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Who are we?
Edmonton photographer, Jeff Noren, specializes in business photography. This includes real estate (interior and exterior) and location photography (restaurants and hotels). Jeff works with clients in Edmonton and surrounding area to create stunning high-quality professional photographs. Jeff is known for his prompt, polite and professional service.
Posts Tagged ‘Business Photography’
To Stage or Not to Stage?
February 19th, 2010
Realtors are very cautious with their marketing dollar, and while I can understand why – there are some simple, relatively inexpensive things they can do to help their client sell their home, especially in a buyers market. Business photography as well as staging are critical to your success in this market.
I’m not discounting the fact that the real estate market has changed significantly over the past couple years. Not only are clients looking at homes online long before they ever contact a Realtor, but houses are staying on the market for a long time with location photography you can sell your listing quicker and easier. Staging a home is as important to you as it is to your photographer.
It is difficult to put out the marketing dollar when you won’t see the return until the house sells. However, it behoves the Realtor in this market to talk to their clients – many are willing to pay for advertising if it means their home will sell quicker – this is where staging comes in – it will show the home to its full potential.
Generally you find that there are 20% of realtors making 80% of the sales – these Realtors get it. They want the most for their clients so they hire home stagers and get professional realty photographs done. Why, because they leave the professionals to do what they are good at, while they go sell more homes. Combining home staging with interior photography is a winning match.
For those Realtors that are still not sure if professional help is worthwhile, a marketing guru I know recently stated the obvious but often forgotten:
- A home is a product – PERIOD.
- Ensure the package is ATTRACTIVE.
- Make certain you are using the CORRECT MEDIA to promote your product.
- Market to the RIGHT TARGET audience.
If you have any questions on this article, feel free to contact me.
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Why Hire a Property Photographer?
February 3rd, 2010
One question I often get from new clients is “why should I hire you, I have a digital camera, I can take the listing pictures myself.”
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| Photograph by a Professional Photographer | Photograph taken by a Realtor |
There is no doubt in my mind that this is true ~true in the same way that I can sell my own home. The question is, how successful will either of us be? I’ll admit that I know some home owners who have sold their own home, and some realtors who take amazing photographs – in both cases they are exceptions to the rule.
We all build expertise and gain experience in our occupations. When I need a website built, I will go to an expert the same way I go to the dentist, and accountant. I expect these people to have the most up-to-date knowledge, technology and experience
Property photography is more than owning a good camera. Do you know how to ensure the lighting is inviting, capture the entire room versus bits of it? Can you edit the photography so the garbage can is removed from the driveway? Are your photographs optimized for print, web, and MLS? If you’ve answered no to any of these questions, then you should hire a real estate photographer. They can ensure that your property puts its best face forward.
There have been many recent articles on buyer trends – did you know that 80% of new home buyers look on the Internet before they ever contact a realtor? This means two things, one if you have poor photographs they will not look twice at your property and secondly it damages your reputation.
Buyers are becoming more and more technically savvy and judging you and your property in 8 seconds or less. How many potential buyers are you losing? A recent study quoted potentially hundreds of buyers will turn a property down based on visual presentation online.
That brings me to an interesting point. I’m often hired to take photographs of spectacular properties – I’m talking $750,000 to over 3 million. These properties are relatively easy to shot as they are generally incredibly well kept – they have great lighting, views, the landscaping is immaculate, etc.
When it comes to homes under $350,000 Realtors will spend less on marketing and the first thing to go are the professional pictures. I’ve been told that the marketing dollars are wasted. I beg to differ – generally there are more homes under $350,000 than the high end homes.
So I will ask – “what should one do when there is a lot of competition within a market?” Posed that way, Realtors will tell you that they need a competitive edge. That would be my point – it is even more important to spend a few dollars on properties that have a lot of competition and have that home shine.
Professional photographs are just one of the many tools in the Realtors marketing tool box. Watch for my next article on where virtual tours are going…..
Thanks for taking interest in this article. If you have any questions, contact me.
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