Photo-ready homes sell faster, real estate pros say

Most everyone has heard it: "A picture is worth a thousand words."

This 100-year-old adage claims that a single still image is more effective than, say, a verbal description. Born in the U.S. press, the phrase is still used today and repeated in many languages. Consequently, it also suggests that one visual is more effective than something described in print – that something complex can be conveyed by a single photograph.

Although the value of illustrations and photos are undeniable, you need the full picture. So, this 600-word article explains why, in the complex world of real estate, a picture is not worth a thousand words. It could, in fact, cost you a thousand dollars.

Or more.

"Your home photos affect everything related to the sale of your property," said Elizabeth Chamberlain, a Realtor® with Truman & Co. in Key West. "Buyers are shopping online initially through photographs. They have to be able to see themselves in the property – see their favorite china collection instead of yours."

Obviously, conveying the photo story of your home takes more than one visual. But even if some smashing pictures are presented online, if just one happens to show something undesirable – unmade beds, messy vanities or the kids' refrigerator art – potentially well-informed buyers may click to another listing, causing one picture to cost you thousands of dollars.

Competition is as tough among real estate agents as it is among the photographers that Realtors usually hire at their own expense. All the good ones know, and advise their customers of, the No. 1 rule in real estate photography: "Toilet seats down," laughed Travis Yednak, a real estate marketing professional of 22 years and a professional photographer since 2010.

Because photographs are only as good as the home-sellers' preparations, top-selling real estate pros offer a prep checklist. Yednak's list includes lights on, fans off. Conceal personal photos. Open all drapes and blinds and get in step with what professionals agree upon, that "decluttering is huge," Yednak said. "There is stuff you can control. Then there is stuff you cannot change."

Even the most carefully composed, best lit photos have trouble getting around clothes strewn across a bed in the primary suite, or towels hung atop the shower curtain. Unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink are clearly "stuff you can control," he said. "Power lines to the house you cannot.

"When I use a drone for exterior shots, maybe an unmovable trash bin can't go away, but I always ask that vehicles are moved off property."

Aerial photos can be as important to your home story as interiors, although not every property can display the surrounding neighborhood. In the Keys, this is an especially important shot for waterfront properties. But Yednak explained that "anything south of mile marker 15 is restricted to less than 50 feet. Anything above that has to be coordinated with the FAA."

About 50% of Yednak's photo shoots are done with drones. With or without them, he lets a property determine the style of photography he uses, be it super-wide angles, midrange, vignetting or all the above.

Both Yednak and Chamberlain agree if a home has been carefully prepared by sellers, photography doesn't have to be compromised. But Chamberlain cautions that when a photo is compromised, "someone unfamiliar with Florida may not get the full picture," she said. "Realtors need a creative eye as much as the photographer hired to do the job."

Now you don't have to be creative to clean windows or hide sponges. But you do need to start with a Realtor and photographer who understand that one picture can cost you a thousand dollars. In the Keys, probably hundreds of thousands.

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