Speaking of Real Estate …

One of a series of articles on real estate topics. All of the authors of “Speaking of Real Estate …” articles are full-time REALTORS® who work at Tradewinds Realty Inc. at one of our locations in Nova Scotia.
Photographing home exteriors

By Paul Crocker and Lynn Stewart

“A good picture is worth a thousand words.” This old saying is as true today as it ever was. It is particularly true in the marketing of a residential property to potential buyers.

The problem

Good interior photos of a home can be taken at any time of the year. This is not the case with exterior photos. The reason – many residential properties are listed for sale in the early spring. The MLS® listings (seen by thousands of potential buyers in Canada and around the world on www.mls.ca) and in print advertising typically show photos of the exterior of properties taken long before the leaves appear on trees and gardens begin to resemble gardens. If there is snow on the ground when the listing photos are taken, it’s often difficult to tell whether the driveway is paved and with what, or the location of the patio, let alone its size (since patio furniture is usually in winter storage). Garden beds that beautify the property in the summer are invisible. Often, the exterior colours of the house are distorted by the harsh glare of sunlight reflected off snow so that a light blue home may appear to be a white one.

The end result is often a stark, colourless and uninviting house exterior in photos intended to help market the property to potential buyers. Since most buyers shop MLS® listings on the Internet or by looking at house feature sheets or MLS® catalogues in a real estate company office, the first time they see a photo of your home they see it looking its worst. Often, the exterior photo is so unflattering that buyers reject your property with little more than a fleeting glance at the home that might actually best match the specifications they have established for their next residence.

The solution

Whether or not you anticipate making a decision to list your property for sale in the foreseeable future, you should start preparing now for that possibility. Start taking photos of its exterior this summer. Put the prints and negatives in a file marked “House Photos”. Then, if a decision is ever made to list the house for sale, you will have good exterior photos on hand to give to your Realtor® – even in the middle of February. The photos will show your house looking its very best and will help get the marketing campaign designed for your home off to a successful start.

Five tips for photographing home exteriors

1. Take numerous photos of the house exterior from different angles (front and rear shots are particularly important).

2. Take photos at different times of the day to experiment with different lighting angles and conditions – some of which will be more flattering to your home than others. Take some shots mid-morning and others mid-afternoon for sharp contrasts between house and plantings and their shadows that add depth or three-dimensional effects. Also take some shots on overcast days to see the effect of reduced shadowing on the impact and “curb appeal” of your home.

3. Get close-up shots of the patio and/or deck with furniture and plantings looking their best. Also, get shots of the driveway (without vehicles), front walks, the entrances (front and rear), scenic views from the property/patio or the “streetscape” showing your property and three or four neighbouring properties to convey a sense of the neighbourhood. However, only keep such “streetscape” shots if they prove to be flattering. Remember, the photos should help sell the property, not hinder the process.

4. Be sure that the photos you take for eventual advertising purposes do not include family, toys, pets, neighbours or visitors. Homebuyers want to visualize themselves living in and enjoying the property. Anything that brands the home as belonging to someone else may interfere with this visualization. When in doubt, ask yourself whether a stranger looking at your house photos will be encouraged by them to come to your home for a formal showing. If not, take some new shots.

5. Also, update the photos in your file every few years so that they depict the current state of growth of trees and shrubs and include any new landscaping features since the last set were taken. You don’t want to be accused by a buyer of engaging in misleading advertising.

About the authors

Paul Crocker and Lynn Stewart are a husband and wife team of REALTORS who work at our Chester, NS office. They can be contacted at (902) 275-7959 (Paul Crocker) or (902) 275-7765 (Lynn Stewart) or by e-mail at lynn.stewart@tradewindsrealty.com or paul.crocker@tradewindsrealty.com