In today’s digital age, online research has become an integral part of the home buying process. As a result, visuals, such as photos and videos, have become a crucial aspect of real estate listings.

Not only do they provide potential buyers with a better understanding of the property, but they also leave a lasting impression on their minds.

In fact, the visuals you use can be the deciding factor for a buyer in reaching out to your listing. With the right real estate photography and videos, you can make your listings stand out and attract more potential buyers.

In this article, we will share essential tips for using photos and videos to create winning virtual tours make your real estate listings stand out, and grow your real estate business.

The Power of Great Real Estate Photos

According to NAR, the better the property photos, the higher the sale price. Thus, real estate photography is a critical factor in real estate transactions. 

Whether you are listing properties on your website or social media, come up with great shots that will captivate the buyers and make them want the property. 

Here are important real estate photography tips for realtors. 

• Use a Professional real estate photographer.

Professional real estate images display your properties in the best possible light. A professional real estate photographer understands how to capture and edit photos that give prospective buyers a sense of high value and quality.  

When hiring a real estate photographer, consider their experience and references. Paying more to a professional real estate photographer who can view your property objectively is worth it.

• High-Resolution Images Edited for Brightness / Color

Avoid the washed-out look with too much sunlight or the camera flash. Ensure the room is well-lit and take images from different angles. 

If you prefer the DIY approach, hire a real estate photo editor. A professional photo editor will correct mistakes, adjust curves and remove unwanted elements, making your photos extraordinary. 

• Choose the Best Time of the Day

To capture the best photographs of your property, it’s important to schedule a photo session during the time when the light is soft yet sufficiently bright to highlight the property’s features.

The early morning and late afternoon are usually the best times to capture soft light that can prevent your photos from appearing oversaturated and bring out the natural beauty of your property.

By keeping these things in mind, you can ensure that your property photographs look stunning and capture the attention of potential buyers or renters.

• Take Plenty of Images

The more photos you take, the more you have to choose from. Be sure to take multiple images of each room from different angles for maximum exposure. Open the blinds to let in as much natural light when photographing the interiors.

Real estate photography can make or break a sale quickly. Using a professional real estate photographer gives you an added advantage. 

A professional photographer understands where to focus when taking images and how to retouch the photos to capture the buyer’s attention. 

Utilizing Video Walkthroughs for Listings 

Professional real estate photography draws viewers to your listings. However, a walk-through video is one tool that can keep them on the page and convert them into interested parties. 

A walk-through video is a short clip covering an entire property layout, highlighting important features like rooms, size, style, condition, etc. 

Creating a property walkthrough video will bring your property to life. You can use the videos to attract potential customers or to convince your potential leads that the property is ready for occupation. 

The benefits of using real estate walkthrough videos include the following:

• The video sets you apart from the competition: potential property buyers are likelier to pursue the home if they view the walkthrough video. Including virtual real estate tours increases your value to potential buyers. 
• Appeal to a broader market: Property buyers want detailed property descriptions. Including high-quality images and virtual tours for real estate is the best approach to reaching a wider audience and generating more leads. 
• Entice buyers visually: High-quality imagery entices buyers by making them want to see more. Including a video of each room and the outdoor areas is the best way to make potential buyers feel like they have visited the property. 
• Highlight fine features of a property using video: Video provides an excellent opportunity for real estate agents to elaborate on the key attributes. Using virtual tours for real estate, the agent can give the property buyers a reason to view the property. 
• Establish trust and authority: posting videos of real estate listings takes your business to the next level. Potential property buyers will trust your listing because there is enough content to help them decide. 
• Encourage sharing: Videos and high-quality images are easy to share. With a touch of a button, viewers can share the video content, which increases your lead generation capabilities. 

Therefore, by including a virtual tour of each property, you can generate more traffic and leads to your property. Done correctly, video walkthroughs create more search engine traffic, build trust and authority, and increase real estate lead generation efforts. 

Advanced Tactics To Stand Out With Real Estate Images and Videos

Now that we understand the benefits of incorporating photography and videography in real estate listings let us look at advanced tactics to improve your game. 

• Use drone photography/video for unique aerial property views.

Modern technology is changing how we approach real estate marketing. Today, you can use real estate drone photography services to shoot aerial images and enhance virtual tour clips. 

Virtual tours and real estate images via a drone shot are more pleasing to the eye, and your target audience will want to see more. 

The potential benefits of drone photography in real estate marketing include: 

• Creates creative and dynamic visual content
• Drone content sparks curiosity and interest and draws in more customers
• Highlights more property features by encompassing wider angles of images and different shooting modes
• Abundant opportunities in creative drone photography help realtors outsmart the competition

Thus, use drone photography to capture photos and videos you will include on your real estate listing. 

• 3D property scans for interactive visuals.

3D property scanning allows real estate agents to capture details they couldn’t use conventional photography.  

The approach involves using 3D camera technology to capture space. Then, an expert uses special software to stitch the 3D scans together, creating a digital version of the real-life property. 

The top benefits of using 3D scans in real estate marketing include the following:

• Provides engaging, life-like visuals that allow buyers to virtually “tour” homes online
• Captures all details/dimensions for accurate representations of layout and space
• Can reveal flaws or needed repairs not visible in photos
• Creates interactive floorplans that buyers can digitally explore room-by-room
• Allows buyers worldwide to visualize and experience listed properties remotely fully
• It is less intrusive for sellers than constant in-person showings

3D scans increase the time spent viewing your listings page and the chances of sharing the images. Thus, using 3D scans can be a great way of making your property listings stand out.  

• Live streaming open houses or tours.

If you are using social media platforms, you can livestream your open house and reach a broad audience. So, why livestream the open house event? Here are some potential benefits of live streaming the open house event:

• Live streaming expands the reach and exposure of an open house beyond just those who can physically attend.
• It provides convenience and flexibility for remote buyers to view the open house at their schedule.
• The real-time nature of live streaming creates a sense of urgency and excitement around the listing.
• Live streaming allows real-time feedback through chat and comments from viewers.
• It can reach new demographics and audiences who may not typically attend open houses.
• The recorded live stream can be repurposed into other marketing materials.
• Using live streaming shows, agents are leveraging tech-forward tools.
• Live streaming provides metrics and data to gauge buyer interest in the home.

A live stream could attract double the number of physical visitors. This is because a live stream opens up the opportunity to homebuyers at different purchasing stages.

• Use Augmented reality mobile apps To Provide consumers with better clarity over the property.

Augmented reality mobile apps allow potential buyers to digitally view and interact with a property through their smartphone camera. 

The app uses AR technology to superimpose a 3D model of the home on top of the real physical environment seen through the camera.

This allows buyers to virtually “walk through” the rooms and space to get an immersive sense of the layout, dimensions, features, etc. 

Through AR, buyers can view the property at scale in their environment, visualizing how furniture and lifestyle would fit in the space.

For agents, AR apps provide a cutting-edge way for remote buyers to digitally experience a home without visiting in person. 

The interactive and game-like nature of AR can make exploring listings more engaging, especially for tech-savvy buyers.

AR apps can pull data from MLS listings, 3D scans, floorplans, and photos to generate highly realistic virtual models. 

As AR technology improves, it has the potential to become an expected part of the real estate process, just like online listing photos. AR allows buyers to experience a property more fully before visiting.

Conclusion

With buyers beginning their search journey online, stellar photos and videos have become the norm for grabbing buyers’ attention online. 

Using professional real estate photography, agents can provide buyers with immersive digital experiences that showcase listings in the best possible light. 

Though high-quality visuals require an investment, they can pay off tremendously by boosting buyer engagement and expediting sales. 

For today’s savvy real estate professionals, mastering visual media is necessary. Those who leverage the latest photo, video, and interactive technologies will pull ahead of the competition and convert more lookers into bookers.