. Just be cognizant of odd shadows or glare if you’re shooting in natural light, especially if it’s a very sunny day. Take photos in the morning or late afternoon, when the sun isn’t at its height to avoid those unwanted scenarios. 

For exteriors, dusk shots can be the right move, especially if the house has nice lighting. Flip those lights on, giving softness and dimension to your shots. Daytime exterior shots also come out great, particularly if you’re taking photos of landscaping details or spaces that don’t have artificial lighting. 

4. Make a to-do list for your photoshoot

Give prospective homebuyers the most ample view of the property possible by including all the key spaces. Make a list of shots to take that includes all of the main rooms (bedrooms, living spaces, the kitchen, and baths) and the home's nuances. Suppose a property has a gorgeous outdoor seating area or high-end marble countertops. Capture these unique perks. 

Make your shot list as detailed as possible, including the times of day you intend to take the shots and at what angle. Be sure to get multiple angles of each space, as these photographs will help a viewer understand the dimensions and layout of the home. 

5. Get the right gear

In this era, cellphone cameras boast exceptional quality. But you might want to use a traditional camera for real estate shots because getting the right angles is easier. You can switch out lenses depending on what you’re shooting. Experts recommend a wide-angle lens (i.e. a 14mm or 16mm lens) when taking photos of entire spaces, as they can capture them in their fully without making them look distorted. And you can get a macro lens, which is great for capturing crisp close-up details.

You’ll also want to use a tripod to stabilize your shots and ensure they're straight. Tripods are especially important in low-light conditions. Contemporary cameras adjust the speed of a photo (known as the shutter speed) to correctly accommodate the lighting conditions, resulting in well-lit shots in most conditions. When you’re shooting in darker conditions, that speed is slow, meaning the camera’s shutter is open for more time. Any minute movement while the shutter is open will blur the photo. Using a tripod, which keeps the camera steady, prevents blur.

6. Focus on composition

Composition is often the make-or-break factor between a stunning photo and one that falls short. Before you snap a picture, take stock of the following. 

• The photo’s horizontal edges: Ensure the edges of the photo fall in natural places, not cutting off important information. For example, its better if the edge of a photo aligns with the end of a wall instead of slicing down the middle of an important detail in the room.

• The verticality of the image: Suppose you’re taking a photo of a kitchen. You don’t want a shot that mostly shows the floor and oddly crops off the top of the cabinets. Try to even out the proportions of the room so that the viewer sees details toward the ceiling, toward the floor, and in between. 

• Potential eyesores: A light cable running across the floor can end up being very distracting in a photo, as can a throw pillow that’s out of place or a glass that’s not correctly lined up on a shelf. Ensure the space is free of eyesores before you set up your shot. 

• The tripod height: Play around with the tripod height before you settle on the right position. You may notice, for example, that lowering the tripod allows for a wider view of a room that highlights interesting details (or crops out unattractive ones, like a dated ceiling lamp). Or, you might find that shooting from too high up distorts a photo, and you’ll need to bring the tripod down a bit. 

• Shot blockers: Ensure that objects or features of the home (like a lampshade or a door frame) aren’t blocking your shot or taking up too substantial of a portion of it. 

Partner with Titus and get properties photo-ready

As a real estate agent, you know that a good-looking property gains more traction with buyers. But it can be tough to convince home sellers on a budget to invest in professional cleaning and staging services or cosmetic renovations. 

But if you partner with Titus, you can offer your clients a zero-interest line of credit for pre-sale upgrades. The home seller pays nothing out-of-pocket or upfront, and you get the pleasure of photographing and listing a home in top shape. Learn how to become a Titus realtor.