Table of Contents
- What Does a Real Estate Photographer Do?
- Is There a Market for Real Estate Photographers Right Now?
- Grow Your Photography Business With Virtual Staging
- Compelling Selling Arguments for Virtual Staging
- How to Integrate Virtual Staging Into Your Services
- Outsource Your Virtual Staging Needs to PhotoUp!
In the competitive world of real estate photography, distinguishing your business is key to staying ahead. With the industry constantly evolving, integrating innovative solutions such as virtual staging into your services can significantly enhance your offerings and appeal to your clientele.
This post explores the role of real estate photographers, the current market demand, and how incorporating virtual staging can propel your business to new heights.
Let’s dive in!
What Does a Real Estate Photographer Do?
Real estate photographers specialize in capturing properties in the best light possible to create a compelling visual narrative.
This includes photographing various types of real estate properties to reflect their best features, attract potential buyers or renters, and assist Realtors in marketing listings more effectively.
The goal is to create eye-catching, engaging, and realistic images that stand out in crowded real estate marketplaces, driving interest and inquiries.
But as a real estate photographer, you’re not only shooting properties. Your tasks can be broken down into:
- Scheduling & Payments
- Media Delivery
- Sales & Marketing
- On-Site Production
- Off-Site Post-Processing
- Administration
Overall, the hardest part of running a photography business is balancing the demands of servicing current customers while ensuring you are doing enough sales and marketing to keep you busy after you deliver on your current jobs.
Momentarily, we’ll share how you can add value to your business and keep those sales coming in. But first, let’s take a look at the current market for real estate photographers.
Is There a Market for Real Estate Photographers Right Now?
Absolutely. The demand for high-quality real estate photography has skyrocketed, especially in today’s digital age.
With 99% of property searches beginning online according to Statista, compelling visuals are crucial in capturing the attention of potential buyers and setting listings apart.
Potential buyers rely heavily on property listing sites like Zillow.com to gain insights into homes before reaching out to the seller or agent. And with the overflowing amount of listings, the images have to stand out to grab the attention of buyers.
Fortunately, most real estate professionals recognize the value of professional photography in selling homes faster and at higher prices, making it a sought-after service.
To back up this statement, consider these stats:
- 61.3% of brokers believe high-quality photography is ‘crucial’ for selling homes
- And 83% of buyers said pictures are very important in helping them choose which homes they will visit
- But most importantly, homes featuring professionally edited photos receive 47% higher asking prices per square foot
So, yes! The need for high-quality visuals in order to stand out in a highly competitive market makes real estate photographers sought after.
Grow Your Photography Business With Virtual Staging
One impactful way to grow your real estate photography business is by offering virtual staging services.
Virtual staging is the process of digitally furnishing an empty space or enhancing a current space with attractive furniture and decor, using CAD software.
This service can be highly appealing to real estate agents and home sellers, as it allows potential buyers to envision themselves in the home and help them see its full potential.
It can also make your listings stand out from the competition since the images look eye-catching, warm, and inviting.
Adding the digital form of home staging to your services can help you differentiate your business and cater to a broader range of client needs.
The Ultimate All-in-One
Real Estate Photographer Business Platform
Grow a successful real estate photography business with PhotoUp.
Compelling Selling Arguments for Virtual Staging
But how to sell the digital version of staging to your clients? Here are four compelling reasons that will convince real estate agents of the benefits of leveraging virtually staged images for their listings.
1. A Potent Marketing Strategy
With 99% of prospective homeowners initiating their property hunt online and 85% acknowledging the critical role of listing photos in the decision-making process, it’s clear that high-quality real estate images are a formidable marketing asset.
High-quality images can grab attention and make a property stand out in the crowded online marketplace.
Poorly taken photos, especially those that display cluttered spaces, can drastically hinder a property’s appeal, making it challenging for potential buyers to envision themselves in the space and possibly leading them to dismiss the property outright.
Conversely, applying digital staging to enhance property photos can captivate buyers’ interest, potentially resulting in quicker sales and at higher prices.
2. Boosts Property Value
Virtual staging is vital for showcasing a property’s full potential, thereby enhancing its perceived value and expediting its sale.
Since visual attractiveness plays a significant role in purchasing decisions, digitally staged homes can spotlight key features and the unique charm of various spaces, creating a standout property that commands a better market value.
Additionally, by offering a glimpse into the lifestyle prospective buyers could enjoy, it’ll meet market demand and directly benefit agents through higher sale prices, as properties with superior quality photos tend to list at 47% higher prices per square foot.
3. Saves Time, Effort, and Financial Resources
Additionally, virtual staging is a cost-effective solution that saves considerable time and effort compared to traditional staging practices.
The logistics of traditional staging—from hiring a staging company to setting up the space—are both time-consuming and costly. In fact, the digital form of staging is up to 97% cheaper than traditional staging.
In sharp contrast, it allows for the rapid transformation of vacant rooms into attractively furnished spaces within 24 to 48 hours, providing an invaluable advantage, especially when dealing with empty or cluttered properties under tight sales timelines.
4. Customization for Target Markets
Lastly, digital staging offers the flexibility to tailor a property’s appearance to suit the tastes and preferences of specific buyer demographics or styles, from Mid-Century Modern elegance to Hamptons Beach House charm.
This customization capability enables agents to cater to the expectations of high-net-worth individuals by infusing spaces with luxury and sophistication, effectively communicating the property’s ultimate potential.
In essence, virtual staging equips real estate photographers and agents with a powerful tool to fulfill client desires comprehensively and accurately, aligning perfectly with their lifestyle aspirations and making it easier for them to envision a future in the home.
By enhancing the visual appeal and perceived value of properties, agents can achieve not only more engaging and effective marketing but also faster sales, optimized pricing, and ultimately, satisfied clients.
How to Integrate Virtual Staging Into Your Services
How would you go about offering virtual staging to your clients? It’s easy! This is how to start:
1. Research and Invest in Quality Software
Look for a reputable and user-friendly virtual staging app that produces realistic and appealing results.
Better yet, outsource your virtual staging to a professional service provider like PhotoUp and ensure top-notch image quality and fast turnaround times. We all know how agents want things done today!
2. Develop Your Skills
Take the time to learn the ins and outs of digital staging, possibly through online courses or tutorials, to ensure high-quality output.
Why not start today? Check out our blog post on how to virtually stage a home in less than 5 minutes.
There’s also virtual staging AI technology like AgentUp that can help you virtually stage your images in minutes.
The quality won’t be as superior as when outsourcing your virtual staging needs to a professional service but it’s a great starting point.
3. Market Your New Service
To get clients to notice your new product offerings, you need to market them.
Start by updating your online portfolio and marketing materials to include virtual staging services.
You can also post about your new services on social media and send out email blasts to your email list. Both are great ways to spread the message and engage with your audience.
Remember to highlight the benefits through before-and-after images to showcase the potential impact on listings.
4. Educate Your Clients
Many clients may not be familiar with digital staging, so offering consultations or informational resources can help them understand the value it adds.
All in all, the real estate photography business thrives on innovation and quality. By expanding your services to include virtual staging, you not only enhance your portfolio but also provide significant value to your clients, setting your business apart in a bustling market.
Stay ahead of the curve by adopting techniques that resonate with current and future real estate marketing trends, and watch your business grow.
Fast & Affordable
Virtual Staging Service
Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.
Outsource Your Virtual Staging Needs to PhotoUp!
If you’re ready to add virtual staging to your product offerings, outsourcing it to PhotoUp might be your best bet.
PhotoUp delivers high-quality and affordable virtual staging with fast turnaround times of 48 hours or less.
Our VS services include:
- Virtually staging for vacant or furnished rooms
- Color changes for walls, furnishings, and flooring
- Digital decluttering, repairs, and updates
- Virtual landscaping
- And much, much more!
For only $20 to $30 per image, you can cater to any market with an extensive selection of digital furniture, design styles, and decor.
PhotoUp’s virtual staging library includes 20 room types, 21 accessory categories, and 11 different design styles:
- Mid-Century Modern
- Scandinavian
- Coastal
- Farmhouse
- American
- Industrial
- Hamptons
- Luxury
- Southwestern
- Modern
- And Commercial
You can choose between plenty of design styles, room types, and decor to fit your target audience.
PhotoUp Makes Virtual Home Staging Easy
Our virtual staging services are simple to use — just 3 easy steps:
1. Upload your photos to our user-friendly software
2. Select from our library of design styles and furnishings
3. We send you proofs for approval and download
PhotoUp Virtual Staging Demo
To see how easy it is to upload your images to our software and get them virtually staged, you can watch this brief virtual staging demo:
Its’ really as simple as 1-2-3!
A Complete Real Estate Marketing Partner
On top of that, PhotoUp is a complete real estate marketing partner and also offers additional services such as:
- Real estate photo editing
- Virtual house tours
- Floor plans
- Home walk-through videos
- Custom websites
- Single property websites
- Property flyers
- House portraits
- Virtual assistants
- And more.
As you can see, we have everything you need to offer additional services to your clients and grow your real estate photography business in no time.
Sign up for a free PhotoUp account today, and get 10 free credits that you can use to virtually stage your images.
You’ll be happy you did!
We hope this post gave you insight into how adding virtual staging to your product offerings can help boost and grow your real estate photography business. If you enjoyed this blog post, you may also want to check out the following resources:
