An AXA experiment revealed how a neglectful attitude to property photography can seriously harm the perception of a property in the eyes of the public. Bad estate agent photography was linked to homes loitering on the market, and eventually achieving a much lower sale price – ouch.
Luckily, it only takes a little TLC to avoid that.
The Difference Home Staging Makes
The AXA team ran the experiment with a one bedroom flat with a shared garden.
They showed photos of the property to 500 members of the public before a “mini makeover.” After that, they showed the same property with an hour’s worth of home staging to a separate 500 people.
The makeover was free; the photographer just employed basic property preparation tips like the ones available in our free Property Prep Checklist.
With some simple property preparation, the second set of photos boosted the property’s value by 21% in the viewers’ eyes.
It’s the difference between the property going for £180,000 or £220,000.
5% of those who saw the ‘before’ shots gave the property an ‘excellent’ rating; compared to 47% who saw it after the “mini makeover”.
A properly prepared bathroom
Prepping A Property Like A Pro
Every home has the potential to wow viewers.
Whether you decide to spend an hour, like in the AXA experiment or can only spare 15-30 minutes to carry out some or all of the steps in our free checklist, prepping the property makes a huge difference to your real estate photos and therefore to the amount of interest they generate on the property portals.
An unprepared bedroom v properly prepared one
Take A Hint From The Pros
At Focal Agent, our photographers shoot many thousands of homes every month. Whilst the quickest and easiest way to produce photography that works is to hire a professional, it may be the case that this is currently something you’re doing yourself.
To make sure you’re doing this to the best possible standard, have a look at our Ultimate Property Photography blog for all the latest tips and tricks from the pros to you.