Real estate is a competitive industry to work in. However, that doesn’t mean one should be discouraged from working there. The industry offers many benefits and advantages, especially for those who know how to present their estate. Being a real estate agent often encompasses long hours, lots of client visits and meetings, negotiations, signing contracts, and even taking pictures.
Many people often feel discouraged from entering this industry because they don’t have much experience in photography, design, negotiation, and creating and signing contracts. However, everything can be learned through hard work and dedication. That is why we are here to help you.
How do I get started?
The real estate business, besides just selling and buying houses, also includes a lot of photography. You need to develop your photography skills to showcase the property in the best light and make it visually appealing to your potential buyers. Now, how do you get started?
First, you need to choose the right time when to schedule a photoshoot. Try to do this in the daytime, so you have more natural light and bright colors in your pictures. You can also turn on all the lights in the house or outside it, depending on what you photograph, to get more warmth and coziness in your pictures. This makes the property look more appealing and brings that family warmth to it.
Second, you should examine the property before scheduling the photoshoot. You want to be aware of every little detail of the property so you can broadcast it at its best. Walk around the house, take a few pictures of each room, its backyard, front yard, and facade. Examine these shots and identifying what areas should be highlighted when taking the professional photos. Using drones has become one of the leading strategies in this sector considering the functionality and versatility that it puts on the table, so using that as the edge has proven to be quite beneficial. It isn’t a surprise since a regular camera can’t catch the bird’s-eye view so those shots are a rarity – and rarities are always valuable. On the other hand, there are a few things in the legal department, as well as guidelines to follow if you’re interested in engaging in this type of business, so checking out this drone real estate photography article is highly recommended before making any drastic steps.
It would help if you also tried to find some creative angles that will make the property look interesting and capture the maximum amount of space. Your buyers do not want to see a cluttered kitchen with not much room. Think about the space, airflow, lights, and angles when taking these pictures. Think about getting the vertical lines vertical and not tilted.
Third, there are some basic techniques you should have to make good pictures. It would help if you thought about getting good-quality items such as a full-frame camera, light stands, wide-angle lenses, a tripod, as well as using flashes and polarizing filters to shoot the property. You can get better at this through experience and by simply spending more time researching and analyzing what should be done, when, and how to take pictures.
Set the prices right
Taking pictures, especially high-quality pictures, can be a well-paid job. Once you get some experience in the industry and make some contacts, you can choose the price you wish to set for your services. Real estate agencies are always looking for good quality pictures; they can post online about the property they wish to sell.
When it comes to pricing, you can look at the size of the property and its value. That way, you can guarantee to receive fair payment based on the amount of time needed to shoot the property.
Naturally, when setting the prices, be realistic, be aware of the trends in the market, and your skills and abilities. The demand for real estate also creates demand for real estate photography. For example, you can think about creating and providing some educational materials or courses on real estate photography to showcase your expertise.
What editing software to use?
No matter how good your skills are, you still need to pay attention to real estate photo editing. This is where your images become great and attract buyers to you. Since real estate requires a fast turnaround, you need a good editing workflow and instant delivery method. You could also consider getting a good CRM system that can help you once you get more clients. Since this industry prefers accuracy, you will not need to do any extensive retouching. However, things like inconsistencies in lightning and less color due to a cloudy overcast can be quickly fixed with almost any good editing software.
There are many different editing software out there, but Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop are the most popular ones.
Should I build a portfolio?
As we mentioned before, the real estate industry is very competitive. To attract good clients, you need to create a good portfolio. This is the key step in attracting clients in the first place. Here are some tips for building a good portfolio:
- Take photos of the same building in the daytime and nighttime. This shows you can take photos in both circumstances.
- Take interior and exterior photos.
- Take photos in natural light.
- Show before and after edging photos to show your clients you know how to work with editing tools.
For this, you should have some knowledge in the design area, specifically website design. Since there are so many websites out there, people got used to only spending time on those websites they find interesting, appealing, and informative. If you have some experience in this area, you could create a good-looking website that will attract and keep your visitors engaged on your site. To make that happen, having a plugin like WP Real Estate in your arsenal is essential.
What skills do I need?
Since thousands of real estate agents are trying to buy and sell homes, it is tough to stand out. However, there are some skills you should improve and master if you wish to be successful in this industry.
Probably the most important one is enhancing your photography skills. As we mentioned above, how you present property can have a big impact on whether the buyer will agree to buy it or not. Especially if you wish to specialize in real estate photography, you need to know how to showcase every property in its best light. This includes both one-story family houses with a small backyard to $1 million mansions with 12 rooms and a swimming pool.
Second, your design skills are essential. This concerns your ability to create a visually appealing and engaging website, but also how to showcase your past work and build a good-looking portfolio. It would help if you spent some time reading about different design software and learn how to showcase the property in the best light.
Next, spend enough time gaining some knowledge about the market, especially about the local communities and neighborhoods. Your clients will definitely have some questions to ask you, and it will look very unprofessional if you have no clue about it. They will also quickly notice you don’t really know what you are talking about if you start mumbling about something not related. You also need to be aware of different rules and regulations in the region. You do not want to mislead your clients (either by accident or on purpose), so make sure you know what you are talking about.
The last skill we will mention is good, old communication. Good communication skills are a must. You are basically negotiating with your clients all the time. You need to know how to build rapport with them, and you need to know how to discuss money matters, create a contract, and know how to articulate and communicate your clients’ interests. Without good communication skills, you will no be a good real estate agent or photographer as you will not know how to address your clients’ needs properly.
Conclusion
Real estate photography can be quite a challenging industry. You will need to master many skills, not just in photography and editing, but also in negotiation, communications, and time management. However, once you start, you will see this can be a very rewarding industry, as well.
As you can see, if you improve and hone your photography skills, you can end up having a lucrative business in real estate. Likewise, design skills, whether when it comes to creating websites or portfolios or just editing the images you took, are necessary to gain clients and sell the properties. This is a competitive but rewarding industry, and if you play your card well and work on developing certain skills, you can do well.
Published on January 7, 2021 under business, photo editing, real estate. Modified on January 24, 2022.
