Why professional photography?  fewer DOM, and higher sell price!

The NAR reports that 13% of all real estate marketing is spent online - yes, out of every dollar spent just 13 cents goes to online marketing.  But 90%+ of buyers search online to find their home. 

This is exciting, that means most agents are shoving 87% of their money at just 10% of the buyers.  When you read that you either thought "that's interesting", or you thought "oh my goodness, what a huge opportunity".

If you thought "what a huge opportunity" read on, this is for you:  What about the other 90% of the buyers?

90% of home shoppers are not being met where they are - will you meet them where they are?  They want a compelling online presentation.  They want to be wowed - they want to be entertained.  They don't want to have to work to find you, and they don't want to look at cellphone photos of a home.

If the home you are selling has a complling presentation, which begins with high quality professional images, it will sell faster and for a higher price.  The other day I found this study from the Los Angeles County MSL:

Price range: under $500,000
Number of photos: 1 - 10
Average DOM: 81
Average Sales Price: $379,472
Number of photos: 11 - 20
Average DOM: 65
Average Sales Price: $390,562

Price range: $500,000 - $700,000
Number of photos: 1 - 10
Average DOM: 88
Average Sales Price: $580,217
Number of photos: 11 - 20
Average DOM: 59
Average Sales Price: $589,519

Price range: over $700,000
Number of photos: 1 - 10
Average DOM: 94
Average Sales Price: $909,039
Number of photos: 11 - 20
Average DOM: 62
Average Sales Price: $933,539

The images directly impacted DOM (20-30 less, thats another mortgage payment!) and sale price ($10k - $30k more, far less than the cost of professional photography and virtual tour production).

Granted, this is not Los Angeles County, but these same trends are everywhere!  

They didn't even consider the quality of the images, but you know and I know, the higher the quality of the images the more these trends will be true.   

Here is another study on the impact that visual marketing has on sale price and DOM. This study is done by VHT, specialists in property marketing.     They found that property marketed with professional photography was perceived as being worth 12.9% more!   Homes marketed with professional photography were viewed as being 3x more likely to sell within the standard listing period.   They also found that properties marketed with professional photography were 7x more likely to be visited by the respondents.