Recently I was helping a Salem Oregon home buyer look at listings — where else to start but online? The first place most home buyers look for a home is on the internet — about 94%of home buyers to be specific. (Wow — that’s nearly everyone!)
Evidently this news hasn’t been taken to heart by many real estate agents. We were discouraged when we started looking at listing photos.
Each of these photos were the listing photo for the living rooms, without any editing done for this post. There were a total of 77 listings that fell within our price range and these photos are from the first four listings that came up in our search.
Can you imagine a home buyer’s reaction to viewing these photos online? Do any of these photos make them say “WOW — I’ve got to see more of this house”!? With 73 more homes to choose from, they probably will be checking out the competition first!
These listings had descriptions reading:
- – Light and spacious!
- – This home has it all!
- – Beautiful home!
But a picture speaks more than a thousand words when it comes to marketing real estate!
Recently we staged a home in this price range that was on the market for 325 days in Salem. The original listing photos did not show off the home well. Once staged and listed (at the same price) with new photographs, it quickly received multiple offers. This agent taken photo when compared to the competition definitely stands out in a positive way!
The house didn’t change – only the image it presented. 
Living room staged by Creative Concepts
Rocket science – no. Good marketing – yes.
If your real estate agent does not provide professional real estate photography, it is worth the small investment to set a home apart from the competition on the internet. We’ve worked with many good photographers and highly recommend the services of HD Open House Photography. They have the skills to photograph an “okay” home and make it look good and a can make a well-staged home look fabulous. Take a peek at their gallery here — this is how I think every home should be presented when marketed for sale.
Here are a few of the photos they’ve taken for us where we utilized much of the owner’s property as well as some of our rental items, so these examples should be good comparisons to our first four pictures.
What do you think? Do I need to say more — or do these pictures say a lot more than any listing description ever could?
When marketing your Oregon home for sale, make sure it is properly prepared for the best possible sale. Once it’s picture perfect – make sure the pictures make it look like the dream home buyers are looking for!
Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas who specializes in helping home sellers stage to sell and homeowners to transform their homes from ordinary to extraordinary. Services range from staging and paint color consultations, providing rental furniture and decor for vacant homes, re-designing occupied homes to managing remodeling projects.
Professional Home Staging – Reliable Contractor Repairs – Beautiful Results!
