Selling a home can be daunting for vendors, but picking the right team to advertise and sell your home can minimise headaches and maximise the number of buyers interested in your property.
Real estate agents and photographers work closely together, along with other professionals, to present homes in their best light and attract potential buyers.
In today’s market, photography often drives the first impressions of a home, well before buyers see it in person.
But while photography plays a major role in selling a home, it’s not the only tool that sellers and buyers care about.
Vendors are increasingly adding videos, detailed floor plans and immersive 3D tours to give their home listing an edge and share as much information with buyers as possible.
It comes as major listing portals adopt these emerging technologies, including REA Group, publisher of realestate.com.au, which recently acquired a majority stake in the iGUIDE platform, which is coming to Australia’s shores soon.
These tools are set to bring agents, photographers and content producers even closer together and give sellers more tools in their toolkits to help build competitive tension around the sale of a home.
Real estate agent Kevin Chokshi and photographer Daniel Nik say real estate photos are often the first point of contact buyers have with a home for sale. Picture: Supplied
While these tools help, there’s much more that goes into advertising a home and getting the best outcome.
Here’s how strong agent and photographer teams can help sellers attract the most buyers and deliver the best sale results.
Creating interest before buyers step inside
Strong real estate photography and marketing should generate excitement and interest around a property, according to experts.
Kevin Chokshi, real estate agent and director at Ray White - The Bayside Group, says selling a home starts with emotion.
Real estate photography can help attract buyers to a listing, alongside video, 3D tours, floorplans and other marketing. Picture: Supplied
“Selling a home is a very visual, sensory experience,” Mr Chokshi said. “The photos are the first thing people see, and they decide very quickly whether they’re interested.”
Buyers scrolling through listings online often make snap decisions based on location, photos and price, among other factors.
“You’ve got a few seconds to grab someone’s attention, so if the presentation doesn’t connect, they move on," Mr Chokshi said.
Mr Chokshi has worked with Logic Media photographer Daniel Nik for years, who sees imagery as a key part of the advertising process.
Immersive 3D tours help buyers explore homes in depth. Picture: Supplied
“For most buyers, photography is the first point of contact,” Mr Nik said.
“Before they ever see the home in person, they’ve already formed an opinion based on the images.
“It’s not just about taking a photo, it's about selling a story and triggering emotion so people can imagine themselves living there.”
Good photography also helped stir up competition among buyers.
“When good photos bring more buyers, you create competition,” Mr Chokshi said. “That competition gives you leverage, not just on price but on conditions as well.”
Vendors can attract buyers to their property through photography, videos, floor plans, 3D tours and other marketing. Picture: Getty
The power of preparation and presentation
For Harcourts Property Centre - Coorparoo real estate agent Ben Carroll and Open2View photographer Richard Johnston, strong marketing begins well before the camera comes out.
“In a competitive market, presentation is always number one,” Mr Carroll said. “We need to ensure the home is presented in its best light so the photographer can capture it at its absolute best.”
Mr Johnston, who has been photographing real estate for decades, says preparation is a crucial part of the process.
“Decluttering is the first thing to do,” he said. “Get the boxes out, clear the kitchen benches, put the bins away, mow the lawn and move the cars out of the driveway.”
Getting professionals to stage a home for sale has grown in popularity. Picture: Getty
He said experienced agents and photographers also knew when more work was required.
“Sometimes it’s painting a wall, replacing carpet or bringing in a stager,” Mr Johnston said.
“Staging used to be rare. Now it’s probably 50% of properties, if not more.”
Their long‑term partnership has also helped to avoid mistakes and delays, keeping the process as painless as possible for vendors.
Floor plans and 3D tours can help buyers answer practical questions about room sizes, layout and flow early in the process, while building buyer confidence to attend the inspection. Picture: Supplied
“When you’ve worked together for a long time, the agent knows which homes suit a morning shoot, which ones need afternoon light and which should be twilight,” Mr Johnston said.
For Mr Carroll, the results of good preparation and presentation were clear.
“If the home is prepared properly, it allows the marketing to work much harder,” he said.
Tailored marketing over templates
The best agent and photographer teams will break the mould to help homes stand out from the crowd.
Sam Rigopoulos, director at Jellis Craig – Northcote, says standing out online was critical in a crowded market.
“People sometimes forget that the first impression is often made on the screen first, so the quality of the photography and the marketing material is critical for that first impression,” he said.
That belief shaped his partnership with Spacecraft photographer Cheyne Toomey, who said their point of difference came from their creativity and how they worked together.
“We actually think about the property as a unique individual home, rather than applying the same rules to every listing,” Mr Toomey said. “Sam doesn’t want to play it safe, he wants to do what’s going to get attention, even if the photos look different to everything else that’s out there.”
To draw out the most creative ideas and outcomes, Mr Toomey said each campaign started with plenty of planning and research.
“We talk about the property, the design and what the marketing goals are,” he said. “That communication before the shoot is one of the most critical parts of what we do.”
What’s next for sellers
Photography will continue to play a central role when it comes to selling homes, however additional features are helping buyers understand homes better as well.
Videos are increasingly used to promote homes, while immersive 3D virtual tours and precise floor plans help buyers explore a property online and understand its layout in detail.
Mr Johnston said detailed floor plans are becoming a staple of modern listings.
The use of iGUIDE 3D tours and floor plans are set to become increasingly popular for vendors as it can provide buyers more information about their home. Picture: Supplied
“We used to do a floor plan on maybe 10% of properties, but now it’s probably 95%,” he said.
They help answer practical questions about room sizes, layout and flow early in the process, while building buyer confidence to attend the inspection.
Mr Nik said the arrival of iGUIDE was going to help take real estate marketing to another level.
“I feel that without high impact video to catch buyers attention, beautiful imagery to help them become emotionally connected, and an immersive iGUIDE tour to allow buyers to deeply explore the home, a listing isn't complete," Mr Nik said.
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