- Advantages of DIY Real Estate Photo Editing
- Cons of DIY Photo Editing
- Benefits of Professional Real Estate Photo Editing
- Drawbacks of Professional Photo Editing
- When Should You Outsource Your Real Estate Photo Editing?
- Why Outsource Real Estate Photo Editing to PhotoUp?
Outsource real estate photo editing or DIY? That’s a good question!
High-quality real estate photography is crucial for attracting buyers and selling properties quickly. Stunning images can significantly impact a property’s appeal, making it stand out in a competitive market.
However, achieving these results requires meticulous photo editing. As a real estate photographer, you may find yourself torn between editing your photos yourself (DIY) and outsourcing the task to a professional real estate photo editing service.
In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of DIY photo editing versus professional editing and help you determine when it’s best to outsource your real estate photo editing.
Let’s begin by taking a look at the advantages of DYI editing.
Advantages of DIY Real Estate Photo Editing
Professional real estate photography is crucial because listings with high-quality photos attract significantly more attention, with homes receiving 118% more online views compared to those with lower-quality images.
With this in mind, let’s jump straight in and take a look at the pros and cons of DIY photo editing, starting with the advantages:
1. Full Creative Control
When you edit your own photos, you have complete creative control over the final look of your images.
You can make artistic decisions about color correction, brightness, exposure, and more, ensuring that the final product aligns with your unique style and brand.
2. Cost Savings (Initially)
Editing your own photos can save you money, especially if you already own the necessary software like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
You don’t have to pay anyone for their services, which can seem appealing when starting out.
3. Skill Improvement
Handling your own photo editing can help you enhance your technical and creative skills.
Over time, you may become proficient in photo retouching, color correction, and other advanced editing techniques.
4. Quick Turnaround (Sometimes)
If you have a small batch of photos to edit, doing it yourself may sometimes be faster than outsourcing, particularly if you already have an efficient workflow.
However, more often than not you’ll likely spend hours in post-processing at night after your photoshoot.
Being able to do other high-impact tasks with the time you save when you outsource real estate photo editing will save you money in the long run.
Cons of DIY Photo Editing
Now that you know the benefits of editing your real estate photography yourself, let’s take a look at some downsides to consider:
1. Time-Consuming
As mentioned earlier, photo editing can be extremely time-consuming, especially for large real estate photo shoots.
Editing tasks such as sky replacement, window masking, or day-to-dusk conversion can take hours, reducing the time you have for capturing new shoots or growing your business.
2. Limited Expertise
Unless you’re a highly skilled photo editor, your edits may not achieve the same professional quality as a specialized real estate photo editor.
Poorly edited images can affect the perceived value of the property.
3. Software Costs
While initially free after purchasing the software, ongoing subscription fees for programs like Photoshop or Lightroom can add up.
Additionally, you may need to purchase plugins or additional software to achieve professional-grade results.
4. Burnout
Spending long hours editing photos, especially after a full day of shooting, can lead to burnout.
This could negatively impact your creativity, productivity, and overall business growth.
Benefits of Professional Real Estate Photo Editing
85% of homebuyers consider photos the most critical factor when evaluating a property online.
Outsourcing your real estate photo editing comes with several advantages that can help improve the quality of your images, save time, and boost your business growth.
Here are some key benefits of professional photo editing:
1. Consistent High-Quality Results
Outsourcing your real estate photo editing ensures consistently high-quality images.
Professional editors are trained to enhance property photos with techniques like HDR blending, sky replacement, and advanced retouching, ensuring your images always look stunning.
2. Time Savings
By outsourcing your photo editing, you can save significant time.
This allows you to focus on capturing more photos, expanding your client base, and growing your business without getting bogged down in editing tasks.
3. Faster Turnaround for Large Projects
Professional photo editing services often offer a fast turnaround time, especially for bulk projects.
For example, PhotoUp offers a fast turnaround time of 12-24 hours for basic editing and 48 hours for virtual staging.
This is essential when you have tight deadlines or need to deliver images quickly to real estate agents or property managers.
4. Cost-Effective in the Long Run
While there’s an upfront cost to outsourcing, it can be cost-effective in the long run.
By saving time on editing, you can take on more shoots, which ultimately increases your revenue.
Additionally, professional editors can complete tasks faster and more efficiently than most photographers.
5. Access to Advanced Tools and Techniques
Professional photo editors use advanced editing software and tools that you may not have access to or be skilled at using.
This includes advanced HDR blending, object removal, virtual staging, day-to-dusk conversion, and more.
The Ultimate All-in-One
Real Estate Photographer Business Platform
Grow a successful real estate photography business with PhotoUp.
Drawbacks of Professional Photo Editing
While outsourcing real estate photo editing offers many benefits, there are also a few potential drawbacks to consider.
Understanding these challenges can help you make an informed decision and find ways to overcome them. Here are some common cons of outsourcing photo editing:
1. Additional Cost
Outsourcing your real estate photo editing does come with an additional cost. However, the time and revenue gained often outweigh the initial expense.
This allows you to shoot more properties and be out in the field building lasting relationships with clients, which will help you grow your real estate photography business.
2. Less Creative Control
When outsourcing, you may have less creative control over the final look of your images.
However, reputable photo editing services like PhotoUp allow you to provide detailed editing instructions to ensure the final product matches your style.
They also offer dedicated editing where an editor or team of editors are fully assigned to your business and learn your style. You can work closely with your editor to remain in control.
3. Dependency on a Third Party
Relying on a professional photo editing service means you have to trust someone else to deliver high-quality work on time.
Choosing a reliable and experienced editing company is crucial to ensuring a seamless experience.
When Should You Outsource Your Real Estate Photo Editing?
52.02% of Realtors who use professional photography believe that professional photography increases sales prices.
Outsourcing your editing will help you ensure top-notch quality and image consistency and help your clients sell more listings at higher prices.
If you’re still not convinced, let’s look at five scenarios when you should outsource real estate photo editing:
| When You Have High Volume Shoots: If you’re regularly shooting multiple properties each week, you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed with editing. Outsourcing in this scenario allows you to keep up with demand and consistently deliver high-quality photos to your clients. |
| When You Want to Scale Your Business: Outsourcing your photo editing is one of the best ways to scale your real estate photography business. By freeing up your time, you can focus on marketing, networking, and capturing more properties, ultimately increasing your revenue. |
| When You Want Professional-Quality Results: If you struggle to achieve high-quality results that match industry standards, outsourcing is a wise choice. Professional editors have the expertise to make your images look stunning and highly marketable. |
| When You’re Experiencing Burnout: Spending hours editing photos after long shooting days can quickly lead to burnout. If you’re constantly exhausted, outsourcing will help you regain balance and rediscover your passion for photography. |
| When You Want Faster Turnaround Times: Professional real estate photo editing services often guarantee fast turnaround times, allowing you to deliver images to clients within 24-48 hours. This is especially beneficial when working with demanding real estate agents or property managers. |
Have You Ever Thought To
Outsource Photo Editing?
Try it today with 10 free edits from three professional photo editors.
Why Outsource Real Estate Photo Editing to PhotoUp?
If you’ve decided that outsourcing your real estate photo editing is the right choice, PhotoUp is one of the best services available.
Outsourcing your real estate photo editing to PhotoUp allows you to save valuable time and money while ensuring that your photos always look professional.
Instead of spending long hours behind a computer screen, you can focus on capturing more properties and growing your business.
PhotoUp offers edits such as:
- Improper exposure levels
- Harsh shadows, lack of light, etc.
- Blurred images that were taken without a tripod
- Images that need cropping or other effects
- Lawn greening and sky replacements
- Clutter and object removal
- Line and angle corrections
- HDR blending
- And much more!
We will handle all types of issues – from basic to complex editing!
Why Choose PhotoUp?
Here are some reasons why you should consider outsourcing your editing to PhotoUp:
One of the Most Affordable Photo Editing Services
Starting at just $1.50 per image for on-demand editing, PhotoUp offers cost-effective solutions that fit within any photographer’s budget.
With a dedicated editor, the price can go as low as $0.50 per image depending on the editing batch.
Fast Turnaround Time
Get your edited photos back in less than 24 hours for basic editing and 48 hours for virtual staging, allowing you to meet tight deadlines without compromising quality.
User-Friendly System
Easily upload, manage, and store your photos with PhotoUp’s intuitive platform.
It also allows you to provide feedback and communicate with your editing team in just a few clicks.
High-Quality Edits All the Time
Whether you need basic corrections or advanced enhancements, PhotoUp ensures that your images are polished and professional, helping you stand out in the competitive real estate market.
Access to Dedicated Editors
PhotoUp offers access to Dedicated Editors who learn your unique editing style for maximum image consistency and brand recognition.
Our orders are rated “Good” or “Amazing” over 99% of the time.
Browse Top Dedicated
Real Estate Photo Editors
Ready-to-hire editors for real estate photo editing, and more.
A One-Stop Shop for Real Estate Marketing
Additionally, PhotoUp offers other powerful real estate marketing services like:
- Virtual staging
- Virtual house tours
- Real Estate Photographer Websites
- Single property websites
- House portraits
- Property flyers
- Floor plans
- And Virtual Assistants
Adding these additional services to your toolkit will allow you to expand your product offerings and become more valuable to your agent clients.
Together with PhotoUp, you can quickly grow and scale your business!
How to Get Started
Getting started with PhotoUp is super easy! Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1. Sign up for a free PhotoUp account.
Step 2. Upload your photos to our easy-to-use software.
Step 3. Choose the level of editing that you need and provide instructions (optional).
Step 4. Wait for PhotoUp professional editors to edit and return the photos in less than 24 hours (48 hours for virtual staging).
Step 5. Download and start using your beautifully edited photos.
PhotoUp Real Estate Photo Editing Uploader Demo
Watch how easy it is to get started with PhotoUp in our real estate photo editing uploader demo:
It’s as simple as 1-2-3!
If you’re ready to take your real estate photography business to the next level, sign up for a free PhotoUp account today and experience hassle-free, top-quality photo editing that meets your standards and impresses your clients.
For a limited time, you’ll receive a bonus of 10 free credits to use however you please.
We hope this blog post answered whether you should outsource real estate photo editing or not – depending on your individual needs and time constraints. Before you go, you may also want to check out the following resources:
